 Farewell Ijmuiden - Lost in Steam, Smoke and Rain |
 Wind Turbine Erection Crane |
I contacted the Marechausee again to ascertain whether they could drive to the marina. "No, I can't come to your boat, I'm the only one here. Why do you need your passports stamped?" was the curt reply. "The rules state that we need to get our passports stamped when we enter your country and leave your country, and we intend to leave this morning," was the only response I could offer.
"I will ask." Then I could hear a conversation in Dutch, presumably his superior (so much for being the only one in the office). "OK, we will come to you in half an hour." I thanked the chap, and furnished him with all the details of how to find the boat. True to their word, two chaps turned up, climbed aboard and after some banter, stamped our passports, and off they went. I later spotted them wandering around the marina investigating other non-EU boats.
 Gas Rig |
The steelworks slowly slipped behind us, a mass of steel superstructures, obscured in part by billowing clouds of smoke and steam, with a grey curtain of clouds as a backdrop.
Glimpses of blue lay on the far, western horizon. We sailed out between a colossal wind farm and a huge anchorage, gaining more sunshine as we progressed. For quite a while the tall column of steam climbing up from the horizon above Europort could be seen even though the port had long been submerged below the horizon. Sadly, the wind dropped completely, thus we had to resort to the engine.
As I did the 8pm to midnight watch, numerous cargo ships and tankers passed by, plus one trawler and a solitary yacht heading for Ijmuiden. Then darkness enveloped us.