Help wanted for sailing trip to dunkerque Ostend and beyond

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Wendy7000

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Hi all. I'm completely new to this forum and am looking for any advice or tips you can give re a 2 week sailing holiday for our 1.8 m keel sailing boat. We are thinking of heading from ramsgate over to dunkerque and then on to Ostend and from there we aren't sure if we can get get down the canals to middelberg? Anna's possibly Rotterdam? There are only 2 of us on board and not that experienced so easy pontoon berthing is preferable. Finding it quite hard to get information about marinas and about what the depth and height restrictions are in the canals. Any recommendations for the best place to get information and any tips hints or recommendations hugely appreciated. Thank you
 
Hello and welcome.
A recent book on the subject would be a good start, eg the Imray guide 'Inland Waterways of the Netherlands'.
Don't be too ambitious, I suggest, if you only have two weeks. There are loads of very nice places to visit in the south without going anywhere near Rotterdam. You get to Middelberg via the Walcheren Canal, entering it at Vlissingen, which you reach on a coastal trip from Oostende.
Note recent thread about use of red diesel in Belgium!
 
If you're at Ostend you can make the entrance to the westerschelde but take advice from the harbour master about departure time. Don't ask how I know! It's also an idea to go to Breskens on the s. Side of the river entrance as it's all tide, from there it's an easy trip over the river to the canal entrance and a short trip to Middelberg
 
We have done that one a few times with 1.8 m draft. It is a lovely sail.
Do read the thread about Belgiums fining yachts for having red fuel on board.
Also take notice of the changing depths in the SW Sunk. Again there is a thread about it somewhere on these pages.
 
Wendy7000 said:
Thanks. What other places would you recommend. I'll have a look for the book and read the red diesel thread
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The VSW Schelde just inside the lock at Vlissengen is a good convenient stop over, it does get busy,as its a transit camp , food ok showers excellent
The Jos Boone ( floating Shipwinkel ) in Middelburg is handy for diesel, just moor up alongside
Veere ( go up the Church Tr ) & the sailing club is buzzing on a thursday evening
Goes ( Hoos)
Zeirekzee
 
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Wendy7000 said:
Fabulous thank you. Excuse the ignorance but what's the SW sunk?
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When you said you'd be starting from Ramsgate, is that where you are based? If so, SW Sunk is irrelevant.
However, excuse me saying this, but is your experience level sufficient to get you across the Channel ok, do you think? It's just that from your questions I am starting to wonder if you shouldn't be quite so ambitious yet, maybe get some more experience on the English coast first.
For instance, I crossed from Ramsgate to Dunkerque recently, set off with a breezy but not unreasonable forecast, and it turned out to be an absolutely foul trip that laid my other half low for several hours. Are you ready for something like that?
 
SW Sunk is a crossing point over Sunk sand. It comes into it's own if you are based in Essex and want to go East to Europe or South to North Foreland (Ramsgate etc). If you're based in Ramsgate, forget it unless you are going to Essex. (Don't snigger back there).
You don't say if you've made a crossing from Ramsgate before. If not then crossing the Dover Straits is something we've all done the first time. With modern weather forecasts it doesn't have to be too bad, just don't be tempted to go on a particular date because that's the date. Wait for the weather. The biggest scare is probably shipping. They move quite quickly but usually at a constant speed, always go behind them!
 
Cantata said:
When you said you'd be starting from Ramsgate, is that where you are based? If so, SW Sunk is irrelevant.
However, excuse me saying this, but is your experience level sufficient to get you across the Channel ok, do you think? It's just that from your questions I am starting to wonder if you shouldn't be quite so ambitious yet, maybe get some more experience on the English coast first.
For instance, I crossed from Ramsgate to Dunkerque recently, set off with a breezy but not unreasonable forecast, and it turned out to be an absolutely foul trip that laid my other half low for several hours. Are you ready for something like that?
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I think I'm with Cantata here. A bit more information on experience and seamanship skills would be appropriate before bombarding Wendy with suggestions. Without sounding too sanctimonious, before approaching the forums, I might have carried out a lot of research elsewhere, even a dip into the Almanacs and a bit of Chart pawing....... but hey ho we all have to start somewhere.....
 
Wendy7000 said:
Hi all. I'm completely new to this forum and am looking for any advice or tips you can give re a 2 week sailing holiday for our 1.8 m keel sailing boat.
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I do not know much about Belgium, but Zeeland (the Southern area of the Netherlands) is a lovely cruising ground.

You can enter at Vlissingen, then a short trip Northwards (a couple of hours?) is Middelburg (regional capital - much prettier). The berths in Middelburg are mostly between two posts, bows to a pontoon. Everything is very sheltered so it's not difficult (unless you are wider than the gap between the posts).

A short way beyond Middelburg is the Veerse Meer (sp?) which is a small inland lake (enclosed estuary). I vaguely remember coming alongside at Veere, but have spent several nights alongside pontoons on the small island in the middle of the meer. This has no facilities (except perhaps a loo and some bins), but is quieter.

Sailing East up the Veerse Meer you reach the Oosterschelde, a much larger body of water. Zierikzee is very nice (I think berths between posts again? Or rafting alongside), and has the best mussels in the area (and possibly in the world), and the Deltaworks museum is worth a visit (modern pontoons). It is possible to exit to the North Sea at the Roompotsluis, saving the traverse of the canals back South, though this means more time at sea.

Further North-East I recommend a visit to Willemstad on the Hollands Diep, which is a fortified town with WWII era defences. This again has modern marina facilities (posts or alongside, I forget which).

There is more than enough to explore in that area for a two week holiday, even without spending several days working your way up the coast, so it is probably not worth rushing further North; the open areas of water tend to run out, though some of the canals are ridiculously pretty.

Wendy7000 said:
There are only 2 of us on board and not that experienced so easy pontoon berthing is preferable. Finding it quite hard to get information about marinas and about what the depth and height restrictions are in the canals.
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In general the marinas on the Belgian & Dutch coasts are modern with decent facilities (good shower blocks), though often busy in the Summer, so be prepared to raft up (it's not difficult).

The canals and locks should be fine for any reasonable size yacht (I realise this is not terribly helpful without specific data), and the bridges open frequently. Sharing a lock with lots of Dutchmen (and commercial traffic) is quite an experience, but you should master it in no time. Hang lots of fenders, and be prepared to put your foot down when the lock gates open.

NB my recollections about marinas are a couple of years out of date, a pilot book (as recommended previously) would be the best source of more concrete information.

Good luck!
 
Mmm it's a very tough crowd on here prob why I haven't posted before. I feel very silly. Not based in ramsgate but further west and have been west along the coast only and across the channel to Cherbourg and the Channel Islands. If I'm brave enough to post again will ask more specific questions but was just looking for some tips and recommendations and thought that was ok. Have got some wonderful tips from some very kind souls so was definitely worth it.
 
Wendy7000, don't be put off coming here. Looking through the posts only two out of the lot have been 'tough'!
The other piece of advice I'd add to tLouth7's is; take a fender board for the locks. In summer they get pretty crowded and a certain amount of jostling can happen. If you are next to the lock wall a board mounted outside your fenders is really helpful and can save your gelcoat. Trust me on this one!
 
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