East Coast to Versemeer

Veeresemere

Even the veresemeer can get nasty. A couple of years ago we were there with 40kts across the deck and had to pass through - if we slowed down enough to check out an anchorage we got blown downwind - even head to.

Agree that it's a pleasant place in good weather - love the bijou islands. My girls, when younger, took it upon themselves to find an island - then to make an outward show of bratish behaviour so that no one else came and moored up there.
 
This is going to be an interesting thread. I am planniing on doing my first crossing this year, around the end of June. Plan so far is to head down to Ramsgate from the Medway. then, leave Ramsgate and head straight for Zeebrugge, then on up to Vlissingen, onto the inland dutch canal and through Middleburg to Veersmeer.

I've got 9 days to play with so should be quite an adventure!

Someone asked what reading material should be bought, borrowed and read, and I have decided that a MUST is the North Sea Passage Pilot. (okay, so I havent actually got one yet. Missed one for sale on Ebay the other day. It sold for £5.50!!!) but I will be buyin g one very soon.
I also need to get charts to cover the French, Belgiun, Dutch coats and the inland canals. but if anyone else can point me towards any other good reading, it would be very much appreciated.

If anyone is over there the last week in june/fist in july, I'd love to say Hi..
 
If you go by Ramsgate (which is a nice route) can I suggest Nieuwpoort instead? It's a friendly place and the food at KYCN is gorgeous. I hate the long troll through the commercial harbours at Zee to get to the marina. Nieuwpoort to Flushing is a nice day sail, plus you get an extra hour of tide going up the coast to Holland so it's easily done.
 
As you may gather from the photo lower down, we generally head across to Blankenberge.
It's a nice sheltered place with several yacht clubs around the marina vying for your hard-earned.
Many pilot books suggest the entrance is too shallow but these days, the dredgers from Zeebrugge pop by. We draw 1.8m and have had no issues (but, like anywhere, would avoid entering on low water springs).
If you stay a while, there is a good beach, plenty of shops and cheap train access to Bruges or Brussels if the weather isn't being kind.
 
AndyAndKatie said:
but if anyone else can point me towards any other good reading, it would be very much appreciated.
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You could try downloading the free Wileys Nautical Almanac. It is a good source of information (as far north as it goes) and if you download on a laptop, it is retained even if you are not connected to the internet. You can update it the next time you are.
Even if you don't carry a computer with you, it's a useful addition to the other publications out there for planning purposes.

For Dutch waters, try their 1800 series charts.
 
The Omloop

AndyAndKatie said:
but if anyone else can point me towards any other good reading, it would be very much appreciated.

..
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Hi Andy.
The Brian Nevin book is probably the only Dutch pilot, though it does seem to concentrate on "routes" more than areas. The best thing would be to get info/hints from some of us old fa*ts who have been bobbing about round there for a few years.
We had been sailing in Zeeland for years when, one day we asked a Dutchman for his favourite place in the Veersemeer....When he told us we found we had never ever noticed it on the chart! Its now one of our favourites too
 
There is another pilot.....

Peegee said:
Hi Andy.
The Brian Nevin book is probably the only Dutch pilot, ......
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There is an alternative, a recent book from Imrays called 'Inland Waterways of the Netherlands'. One of the authors is Louise Busby who I think works at IPC somewhere in the ybw.com world.
 
AndyAndKatie said:
This is going to be an interesting thread. I am planniing on doing my first crossing this year, around the end of June. Plan so far is to head down to Ramsgate from the Medway. then, leave Ramsgate and head straight for Zeebrugge, then on up to Vlissingen, onto the inland dutch canal and through Middleburg to Veersmeer.

I've got 9 days to play with so should be quite an adventure!

Someone asked what reading material should be bought, borrowed and read, and I have decided that a MUST is the North Sea Passage Pilot. (okay, so I havent actually got one yet. Missed one for sale on Ebay the other day. It sold for £5.50!!!) but I will be buyin g one very soon.
I also need to get charts to cover the French, Belgiun, Dutch coats and the inland canals. but if anyone else can point me towards any other good reading, it would be very much appreciated.

If anyone is over there the last week in june/fist in july, I'd love to say Hi..
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If only going as far as the Veeresmere i dont believe you need a Pilot book at all. a uk almanac is all you need for the sea legs. once locked into the Walcheren Canal, first stop Middelburg nxt stop Veeresmeer
 
You're quite right, of course. In fact I only bought the Busby book for our last visit when we spent a month in Holland and did a lot of miles there, before that I only had an ancient copy of Henry Levison's book which was so old it didn't really help at all - we just relied on a set of Dutch charts.
But anyway, if you went all that way you wouldn't just stop in the Veeresmeer, surely?
 
Cantata said:
You're quite right, of course. In fact I only bought the Busby book for our last visit when we spent a month in Holland and did a lot of miles there, before that I only had an ancient copy of Henry Levison's book which was so old it didn't really help at all - we just relied on a set of Dutch charts.
But anyway, if you went all that way you wouldn't just stop in the Veeresmeer, surely?
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AndyandKate have 9 days & stated Veeresmeer was as far as they would go
 
pasta_simon said:
If you go by Ramsgate (which is a nice route) can I suggest Nieuwpoort instead? It's a friendly place and the food at KYCN is gorgeous. I hate the long troll through the commercial harbours at Zee to get to the marina. Nieuwpoort to Flushing is a nice day sail, plus you get an extra hour of tide going up the coast to Holland so it's easily done.
Click to expand...

Wow, thanx for all the replies. I'd just like to apologise to Pasta_Simon for hijacking your thread. Sorry mate.
I had thought about Nieuwpoort on the return journey. I am sainling with another boat, whos skipper has friends in Brugge and we wanted to say hello on the the way over.
But would heading for Nieuwpoort be a better Heading across the shipping lanes?
Thats the main reason i was going to get the Brian Nevin book, to get myself across the channel/north sea without getting mixed up in the TSS's. Not so much for using the canals to get to veersmeer. Looking on Google Earth, it looks pretty straight forward. As Sailorman said, its through Middleburg, and them Veersmeer. Easy... ;-)

Wing_Diver, I have got Wileys downloaded onto my laptop but I havent looked at it for a while as I didnt think it covered the Belgian/Dutch side, but now I see that it does. And theres loads of info in there. Thanx for the heads-up.
You mention someones 1800 series charts. Would they be Imray or Admiralty??

Catana, I'd love to venture further, but time constraints, and inexperience prevent it. From what I can see, Veersmeer it self deserves a few days exploration. It seems big enough. Peegee, I might just PM you to find out where this favorite spot of yours is :-)
 
AndyAndKatie said:
Wow, thanx for all the replies. I'd just like to apologise to Pasta_Simon for hijacking your thread. Sorry mate.
I had thought about Nieuwpoort on the return journey. I am sainling with another boat, whos skipper has friends in Brugge and we wanted to say hello on the the way over.
But would heading for Nieuwpoort be a better Heading across the shipping lanes?
Thats the main reason i was going to get the Brian Nevin book, to get myself across the channel/north sea without getting mixed up in the TSS's. Not so much for using the canals to get to veersmeer. Looking on Google Earth, it looks pretty straight forward. As Sailorman said, its through Middleburg, and them Veersmeer. Easy... ;-)

Wing_Diver, I have got Wileys downloaded onto my laptop but I havent looked at it for a while as I didnt think it covered the Belgian/Dutch side, but now I see that it does. And theres loads of info in there. Thanx for the heads-up.
You mention someones 1800 series charts. Would they be Imray or Admiralty??

Catana, I'd love to venture further, but time constraints, and inexperience prevent it. From what I can see, Veersmeer it self deserves a few days exploration. It seems big enough. Peegee, I might just PM you to find out where this favorite spot of yours is :-)
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[You mention someones 1800 series charts. Would they be Imray or Admiralty??]

Dutch Charts

Get the Timing / Tides right for the Schelde it does flow fast + wind over tide:eek:
 
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Where woould be the best place to buy the 1800 serie Charts from, can they be bought in advance over here or would I have to wait till I got over there??.. bearing in mind, I'd like them to get over there in the first place, lol.

Ive just tried looking for them in some of the online chandlers, but to no avale..
 
AndyAndKatie said:
Where woould be the best place to buy the 1800 serie Charts from, can they be bought in advance over here or would I have to wait till I got over there??.. bearing in mind, I'd like them to get over there in the first place, lol.

Ive just tried looking for them in some of the online chandlers, but to no avale..
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This will be ok + other publications on the site
http://www.foxsonline.com/acatalog/info_IYICC30.html

this is also very useful
http://www.foxsonline.com/acatalog/info_KHNP251.html
 
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Thanks for those links saiorman. It looks like Ive open up a hornets nest now though lol
Ive been looking at the imray charts but also found some Stanford Passage charts that look pretty good. I spose it all depends on preference.

These are the ones I've found

Imray C30 - Harwich to Hoek van Holland (good coverage but a bit large on scale)
Admiralty SNC1872 -
Stanfords Passage Chart - Sheet 1 English channel.

The tidal stream atlas looks a good bet too..

This is going to cost a fortune before Ive even got there lol
 
AndyAndKatie said:
Thanks for those links saiorman. It looks like Ive open up a hornets nest now though lol
Ive been looking at the imray charts but also found some Stanford Passage charts that look pretty good. I spose it all depends on preference.

These are the ones I've found

Imray C30 - Harwich to Hoek van Holland (good coverage but a bit large on scale)
Admiralty SNC1872 -
Stanfords Passage Chart - Sheet 1 English channel.

The tidal stream atlas looks a good bet too..

This is going to cost a fortune before Ive even got there lol
Click to expand...

our atlas is well over 30 yrs old, getting a bit "Dog Ear`d" & some pages getting rubbed through but it still works
 
To get to versemeer you don't need 1800 series charts or pilot book. Reeds will sort out the entrance to Flushing and then you turn right into the canal and keep going until you enter the versemeer.

I like Niuewport from Ramsgate because at 50 miles it's a nice day sail. Zeebrug is a horrible commercial port to transit and I don't like Oostende (which is also 50% more expensive). Also garlic Langoustine followed by KYCN steak at the KYCN club house is flipin gorgeous. The chandlers have a 70% off clothing sale in the sumer! :):):)

And no apologies needed for hijacking the thread, we are all very nice people on the ECF :p
 
pasta_simon said:
To get to versemeer you don't need 1800 series charts or pilot book. Reeds will sort out the entrance to Flushing and then you turn right into the canal and keep going until you enter the versemeer.

I like Niuewport from Ramsgate because at 50 miles it's a nice day sail. Zeebrug is a horrible commercial port to transit and I don't like Oostende (which is also 50% more expensive). Also garlic Langoustine followed by KYCN steak at the KYCN club house is flipin gorgeous. The chandlers have a 70% off clothing sale in the sumer! :):):)

And no apologies needed for hijacking the thread, we are all very nice people on the ECF :p
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Some Im told get a good price in Oostende too ;)
 
pasta_simon said:
To get to versemeer you don't need 1800 series charts or pilot book. Reeds will sort out the entrance to Flushing and then you turn right into the canal and keep going until you enter the versemeer.

I like Niuewport from Ramsgate because at 50 miles it's a nice day sail. Zeebrug is a horrible commercial port to transit and I don't like Oostende (which is also 50% more expensive). Also garlic Langoustine followed by KYCN steak at the KYCN club house is flipin gorgeous. The chandlers have a 70% off clothing sale in the sumer! :):):)

And no apologies needed for hijacking the thread, we are all very nice people on the ECF :p
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I've been around on these ECF's for a couple of years now, but I'm just more of a reader than a poster.
So what do you use for navigating up the coast from Niuewpoort to Flushing then??

sailorman said:
Some Im told get a good price in Oostende too ;)
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Oh, and I think sailorman must have contacts ;-)
 
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