Playing hide and seek with the big boys (NL to FR)

This week, we covered 300 nautical miles along the coats of the Netherlands, Belgium and France to reach Cherbourg. During this journey, we kept a constant look out for big ships as we crossed the entrances leading to major european ports. Because their speed is 2 to 4 times faster then ours, these cargo carriers sneak up on us in no time.

Crossing the Maasgeul

When leaving Scheweningen, we were a little anxious about crossing the Maasgeul, a sort of highway interchange of shipping lanes leading to Europort. We had cautiously planned to use the crossing passage dedicated for “small boats” and announced ourselves on VHF Channel 3. At the time we crossed, we actually had to be more careful with the the many boats in this dedicated passage than the large ships in the Trafic separation scheme itself.

Navigating in this dense area, the electronic equipment is a precious help. It identifies the ships on the chart plotter and tells you their speed, bearing as well as time and distance of Closest Point of Approach (CPA). To our surprise, we passed next to what looked like huge parking areas for freighters.

Continuing our way down the coast of the Netherlands, we saw a large group of seals. They were curious and checked Fabule out.

Just before the sunset, we reached the mark of 3000 nautical miles on our log and shared a cup of rhum with Neptune.

The sun produced an amazing light show that evening.

Dunkerque, Malo les bains and WW2

Conveniently located before entering the English Channel, Dunkerque provided a good stopover. The main industries (shipping, metallurgy, construction, energy) were displayed on the coast. On the pedestrian area in town and around the many harbour basins, the atmosphere was festive with people beeing on holiday mood on this August long weekend (Assomption).

Dunkerque’s beach, Malo les bains, streches over 4 km on the North Sea. When looking at this colorful crowd of vacationers, it is difficult to picture that this beach as the scene of the hasty and tragic evacuation of French and British soldiers caught between water and German fire during World War 2 (operation dynamo).

Riding the tide in the Dover Strait

Timing was key for the next leg to Cherbourg, so that we had the strong tidal current with us for the narrowing passage of Dover Strait (Passe de Calais) and the approach to Cherbourg. We took advantage of a pause in the dominant westerly winds to take off. The sea state was calm and the winds were light. The tide was pushing us through the Dover Strait.

While making our way along the french coast, we met an impressive squall. We could hear thunder and see ligthning flashes. Antenna engineer reflexes kicking in, Yan put the backup radio and cell phones into the microwave oven (faraday cage). Silvia got the paper map and marked our position. Just in case. An aluminium boat is already a good farady cage, but our electronic equipement could still be damaged by a lightning strike.

Nothing of the sort happened and we were able to continue our way as the skies cleared and the sun set with glorious colors.

The next morning, we arrived in Cherbourg where we will stay a few days. About 100 nautical miles separate us from Tréguier and we will need to wait for a favorable weather window.