 Water Tower by Oostkeetshaven in Dordrecht |
Today's target was get to Bruinisse, and we began to retrace our steps down the Oude Maas and pick up the Dordtsche Kil, which in turn brought us down to Hollands Diep by the Moerdijk Brug. Despite being Saturday, there was much commercial traffic along these waterways. One tanker of interest seemed to have a habit of powering along, skidding to a halt in a barge "lay-by", sending a motor boat sideways with its wash, and then shooting off again a short while later. The wind was on our nose all the way, so it was a case of motoring.
 Ships Moored in a "Lay-by" in the Dordtsche Kil |
As usual, when we were permitted to enter the lock, our foreign chums suddenly all surged forward to establish a lead of the pack. Soon we were following the buoys around the Noord Volkerak, skirting the islands on the way. One enormous stretch of water we motored by was festooned with hundreds of buoys, all moored to the river bed by ropes on which mussels grew.
The idyll was momentarily shattered when a few military jets with throaty roars cracked through the air not far above us, seemingly following the water course. It was around this area where a triangular formation of jets passed overhead when we were on our way to Willemstad.
 Mussel Farm in the Volkerak |
 Bruinisse Famed for its Mussels |
The Aqua Delta marina we were berthed in was very large with sparkling new facilities. Of worthy note were the shower units, with cubicles four times larger than we had experienced at other marinas. Indeed everything here was on a large scale; the chandlers, repair yard etc., and it even boasted a supermarket that opened on Sundays.
In the evening we strolled along the tall dyke to the tiny town of Bruinisse, which lay well below the level of the dyke, passing a huge holiday park of cream and grey chalets. The town looked as though it had been a village at one time, and the dwellings around it had been built in fairly recent times. We didn't locate a centre, but a few pubs which served food.
 Spotless Mussel Trawlers |
Chief navigator Rex found us one, and we ordered fish dishes inside. None of us was brave enough to order a complete bucket of the local delicacy, mussels. A large table had been set up for a Dutch crowd behind us; adults and children. A large table for large people, but they weren't obese. They, like most Dutch, were quite tall and slim. Meryl and I discussed why they should be much taller than the British. Our conclusions were drawn from the amount of food the Dutch seemed to eat, portions were always extravagant. Yet they were not obese. We put this down to the amount of exercise the Dutch undertake, they use bikes like we use cars. A lesson for us to learn there.
The waitress had picked up on our conversation. "When you come out, you don't go home hungry," she said in a matter of fact way. We had already noted on our trip that we never did completely finish all the side dishes of vegetables, salad, sauté potatoes and the inevitable mounds of frites that seemed to come as part of every meal. It seemed such a waste. We thought back to a restaurant we had visited in Enkhuizen the previous year. There the restaurant had kicked back at the waste of so much food, and adopted a policy of serving smaller portions and allowing customers to ask for more as required. The fish food we had just eaten was excellent.
We sauntered back to the marina via the fishing harbour where several fishing vessels, mainly mussel trawlers, were moored. Meryl made the brilliant observation, "Even the trawlers have been cleaned to within an inch of their lives." This generated much mirth amongst us. A large sculpture of a mussel overlooked the harbour.
Back in the marina, many mariners were out exercising their dogs. One woman even had five on leads. I struggled to imagine how it was possible to cope with one dog on a yacht, never mind five.
Before we hit out pits, Meryl passed me a nightcap, an enormous whiskey, enough to knock me out for days. I started to wonder if I had upset her through the day.