Day 16 and 17, Gouda
Two days for the price of one in Gouda. We unpacked and unfolded the bikes and headed out to Gouda, avoiding the very many other young and old cyclists. No need for helmets here apparently as cyclists seem to rule…
Day 15 Dordrecht to Gouda
Well we survived the night, and despite appearances, the harbour master in Dordrecht couldn't have been more helpful. So we radioed through to get the marina Bridge opened at 0930 to catch the 1015 bridge opening at Verkeersbrug Alblasserdam and…
Day 14 Willenstad to Dordrecht
Just a 13 leisurely miles today to the attractive heart of Dordrecht, the oldest city in The Netherlands, founded in 1220. Only 2 challenges today, getting to the railway bridge on time, else a 2 hour wait, and mooring in…
Day 13 Bruinisse to Willemstad
A moderate 16 miles and 3 lock systems, taking us from sea, to fresh and back to sea water, along very busy barge routes. One barge had over 100 containers on board, that's a lot of lorries off the road….
Day 12 Middelburg to Bruinisse
Motoring for 25 miles though Zeeland, a huge area that makes Norfolk look like the Lake District and apart from a few very large barges, a couple of fishing boats, it's featureless. 3 more locks negotiated and moored overnight just…
Day 11 Vlissingen to Middelburg
Life definitely in the slow lane today, 4 hours to do just 5 miles!, with 1 lock and 6 bridges ticked off. We soon established that a bridge will only open if there is more than one boat passing underneath…
Day 10 Vlissingen
After 250 miles, it was time to pause for a day. So a relaxing 24 hours catching up with the laundry, restocking food and beer and some sightseeing. The highlights included a working windmill, which although the sails were racing…
Day 9 Dunkerque to Vlissingen
This was a very long day with an early delay whilst we waited for a tanker to be tugged into Dunkerque, Force 5 winds close to the nose and a foul tide running against us for 7 hours. So we…
Day 8 Dover to Dunkerque
Left Dover Marina at 0700 and following permission from Port Control headed to the East Entrance, where at the Knucle lighthouse sought final permission to exit the Eastern entrance. Nice friendly wave from Port Control as we left. Very patchy…