Low Water
No, I must start again: It is LOW WATER!
We did not believe our eyes and despite the fact that our children already were in bed at 22.00, we had to take them out of their berths and ashore, climb up the steep gangway up from the mooring pontoon onto the dijk. The light was almost gone but in the dark we could clearly see it all: the land out there at sea, which was not there when we came!
We saw the buoys and their moorings lying on the sand. Did I ever complain about the number of buoys? I really understand why you need them! The water in between the buoys was now just a narrow "Grachten", looking like a little river. Yes, you could still enter port, in between the sandbanks - in this little piece of water - entering the harbour through a huge wall looking like lock doors.
How different had it all been when we entered 6 hours ago! Water everywhere, boats going on the wrong side of the buoys, the same buoys now laying on the sand. Of course, we had gone on the right side of all buoys but, admittingly, just because we should go there, not knowing what was on the other side of the buoy. Well, on the other side of the buoy, there was water, enough for Zeepard then, but now...? Look how it is all now! A totally different landscape! "The riddle of the sands" became clear to me now, much clearer than I ever could imagine when I read the book some month ago.
And still, it was a riddle for me how it all worked out. First of all, where was all the water gone? These were huge number of tons of water, not there any longer! One m3 of water, that is 1 m by 1 m by 1 m, that is one tone or 1000 litres. Enough for many bath tubs or showers, or drinking water for many, many weeks (in sweet water configuration that is). Now the tide had gone down by 4 meters (it is spring tide now). So 4 000 litres of water for each square meter of sea! And the Osterschelde is huge if you count in square meters! And if you consider the whole of the North Sea....!!! That is above my calculation abilities!
I feel like a boy from Africa who sees snow for the first time. Think of this: I am 38 years old and have never experienced tidal waters. Maybe I have seen tidal waters before, when I was in England as a teenager or so, but that is not the same thing as experiencing it. To live with it. To be dependent on it. Floating or standing on ground. Alive or dead. It is impressive!
And even more impressive is the fact that man has computed all this and can predict when all this will happen on the minute, years in advance. Even how much water there will be under the keel at specific points at given times! And now comes the biggest clue: It works! We have seen it! It was correct! Even proven with GPS!
