05/08/26 Blankenberge and snooker golf
Martijn had fit the new fuel pump the previous evening so initially was contemplating moving on to Vlissingen in the afternoon, however Laurin (and crew) don't do well in lumpy seas so we suggested waiting a day for a (slightly) smoother ride which left us with a day to explore Blankenberge which was a new port to all of us and one that the Laurin's had hoped to explore anyway. Google had found a unique "snooker mini golf" about 15 minutes away, there was a Carrefour in town too, and a water taxi across the port entrance which meant that we could do a circular walk and also look at the sea state in case we changed our minds and decided to move today. First up we went to pay the harbourmaster and then started our expedition only to hear a rather large crash and see people running towards a big crane. Very quickly it became apparent that the crash was nothing to do with the crane and that there had been a serious car accident on the road below. Patrick (as our most qualified first aider) took off at speed to see if there was anything he could do whilst the rest of us followed. Apparently a car had been driving erratically, narrowly missed some cyclists and then hit the tramlines, flipped and landed on it's roof. Luckily the ambulance station was just down the road and so they were on site before Patrick got to the car.
We continued on, identified an Aldi which we could use later without having to carry groceries from the Carrefour around all day, and very quickly found the snooker golf. Everyone was thirsty by then so we all had a drink at the nearby cafe before the teenagers had a round of snooker mini golf whilst the adults enjoyed a second drink in the shade.
We then headed back along a very windy seafront where we were grit blasted by sand, confirming our decision to stay in port was a good one. Patrick chose to walk up to the end of the breakwater to look at the entrance at low tide whilst the rest of us caught the ferry as a shortcut back to the boats. A quick trip to Aldi and then an early night ready for a 3:30am alarm call for an early start to catch the tide.
06/08/26 Blankenberge to Mosselplaat
We'd decided to go early morning to make the most of the day, allow Martijn time at Jos Boone in Middleberg as he wanted to buy some new navigation equipment, and to hopefully get us moored up on an island on the Veerse Meer not only because it is beautiful, but also to save some money as mooring on the islands there is free. After the fun and games 2 days before we lent AJ to Lynan to be an extra pair of experienced hands.... and because Lynan sails better and AJ prefers this.
Martijn had all ready put a reef in Lynan but we hadn't done the same on Laurin as if it's windy we usually just sail with headsain and mzzen... although with hindsight a reefed main as well would have been helpful. Sailing without AJ was more challenging, although nothing we haven't done before. We needed to be more thoughtful about leaving the pontoon and fenders took longer to get in. Once out of the entrance channel the seas were really lumpy for Laurin and for the first hour we only managed about 4 knots and that was with probably a knot of tide to help us. Esme joined us on deck just before dawn.
Things improved somewhat once we were past Zeebrugge and we were rewarded by a lovely sunrise and we hoisted the main.
Despite our best efforts we missed the 8:38 "blue wave" at Vlissingen by about 2 minutes so moored up at the waiting pontoon for a bacon sandwich and a rest while Lynan motored on to Middleberge and Jos Boone. We finally caught them up about mid day, fuelled up at Jos Boone and then motored the rest of the way up the Middleberg canal to the Veerse Meer where we managed to find some space to moor on Mosselplaat island.
07/08/26 Mosselplaat to Zierikzee
A lazy pancake morning followed by another trip down the Veerse Meer, through the lock and under to the Zeelandbrug to beautiful Zierikzee. We had a lovely walk through the town to stock up on bread and milk and grab an ice cream before spending a pleasant evening on board.
08/08/2026 Zierikzee to Stampersplaat
An earlyish start to make the most of the tide but sadly no wind until we got through the Bruinisse Lock. Once we were through there was a little wind from behind so we took the opportunity to get our spinnaker out. Our original spinnaker for Laurin felt cumbersome compared with the small kite and pole on our old boat Vreny so before we went travelling we got an asymmetric kite made with the brief that we should be able to fly it as a cruising chute as well. It never really flew very well without the pole so it very rarely got used as it really needs three able hands to drop it. Now the kids are older we've been meaning to get it out for a play but never really had the right conditions for long enough for us to figure out our jury rigged setup. Today was a good day to try. Not sure if the symmetric would have been better but that was completely buried under the forepeak so the colourful sail that the kids designed came out to play and we enjoyed being able to keep up with Lynan for a change.
We finished the day with a well earned beer on one of our favourite islands - Stampersplaat.
09/08/26 Stampersplaat
A much needed lazy day on board. Read a book, did some jobs, had a little swim once the wind direction changed and there were not so many jellyfish to dodge. Reminded me why we love this place so much. Then we were rewarded in the evening by the wild horses coming to the little harbour we are moored in. Perfect!
In the evening we had a long awaited viewing of "Epic the musical" much to the girls' delight which AJ was forced to sit through as part of a deal made earlier in the year where he promised to watch it if Esme ate certain foods. We only managed half of it so will have to continue another day. We finished the day with a little stargazing at the beautiful dark night sky.
Bod came from Zerilksee
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