Thursday 8, August
We set off at 8:30 and had a half hour wait for the mega bridge lock, mostly because a Swan yacht had gone a bit early and nabbed the lock just for itself before the rest of us got there.
We were 5 in the lock and motored down the channel and hoisted our sails when we were clear.
We had a reef in yesterday and started with one as it was 12-14 knots. A reef is when you shorten your sail a bit so you don’t get too much wind in it. Too much wind can make the boat over-powered and it loses balance on the steering (helm).
We had to tack on a close beat as the wind was directly from the way we wanted to go! By the way, the last we saw of that lock-pinching Swan was 4 miles behind us!
All the other boats were coming the other way – a bit sad for La Bamba to have no one to chase.
We left sunny Holland and put up our Belgian flag. Sadly we won’t need it for long as we have only one Belgian stopover.
The wind died a bit and we shook out the reef. Then it got back up to 14-16 so we reefed again. Shook that out again later when the wind died back. All very good practice.
It was a glorious day and we crossed the shipping lanes around ZeeBrugge carefully.
As we approached Ostende, about 6pm, there appeared a very ominous dark grey sky.
Belgium welcomed us with 24knot gusts!
We took the sails down as the wind was right on the nose and we were nearly there…..and we then had a bit of a mishap.
David, as usual, took the halyard off the main to put it on the end of the boom (because Arcona didn’t give us a topping lift – we will sort this back in UK) and he thought he had it on securely… but it wasn’t on properly. It slipped and flew off the back of the boat – like an enormous fishing line from the top of the mast, flying out behind us!
I tried to slow then reverse La Bamba to let the halyard catch up with the boat, David tried to catch it – but I overdid it and washed the cockpit with water as the sea rushed in over our open transom! (I knew open transoms are a weird fashion!)
It was too late anyway as the weight of the mast end of the halyard meant that it was getting shorter and shorter as it fell down the mast.
Eventually what was left wrapped tidily round the back stay.
I hope I get to be the one to climb the mast tomorrow! We have a harness so we expected this sort of thing! Accidents happen at sea!
Meanwhile we still needed to get into Ostend 4 miles away and he wind was building. It hit 30knots before we came into the welcome, calm port!
We decided to go into the far marina, mostly for shelter, but also so that we won’t be quite so embarrassed when we go up the mast to fetch down our halyard!
We were helped by a very kind man onto our mooring as the wind was blowing us off, but it’s calm and quiet – just what we need!
Even better, we ate at the Royal Yacht Club of Ostende here just on the dock. It happens to be the second oldest yacht club in Europe! The oldest one is in Cork apparently. This one was opened in 1846 by King Leopold I who loved sailing.
The food was perfect. A proper Belgian pavé steak with a delicious salad and frites met mayonnaise ❤️ washed down with Belgian beer of course!
We showered (I think we needed it after 10 hours sailing!) and now bed! The wind is up to 21 knots in here – I expect it’s a bit stronger out on the sea!
I remember bringing inner doors and even loos in from England when we were building our house at Moorsel because it was the months building holiday and we wanted to be finished for September! A customs official assured me that Belgians had such things in a dramatic whisper with a great grin. So many times we arrived at Utrecht and took the road home. Great memories. Thank you for the blog. That was a long and heavy sail. Take care.
I think you should have taken a picture of you bieng up the mast. ?