vrijdag 24 augustus 2012

Traject: Scheveningen - Lelystad


Blog van 2012 – 08 - 23
Traject: Scheveningen - Lelystad
Crew: Skipper Cees
Sam Krikken

After a good night sleep in the quiet harbour of Scheveningen, we left at 09:15.
This was much later then the normal advised time of departure, being one hour before high tide at Scheveningen. High tide in Scheveningen was 07:47, but we were too tired the day before and needed that extra rest.
Sam made an excellent English Breakfast with eggs, bacon, sausages (from Dover still) and some mushrooms and fried tomatoes.
This copious meal gave us all the strength back. At sea we had a moderate West South West wind. Enough to set the Spinnaker as soon as we had created hight for ourselves.
By the time we were some miles from the coast, the wind shifted and we could set the half winder. After noon, the wind seamed to be more South West and we set the Spinnaker after all.

With nice speed we approached IJmuiden.
The passing of the lock in IJmuiden was very quick indeed as it was high tide in IJmuiden so the water levels are both Nieuw Amsterdam Peil. (NAP)

The passing of the Noordzee canal went smoothly. Another yacht in front of us hit something under water and stopped abrupt. We had to swing the steering to port immediately, otherwise we would have hit that craft.
What that craft had hit we don't know but our offer for help was kindly waved.
It seamed there was no damage to the steering, nor the propeller as the yacht continued its journey, but considerably slower then before.

Also the passing through Amsterdam was without any delay and at 19:30 we were under sail again at the Ijsselmeer on our way to our home harbour Lelystad.
We arrived home at 00:30 on Friday morning, so I was able to be the first to send cogratulations to my son Benjamin for his 27st birthday.

Great trip with excellent sailmate Sam. Thanks Sam, hope to soon

Traject: Zeebrugge – Brouwershavense Gat.


Blog van 2012 – 08 - 21
Traject: Zeebrugge – Brouwershavense Gat.
Crew: Skipper Cees
Sam Krikken


We left the Zeebrugge Marina early (07:45) and saw outside nice weather for our Spinnaker.
At 10:30 we entered Dutch territory again and welcomed the internet connections again.
Weather: wind ZZW 8-9 knots.
At 14:00 at the Roompot bank we changed the Spinnaker for Genua and mainsail. The wind increased to 11-13 kn.

After 16:00 hours the wind decreased dramatically so our destination Stellendam could not be reached by sail.
We decided to anchor the boat for the coast of Renesse in the water called Brouwerhavense Gat.
We found a good anchorage place behind a sand bank in the shade of the dunes.
After the main anchor was dropped, we dropped a second anchor behind the boat with the help of our dinghy to prevent drifting during the change of tides when the current change direction too. Our GPS-system was set for anchor watch and everything looked fine and quiet.

Once we were asleep I heard the rope of the second anchor against the side of the boat. It turned out that the main anchor had dragged a few meters causing the second anchor now to be too close to the boat. This could cause damage by the anchor line in the rudder or propeller.
I woke up Sam and we lifted second anchor.
Also we had learned that the wind had shifted to West and increased in strength.
This had a terrible effect on our anchor spot as now the waves hit us.
A very anxious and restless night followed. Sam and I decided to check the situation every hour and write the findings in the log-book.
By 04:00 O'clock in the morning the situation was so that the main anchor held firmly, the wind was now WNW with 24 knots in stead of the predicted 8-12 knots.

At 05:30 the anchor winch broke and all anchor chain slipped in the water. The end of the chain is tied to the ship, so we were still anchored.
However, after Sam got up too, it became clear that the anchor winch didn't work any more.
This meant we would have to winch in the anchor by hand.
Given the strong wind and the high waves that was impossible as the winched in chain fell back into the sea as soon as you stopped winching.
In fact De Boekanier was chained to the sea bottom with no where to go for us.
There were now two options:
Wait for a calm sea and winch in the anchor manually.
Call for help.
The last thing is what we did and within an half an hour the lifeboat of the KNRM (Dutch Safe and Rescue Organisation.) was next to us. They brought a rope and some kind of chain cutter, tools meant for small ships, but De Boekanier has a very strong anchor chain, so his equipment looked like a nail clipper...
Luckily this meant that we had to invent another way of lifting the anchor which with the help of the KNRM boat we could bring a strong rope around the chain and tow that to the anchor. The SAR boat managed to get the anchor above water and three men winched the chain on deck of the Boekanier.
Finally the anchor was safe on board of the Boekanier again and we were free.
We said many thanks to the guys of the SAR boat and sailed away in the direction of Rotterdam. Strong wind and high waves made our trip uncomfortable, but the fact that we were sailing again compensated that.

We arrived at 17:00 hours in Scheveningen. Very tired of the bad night before but happy to have a well equipped harbour again.
We will keep you updated.

Traject: Dover - Zeebrugge


Blog van 2012 – 08 - 20
Traject: Dover - Zeebrugge
Crew: Skipper Cees
Sam Krikken

Due to the fact that we had our berth in the Granville Dock, witch has an tide lock to keep the guaranteed water depth, we had to plan our departure time according the closing of the lock.
We had inquired the time for the closure and had been informed at 04:41 UTC or 05:41 BST.
We got up at 05:00 British Summer Time and heard some ships leave the marina too.
The weather forecast from the day before was moderate wind, good visibility.

Anyway, when we left the Dover harbour through the West opening we found ourselves in a thick soup of fog and strong South wind and high waves. Not the weather you wish for a smooth crossing.
With the help of our AIS and Radar we could very clearly follow the movements of the other ships that were in the vicinity of Dover Port. The same time we left, four Ferries left Dover Port on the North-East Port entrance too.
It was quite exciting having a visibility of 100 yards. There was a cacophony of ship horns around us and we also took part in that symphony.
The high waves in the end were to blame for breaking down of our main magnetic compass.
This also caused malfunctioning of the auto-pilot or automatic steering instrument.
So, we had to steer on our small manual bearing compass...
All ingredients for disaster were in place, but we managed anyway to have a save AIS now-a-days so you can see them and calculate the moment they pass you.
Nevertheless we made it to the start point of the crossing of the Traffic Zone and at the other side we came close to the Ruytingen SW buoy. We then sailed some time on the genua but gave up when the wind reached 30 kn.
We then followed the Out-Ruytingen Dyck Occidental canal to Zeebrugge.
We landed at Zeebrugge at 20:00 in a very busy Marina.

Totally we did this day 86,3 miles at 5,9 avg speed.

donderdag 23 augustus 2012

Traject Ramsgate - Dover

After two tropical days in Ramsgate, it was time to determine the next destination. Originally we wanted to continue along the East Coast of England, but the direction of wind and the current were not in our favour.
We therefore decided to go South to Dover.
After leaving the harbour of Ramsgate we first set all sails, but soon it was clear that there was no wind at all.
We let ourselves drift by the South bound current in the beautiful sunny weather. Sam decided to swim while I took my fishing rod and tried to catch our evening meal.
After a couple of hours we felt some wind and soon we had 14 kn wind on the log.
We set sails to Dover where we arrived around three in the afternoon.

In Dover we headed for the Dover castle as real tourists.
Afterwards we went to the Royal Cinque City Yachtclub for some beers.
The Pakistany take-away made some amazing good food for us, so we didn't had to cook for ourselves.

We will keep you update

zondag 19 augustus 2012

Saturday 18-8-12 A day off in Ramsgate

Unbelieveable weather in Ramsgate.

As soon as we arrived in Ramsgate we were surprised by the fine weather.
No cloud in the sky, bloody hot, tropical weather.
We really enjoyed the reception at the Royal Temple Yacht Club where we had some beers and a nice game of checkers.
Then we decided to see the beach and the town architecture, before returning to the boat.
In the afternoon it was so hot that we took our dinky and went by dinky to the beach and had a swim there. The lifeguards were not so pleaased with the idea of having a motered dinky at the beach and ask us not to come back.
In the evening Sam cooked a delicious stew.
Although we were quit tired, we nevertheless checked out Ramsgate night life and we understood very quickly that the English are an exotic tripe anyway.
Nothing looked like we are used on the Continent.
After some beer we went back to the Boekanier to recover from this cultural shock.

zaterdag 18 augustus 2012

Traject: Dunkerque (Fr) – Ramsgate (UK)


Trip to Ramsgate (U.K.) by the yacht “De Boekanier”.

Blog van 2012 – 08 – 17
Traject: Dunkerque (Fr) – Ramsgate (UK)
Crew: Skipper Cees
Sam Krikken

Friday morning.
After an noisy night in the Marina, due to a bunch of Polish Techno-students from Gdynia, Poland, we woke up at 07:15.
The breakfast Sam cooked form the left-over Pasta sauce with scrambled eggs was fabulous.
He also repaired the 12 V connection to our flash-light, so in case we need, we can sail during the night.
We had a slow start, but anyway we left the harbour of Dunkerque under sail.
Outside the wind was very much in our favour: South force 14-18 knots. This meant half wind for us and therefore good speed and progress.
We cleared the westerly entrance channel by eleven and started our crossing in the direction of the S-Ruytingen Buoy.
The current was also in our favour and turned while we were crossing the international shipping lanes.
We made excellent progress and arrived without any problem at Ramsgate at 16:30 local time.
The first thing we did after the steigerborrel and cleaning the ship, was to find the Royal Temple Yacht Club for a well deserved Guinness.
Anyway: we completed our target and will stay in Ramsgate tomorrow for a nice rest.

We will keep you updated.

Traject: Oostende (B)- Ramsgate – Dunkerque (Fr)


Blog van 2012 – 08 – 15
Traject: Oostende (B)- Ramsgate – Dunkerque (Fr)
Crew: Skipper Cees
Sam Krikken

The Thursday morning brought us fine bright weather. It was warm and we could feel some wind too. Oostende Radio brought us the forecast and promised a South wind, later veering to West.
So, everything looked very promising for the crossing of the channel.
As the crossing would take at least 15 hours we decided to start our journey from 12:00 AM, leaving us time for some shopping and cleaning of the boat.
Unfortunately there is no possibility to bunker diesel in Oostende.

When we left the harbour at 12:30 we very quickly understood that the weather forecast is only a forecast. The wind had already veered in North West and that was our direction too.
As we should stay on the sea also the whole night, this wind from the opposite direction was not a good omen.
Furthermore another key factor was the new moon which was set or tonight. That meant there would be no light what so ever during the night crossing.
After some hours fighting against the elements, we had only managed to leave some 10 miles behind us in the direction of Ramsgate. That fact, together with the facts that we had not been able to buy diesel and the new moon, we decided to give up the destination Ramsgate for today and set for Dunkerque.

There we arrived at 20:00 hours. The harbour Grand Large is well known to us.
Sam cooked us a fabulous meal (fantasy sauce for the paste) and we could fill our water tank and spray the boat with clean water.

We will keep you updated.