A new adventure with the BCC Trekkers, by Per Kjellqvist.

An SMS to John and we had a deal – The BCC Trekkers were to meet up in Ramsgate in 3 days, cross to Belgium and then take it from there. For those not familiar with the BCC Trekkers, it is the newly formed unauthorized sub-section of the BCC consisting of “Diesel engine” John and Victoria, and “Jumble specialists” Per and Elly (with expert help on Lazy II on route to Queenborough from “Polo shirt” John Yates and Webmaster Hans).

Day 1 (16 July)

The 2 boats, Lazy II and Carte Blanche first met up a few miles outside Margate on Saturday morning 16 July. Elly and John spotted each other with the binoculars, waved, and our little expedition was now a fact! Conditions could not have been much better: sunny, warm and little wind.

Ramsgate marina is always a pleasure to visit, with lots of space for mooring, great facilities and just a short walk from town. (A walk Victoria is now a Guiness book of records contender for - having done it 4 times in one afternoon!)

If there is anything to complain about Ramsgate it could possibly be that boat mechanics are closed on weekends so the only way to get diesel filters is by taxi to a local Halfords (John knows what I am talking about here!).

So how do properly reared BCC members spend the evening in Ramsgate? What else than a local curry house to savour a good old curry madras before heading off to the continent!

Day 2 (17 July)

Not really living up to the name of their boat, John and Victoria set off across the channel at the first slack around 05:15 in the morning, while we decided to be “lazy” and go for the second slack around noon, giving us plenty of time to get the Sunday papers and soak up a breakfast in the sun.

Lazy II got to Oostende around 11am, got a good mooring and then tried to negotiate a space for us with an especially funny harbour master. As things turned out we arrived around 4pm to an over-crowded marina with boats rafting up to 6 wide. Elly managed to charm the harbour master, and Carte Blanche was squeezed between 4 rafted boats on one side and 2 on the other. All was in good humour and before we knew it we were sitting on the back deck of Lazy II enjoying a lovely meal with fresh Belgium mussels as a starter and chicken as a main dish.

Day 3 (18 July)

Carte Blanche is one of those boats that just loves Diesel, and because it is still tax free in Belgium we set out a bit earlier in order to stop in Blankenberge for a fill up. Although the winds were strong, they were blowing offshore and both boats had a calm sea on route to Flushing (or Vlissingen as the Dutch insist on calling it). Later that day we heard that the winds had switched to SW force 7, which would have meant a very unpleasant ride!

Because Lazy II is one of those boats that just loves a new diesel filter every half hour or so (and when it doesn’t get one it runs slower) we ended up waiting in Flushing about an hour. Middelburg, which is just a short canal trip up from Flushing was our destination for the day. After John was directed to a box mooring that was less than the width of his boat and we managed to pull off part of our side railing, we ended up in a nice part of the marina, which is right in the centre of town. Keeping up with the BCC protocol, John and I were obliged to test the local clubhouse and some very inexpensive lager. We are happy to report that it has been approved as a suitable watering hole! When it came to dinner we could not really keep up with the BCC protocol … Indian. So we went for the closest sound alike: Indonesian. This is in fact the Dutch national food! We managed to finish almost all of a very large rijstafel, which is a mix of Indonesian dishes.

Day 4 (19 July)

After a short trip due north on the canal we reached a lock where we learned that you don’t gain anything by being polite in high season! After having missed 2 locks because of new boats arriving and jumping the queue, we decided to be tough. Lazy II went straight for the lock entrance and almost got squeezed behind a tourist day trip boat! The lock ended up being packed to the gills with boats almost lying on top of each other. Upon exiting the lock we were now in the beautiful Veerse Meer, and first up on the agenda was a sight seeing stop in Veere. This is a small village totally unspoilt of supermarkets fast food etc, and instead we enjoyed a market selling traditionally made goods and snacks.

After Veere we took a short cruise due east on the lake and found a natural mooring in a sheltered spot. This was on the advice from some people we met in the lock. The spot was perfect as by now the wind was very strong (around force 6). We all relaxed in the sun while John worked on his starboard engine, which by now was not keen on delivering more than around 2000 revs despite countless new filters. The evening was rounded of with a BBQ, wine, beer and then a good whiskey. A meal that would give any 5 star restaurant a good match.

Day 5 (20 July)

The wind that started yesterday had by now dragged in cloudy weather, and so the ride to our next destination, Goes, was under closed canopies. Before getting to Goes we had to go through 2 locks and a short bit of canal. In order to communicate between the 2 boats we had selected channel 6 on the VHF but we were not alone: a group of English sailing boats also on route to Goes had chosen the same channel. So we had fun listening to their lock adventures and other instructions. At one stage we thought we heard a “mayday” on the VHF but it turned out to be one of the sailing boats whose name was Hayday (of York). Good choice of name!

Getting into the municipal harbour of Goes is not for beginners, and this time it was extra tough due to strong winds and an over packed harbour. Lazy II was the talk of the town in the afternoon after having had to manoeuvre into a box mooring in a very tight space with impatient boats following behind. The harbour master was not happy but I know that he and John made up in days to come.

The Carte Blanche crew are big fans of the shops in Goes, and it did not take long before we were out shopping in town. Goes is in the middle of the province Zeeland, which is known to have the best mussels in Holland. Mussels on the back deck of Carte Blanche on a nice (but chilly) summer night in Goes – what more can one ask for.

Day 6 (21 July)

By now we knew there was something wrong with the starboard engine of Lazy II, (or with the diesel supply), which meant John ended up spending most of the day chasing up a local mechanic and getting advice on the phone from the UK. Did I mention that the Carte Blanche crew loves shopping in Goes? Well that is how we spent the day.

Day 7 (22 July)

It was now time for the MCC Trekkers to go separate ways. Carte Blanche set out to explore more wonders of Holland while feeling sorry for Lazy II which was now “grounded” in Goes until the engine problem could be fixed. As things turned out, we had a tough ride up to Willemstad with very strong winds, and overcrowded locks. But that is another story.

BCC Newsroom

Which is located in the marina display information, news and photos related to the cruising club.