During the spring of 2024, Rex and I discussed once again pursuing a month-long adventure in continental waters. Similar to last year, we considered taking the whole of June for the trip to avoid continental school holiday periods. His good wife, Meryl, agreed to the arrangement, on the condition that he was back in the UK by the end of June; they had other activities planned for early July.
Modifications had been carried out on Duonita during the winter/spring months. In May we carried out a shake down trip onto the Blackwater estuary and Bradwell, which involved testing out a newly installed electric windlass.
Our initial plan was to sail to Zeebrugge, chosen because the passport control was actually based by the marina. We would sail from there to Ternheuzen. From there we could pursue our pipe dream of sailing to Antwerp, which lies far inland within Belgium at the end of the very busy, tidal Westerschelde. The channel is very narrow, and huge containerships plough along it continuously. The issue we had with travelling up to Antwerp was the times of the tides when we expected to arrive in conjunction with access times into the marina. Departing on the 1st June would be ideal from a tidal viewpoint.
From there, weaving our way out through the Roompot or Haringvliet into the North Sea, we would head to Ijmuiden, possibly calling in to Scheveningen en route. Then it would be a trip down the Noordzeekanaal (North Sea Canal) towards the Markermeer and the Ijsselmeer. That would lead us to the Waddenzee and Friesland, an area we were particularly fond of.
But, as Robert Burns wrote in a line in "To a Mouse" : "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley."
The actual route taken can be examined on the route link. How the story unfolded can be revealed by following the diary link.
Read and enjoy!
