2026 Summer Cruise 19th to 24th August

 19/08/26 Arneplaat to Den Osse (via Bruinisse for Pizza and Chips!)

A 10:30 start to make optimum use of tides in the Oosterschelde. It already felt reasonably lively and Patrick had even opted to wear his boots.... I stayed barefoot but was wearing oilies by the time we left.

 

 

Patrick and AJ made sure the reef in our mainsail was ready to go. As the wind was behind us we just used the headsail to get us down to the lock where we were entertained by a small dog that seemed intent on trying to jump in to the water... we think he was interested in the jellyfish! 

Once through the lock we just used our old favourite combo of headsail and mizzen to head up towards the Zeelandbrug before putting the main up for the run up to Bruinisse. Sadly, as the day went on the wind got lighter and lighter and in the end we motor sailed the last stretch to Bruinisse Lock as we still had a way to go to get to Den Osse. Once through the lock we could smell..... CHIPS! and were reminded of the fact that the shop at the big marina does Pizza too. We ducked into the marina and were allowed to tie up at the fuel pontoon just long enough to order and collect before making our way up to Den Osse.

20/08/26 Shopping in Zierikzee

I'd worked out that it was market day in Zierikzee so much to our friend Sam's amusement I dragged Patrick along for a mooch and a provisioning run. After a false start a the first car park (we'd only ever been to the big out of town supermarkets by car, or the town centre by boat) we found a car park with some space. We then had a lovely walk into the town centre to the market. Zierikzee really is beautiful.

Unfortunately the market wasn't quite as fantastic as Tripadvisor had promised, but we did find an amazing deli and bought awesome cheese and continental sausages before heading to Lidl and Albert Heijn for supplies for the next week.

21/08/26 Den Osse

Friday was a jobs kind of day. Patrick as ever was pottering.... I can't even remember what with, whilst AJ and I  put the heat shrink we had now found on the battery cable connector we had fitted at the start of the trip. AJ also moved the connectors around to bypass the common negative switch we have in our engine bay. Despite having fitted the new connector at the start of the trip, later on we still had the same problem of trying to start the engine killing all power, both domestic and engine. I had "fixed" this by turning the negative switch off and back on again, so now suspect that the switch needs replacing. Bypassing it for now may help us prove if this is the case.

We got a load of laundry done and I miraculously convinced the boys that we should buy tickets and stick around for the Den Osse Beach Party  the next night, along with a German/English couple we had met earlier in the year.

Lunch was a boat favourite (taking advantage of E not being around) of Thai Sweetcorn fritters and sweet chilli sauce, and then we followed up with an evening meal of Chicken Masaman.

22/08/26 Den Osse Beach Party

In return for the boys attending the beach party, we had another jobs day and I was tasked with going through lockers to see what we could get rid of. But not before a brunch of a kind of kedgeree made from the leftover curried fish from our Lidl shop.

First up was the heads lockers... and the First Aid kit. Needless to say everything was out of date, and before our big trip next year (assuming all goes to plan) we will need to restock. We are gradually making lists of "non-negotiables" and "nice to have" jobs and items to be taken care of before next July. We have arranged to be lifted out at Brouwershaven and talked to the boatyard about what work we think is a priority but equally we are due an insurance survey so will be guided by that too.

After getting rid of an insane amount of out of date/redundant bottles etc the cupboards look altogether more organised and I even found the part of the toilet roll holder that had been missing for over a year! We had a late lunch followed by showers then off to the Beach Party. Club members had made the beach are look very decorative, and we could exchange tokens for cocktails, beer, wine, chicken satay and spicy prawns. It was nice to get to know the German/English couple better and we all had a good evening, although we did head back way before the party finished.

23/08/26 Den Osse to Ossehoek

After a prolonged stay at our home port (never really a hardship) we decided to head out to the islands for a few nights before (hopefully) Esme returns and we need to start getting Laurin ready to be lifted out for the winter. We had a lovely sail round Hompelvoet and back to Ossehoek where we gently nosed in to a small harbour, choosing the outermost pontoon until Patrick could take a walk with our leadline to check depth on the rest of the jetties. We had some discussion about if Ossehoek would be too exposed overnight with the wind both building and changing direction. In the end we decided to risk it as the next night would be even worse so we wanted to save the shelter of Stampersplaat for then. As the day went on, some day trippers left and we were joined by some Dutch Sea Scouts in their small steel boats which they use for camping.

24/08/26 Ossehoek to Stampersplaat.

It was a rocky, rolly and creaky night, and at numerous points I wished we were in Stampersplaat, however we survived... and much better than the boat on the outside of our pontoon. Pretty much everybody in the little harbour were up early and getting ready to head off and we joined the flotilla of boats heading away from Ossehoek.... most in the direction of Stampersplaat. Luckily I managed to manoeuvre Laurin into a remaining space on the Quay and we settled down for a second breakfast for Patrick and I, first for AJ who didn't quite make it up in time for round one!

Another jobs day in beautiful surroundings.. Patrick cleared out the cockpit whilst AJ and I reorganised the forepeak and under the kids bunks. AJ's bunk now hides both paddleboards, the asymmetric spinnaker and the old dragon sail that we use as a mizzen staysail and as a man overboard recovery device. WIN. Esme's bunk is now dedicated to maintenance stuff and the forepeak actually has some space for bags etc if needed.... oh, and we can now shut the door! We did a lot of measuring and researching.... our out of date EPIRB can be serviced to give us another 10 years life for a reasonable cost, and we found a blue sky solar controller that wasn't fitted in the last refit which I think we can make good use of now. So much on board has a 10 to 12 year life and it's now 11 years since we first came over to the Netherlands, 9 years since we set of for the Med. Lots of things need updating but unless we are definitely doing big trips again then we can make a judgement call about priorities.

When clearing out the forepeak I found my sail repair kit so took the time to fix our wind scoop which had some small holes in it, repaired one of the seams and sealed the ends of  the ropes. Patrick repacked the dinghy and measure it up for a new bag as well as tidied the anchor locker, deciding what could come off the boat once we get back to Den Osse. We have no need for a petrol can or 2-stroke oil as we don't have an outboard any more. We probably also don't need to carry quite so many spare fuel cans! All in all quite a productive day!

2026 Summer Cruise 15/08/26-18/08/26

 15/08/26 Goes - Neeltje Jans anchorage

Today was the day that we said goodbye to Esme who would be going home with our Dutch friends for a week or two of playing with horses. First up though was an early morning ride on Icelandic horses for her and Jazz. Meanwhile, Patrick, AJ and I got Laurin ready for the 8am bridge out of Goes. 

In order to keep Laurin in the Netherlands we need to "reset" our Temporary Admission "clock" in order to avoid permanently importing Laurin to the Netherlands and having to pay VAT. Very kindly the Dutch have implemented a system where we notify customs and then sail offshore to one of 2 navigation marks, take a selfie rounding it and then when we return send it to them along with a photo of our AIS track. They will then issue us with a "Temporary Import Porting Document" which is valid for another 18 months. We can do this for up to 10 years and then if we wish to stay we need to pay VAT on the current value of Laurin at that point. In reality this means we need to do the trip out to WP6 each year as we can never guarantee the weather late or early in the season to use the full 18 months. 

Last year we went to Roompot Marina with our Dutch friends and took advantage of their free swimming pool (with slide and wave machine) the days either side of our trip out. This time, without Esme on board, none of us were bothered about the pool so we chose to save some money and try out the anchorage near Neeltje Jans. We had taken a look before when the kids were very young and didn't feel too great about it, but now having anchored much more when we were in the Med we were keen to take another look. The journey there was uneventful (except for the bacon and egg butties using the last of "almost real" bacon I'd bought in Belgium), with us needing to motor nearly all the way. It still amazes me that a whole bunch of traffic is held up to let little old us pass under bridges. 

Once at the anchorage we were reassured to see a number of other boats with the same plan. It was not the prettiest of locations... rather more functional.... but it served a purpose and saved us some Euros. 

It was quite a breezy evening but as we had been anchored since almost lunchtime (teaching AJ how to calculate the correct length of chain) we felt secure in our holding. I was most dismayed to find that my go to anchor alarm app when we were in the Med had been discontinued.... RIP Drag Queen! In the end I couldn't find a good solution without paying, and once I get my free access to Savvy Navvy it will include one, so we settled for dropping a pin on my Navionics boating app when we anchored and then recording our track for some reassurance.

We dozed and chilled out for most of the afternoon then had dinner and an earlyish night.

16/08/26 Neeltje Jans anchorage to Vlissingen via WP6

I was a little anxious as I'd emailed the Douane (customs) in advance about our trip out to WP6 but unlike last year, had no confirmation. Regardless, Patrick was keen to get the trip out of the way so we left at about 7am, ensuring our AIS was on and that our track was being stored on our Navionics app. Despite a lack of wind, it was a little more  rocky and rolly than I anticipated but in the end was a pretty uneventful trip. 

We managed to sail once we had rounded WP6 and as it was the first time we had sailed along the Dutch coast north of Vlissingen, it was interesting to see new scenery. We finished the day in the small yacht club after the first lock into the Middleberg canal and enjoyed showers and a beer in the clubhouse. Once back on board, we saw some English boats arriving so went to say hello. They had chartered out of Suffolk Yacht Harbour... part of our old stomping ground and it was their first time in the Netherlands. We joined them on their boat for a drink whilst they took advantage of our "local knowledge".

17/08/26 Vlissingen to Mosselplaat

Early in the morning I sent all the information needed to the Douane email address and then followed up with a phonecall. Luckily there are about 4 phone numbers on the automated reply so eventually (third try) I got to speak to a real person. The lady didn't know so much about the Temporary Admission so said she would ask her colleague to deal with it. We did a quick supermarket run for milk and bread and then got underway. The Middleberg canal seemed more like a motorway with a fleet of Belgian craft obviously on their way home for the end of the holidays. We stopped at Jos Boone in Middleberg to fill up with Diesel, before heading  up to the Veerse Meer. We moored at Mosselplaat, imspired by our Dutch friends' mussel harvest from earlier in the trip and AJ and I set out with a bucket and boat hook. Once we had enough I set about cleaning them and putting them to soak in seawater ready for lunch the next day. 

We had a lovely dinner of pasta with ratatouille whilst watching others enjoying the Veerse Meer. One particularly overcrowded small cruiser appeared to be demonstrating "incorrect trim" with her stern almost under water!

18/08/26 Mosselplaat to Arneplaat

After a lazy morning we confirmed with Dutch customs that all was in order regarding our trip to WP6. Then smoked salmon and scrambled eggs for brunch and a discussion about plans for the day.... do we head back to the Grevelingenmere or stay on the Veerse Meer for another day. The thought of a possible mooring close to a take away so we could have chips with the mussels won over and we decided to stay on the Veerse Meer. We headed east through the sailing schools, marvelling at what a great area it must be to learn to sail. Kids were being taught in all manner of craft, but more importantly were on adventures to islands where they could catch crabs and have a picnic. Ploughing through "windsurfer alley" needed eyes everywhere and then disappointingly the jetty close to the take away was busy enough for us to give it a miss. We would have needed to raft up and it was pretty exposed and noisy. We all voted for heading inland and finding a quieter spot.

We enjoyed a gentle sail under headsail only down to Arneplaat and then I cooked the mussels in a Thai sauce for lunch. 

Once lunch was done, and Patrick had washed up... we discovered the galley sink was blocked! After much poking of random objects down the plug hole we concluded that the blockage must be in the seacock. AJ didn't need toooo much persuading to go for an after lunch swim and armed with goggles and a wooden spoon, managed to scrape a barnacle off the outside of the seacock which had caused the problem.

Arneplaat is a beautiful little island with a well protected little harbour. However it is only deep enough for us to moor up alongside the outer pontoon (but can use either side so we are still protected).

2026 Summer Cruise 10/08/26-14/08/26

10/08/26 - Stampersplaat to Den Osse

After a couple of days on Stampersplaat it was time for a marina day catching up on shopping, laundry and showers. We then rewarded ourselves with an obligatory trip to Jeanzz, our favourite Dutch restaurant.... no photos as there's only so many photos of Jeanzz ribs I can take!

11/08/26 Den Osse to Archipel via Brouwershaven.

After a lazy morning we motored Laurin round to Brouwershaven to have a chat with the guy who will be lifting her out at the end of this trip and doing some work whilst she is stored at Jachtwerf Brouwershaven for the winter. We wanted him to look at the broken skin fitting which Patrick temporarily fixed last year and suggest the most economical solution, and also ask his opinion about a few other jobs. Once that was done we had a nice sail to Archipel, another of our favourite islands where we rafted up alongside Lynan. It wasn't the ideal place to moor as we had a lot of swell in the evening and the creak of rubbing fenders meant we had a pretty broken nights sleep.

12/08/26 Boat BBQ Pizza on Archipel

Today we relaxed, swam, paddle boarded and then had "boat pizza" for tea cooked on the Cobb on the back of the boat. We finished of with S'mores before watching the eclipse and then sunset.

13/08/26 Archipel to Goes

A long day motoring to Goes with an occasional motor sail in the middle. Once safely tied up next to Lynan we had a VERY welcome swim in to escape the 35 Degree heat. It took a long time for the temperature to drop enough to even consider our BBQ and the fact that we had one Cobb between 8 of us meant that we were cooking and eating well into the evening. 

14/08/26 Goes

I got up early to go shopping before it got too hot, and in the meantime Esme and Jazz headed off to the swimming pool in Goes, determined to make a day of it. Whilst the rest of us were content with a cooling dip off the back of the boat, the girls were enticed by the lazy river and flumes at the pool. Once the shopping was done it was pretty lazy day, resting down below out of the worst of the heat, then braving the sunshine just long enough to climb over the back of the boat for a swim. 

Once they got back we headed into the town centre to the fair.... opting to buy a snack out rather than cook. 

First up the girls went on the Octopus... a tactical move getting the most vomit inducing ride out of the way before eating fast food which turned out to be a really smart move given the amount of Mayo the shop put on Esme's chips!

We then watched the girls go on a couple more rides... and I had the obligatory go on the racing camels before buying Churros and heading back to the boat.