| At around 11.00 a.m. all boats left at once and without really understanding how, we also had left motoring out of Yrseke at Low Water (!). It was really an adventure to see sand banks on both sides of the narrow "river" which definitely was deeper than it was wide.
Out of Yrseke, we hoisted sails and got a nice sail up north towards Zierikzee. OK, we had some 0,5 kts against us, but ZEEPAARD sailed so nicely and the distance, a total of 12 nm, was so short, so time was really no issue.
Most people seem so sail like this here. Since there are no distances to talk about, the time sailing is no issue and tidal currents thus of secondary importance. Our sail the day before, for instance, from Brouwershaven to Yrseke was more or less from one end to the other, from the bitter end of Grevelingenmeer to the other end of Osterschelde. And it was only 22 nm and did not take long thanks to tides with us (as well as a strong engine).
This sailing area is just perfect for us this time, but what Karolina and I both can not understand is that so many people sail here year by year. It is all so tiny and we almost feel a bit "confined" here, without the open seas and an unbroken horizon. It is a great area for practicing tides and thus a perfect holiday for us, and certainly for week-end sailing, but we would be missing the traveling part of sailing. One family came from a bit further away, Amsterdam, and I thought they at least had some "real" sailing on the North Sea to get here. But no, they went some sort of inland canals, which took 3 days to get here, since they had to go through many opening bridges. They did this every year.
And all this traffic! It is great for us now for these 10 days of sailing, but what Karolina and I also like, is to go out to sea, have the autopilot sail the boat and then just live on board: eat - sleep - read - play (with the children, I mean, of course!). I am glad we have got this feeling confirmed, since otherwise it would not make sense to have ordered this big new boat, which is a long distance blue water cruiser in first place. I think we will not enter the North Sea this time, however, but it is certainly there calling for us for next year. With our HR40 REGINA 2 in Neustadt next summer, we are really looking forward to go through the Kiel Kanal and then to enter into the German North Sea!
These adventurous thoughts would previously automatically have meant uncertainty. Our sail practice here in Dutch Zeeland (i.e. the "Old Zeeland" not to be mixed up with "New Zeeland" a bit further away) has given us enough experience to look forward to the North Sea.
Our Zeeland sail is like an appetizer and we are already longing for the main course!
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