Blogs from Middelburg, Zealand, Netherlands, Europe

On Saturday, Debussy left Middleburg at 2:30 for a long day and overnight back to Amsterdam for. As the weather was marvelous, we spent the entire afternoon outdoors on the top deck, enjoying the sunshine, the cool breeze and the beautiful scenery. After transiting a series of locks, entered a large bay with islands. Hundreds of sailboats were out taking advantage of the unusually wonderful weather on a Saturday afternoon. Fran snapped a picture of some Dutch campers. Occasionally, our relaxation was punctuated with 4 short blasts of the horn which is to remind boaters to get the f out of the way. Boaters can be really stupid. Except for watching, other activities up top included eating and drinking and maybe a little exercise. Fran did a full hour of Yoga and she did a special ... read more

The Amalea left Hoorn during dinner last night, and cruised all night and this morning to get to Middelburg, in the southern part of the Netherlands (in a province called Zealand - apparently where the name New Zealand came from). It was very pleasant, and sometimes sunny, sitting on our balcony while cruising this morning. After lunch on board, we went on a(nother) walking tour of Middelburg - a small town, with lots of complicated European history. Then back on board, and sailed during dinner again, apparently had to catch the times of the bridge openings, en route to Belgium.... read more

A certain sense of Déjà vu overcame us as we arrived at Dover and set sail for Dunkirk Woolly Says – it was quite a strange journey as Oliver’s Army set off on the same paths once travelled by Georgie. The best ferry we have had so far and though the crossing is half an hour longer than to Calais it didn’t seem it. We picked up the A10 and flew up the coast past our previous stopping points, we did a quick stop to see Fort Neopolian in Ostend (it was closed!) and since the wind was minimal we admired the beach for a few minutes before setting our one surviving female (Mia only works in the UK so we have left her there) Tomi, we were soon beetling along towards Gent. After a few ... read more