IN ROME

I just have to show you these two pictures

                                                        The Colloseum, Is just huge!

           The Pantheon, is also huge, and a marvel of construction for its age, over 1600 years

                                                              IN FLANDERS

We cruise through a tranquil landscape, alone on a treelined canal. The wide flat land slowly rises ahead, we see tall church spires ahead between the trees, we are coming to a town.
Two deep locks lift us out of the coastal plains. the waterway ends In a very old looking stone lined basin, a friendly habourmaster greets us, wecome to Leper, (Ypres)
Antiope is one of only three visiting boats, not many come this way by water.

We had just rejoined Antiope in Dixmuide, after travelling by train from Rome, What way to see some country! Hot dry and dusty through to snowy Alps then steep vinyard clad slopes of the Rhine gorge, however the temperature dropped as we came North and changed trains many times.
What did I know about Flanders and the 'War to end all wars' clearly not enough, We were moored only metres from the trenches where over 4 years, thousands of Belgians died holding on to the last remaining corner of their country.

'The Trench of Death' the last line of defense for Belgium

And so to Ypres. We walk up a slight hill from the basin, newish houses give way to the now familiar flemish architechture, we arrive at the market square in all its'a 14th century grandeur, when it rivalled London for wealth and population.
What is inspiring, as the war was devastating is how thw Belgian people have rebuilt their town. In 1917 not a building remained standing, now, you would believe that within the walls all is as it was centuries ago. but for one of the ancient gateways, the Menin gate, Rebuilt as a Memorial,
which I can only describe as massive and haunting bearing the names of the nearly 500,000 commonwealth soldiers who died here.

                                         A Belgian 'honour guard', at the Mennin Gate

We attended 'the last post' the daily 8pm ceremony, when quietly 1500 to 2000 people gather. The traffic stops, the town falls quiet, and the bugles call us all to remember.          

                                                         Ypres 1918, the Town Hall on the right

                                                           Ypres 2012, The same Town Hall.


We slip away from Ypres, back down the waterway that was the 'Front line' for four devastating years.  We reach the North Sea coast and take a day trip off Antiope, a tram ride along 30 Kms of coast. The Summer has finally arrived in Europe and it seems that the entire population of Belgium has hit the beach.

                                                          The Beach at Oostende

This will be the closest we get to the sea until we reach the Med in a season or two. for now Antiope heads inland to Brugge and Ghent. Towns that deserve a chapter of their own, watch this space.

Cheers Charles and Annie,  aboard Antiope in Sunny Ghent

2012 A busy year

An Author at last

                                          ' Swatchway Magic',   the book, finally in print

There is a saying, that there is a book in all of us. Well finally I can claim my place, with my name on a pubished work. Nothing grand, a modest paperback, however, the book 'Swatchway Magic' has been in the pipeline for over 10 years now. So, what is it all about? A boating tale of course, but also a nostalgic photographic journey along the Essex and Suffolk coast of England where I learned to sail.
The original Idea was hatched back in 2000 when co author Paul Antrobus was staying with us in Auckland. We had both sailed this coast and experienced the magic back then.
So What has this got to do with Antiope? Well she features in the text and her passage down the Thames and eventually to the Netherlands forms a thread through the book. 
Spare a moment while browsing and google 'Swatchway Magic' to learn more. The book is now available through some london bookstores, Amazon, Kindle, or drop me a line for an Authors copy.

An Atlantic adventure

The writer was invited last month to help crew a yacht from the Carribean to Newport, Rhode island.
The opportunity was too good to refuse, It has been many a year since I last sailed into English Harbour Antigua, at the end of my first Transatlantic crossing, so I was keen to see how much things had changed. Yes there are now rows of mega yachts being preened by their professional crews, but Nelsons dockyard has survived and been restored much as I remembered it.
A rum in the Admirals Inn was mandatory.
our passage, Due north by compass was very comfortable, not difficult aboard the 68ft Swan, 'Toucan'. That was until we reached the Gulf stream. This uncannily warm flow of water was being pushed up against the eastery wind the resulting lumpy seas caused our staysail stay to let go high up the mast, of course this happened in the dead of night. Taming a 75 ft steel serpent encased in a heavy wet sail does focus the mind.
The coast of America was heralded by rain squalls and grey mist, The moan of a foghorn from Brenton reef light was all we heard as we crossed the infamous waters where Americas cup battles had been fought over in decades past.
My first visit to Newport left me with the impression that The Americas Cup was still around somewhere perhaps in a clubhouse nearby, A deightfull time warp new England town just waking up for the season. Alongside us at the boatyard, the legendary 12 metres American Eagle and Intrepid were being rigged for the charter season.

                                        'Toucan'  A swan 68, a very comfortable ride.

New York was close enough for a visit by train, so in an all too short couple of days I saw the sights, Watched the world pass by in Times Square, rode the Staten Is ferry, and paid my respects at 'Ground Zero'

                                          'Ground Zero'  New York, a vrey fitting memorial.

On then to London. Meet up with my long suffering wife Annie, and start planning for our cruise aboard Antiope.

                                                  Antiope wakes after her winter sleep.
Our partners Roger and Robyn, are first aboard this season to commission Antiope. Relaunching in Enkhuizen they have cruised to Hoorn, Edam, and at last report were in the Hague. The general plan this year is to head south to warmer latitudes.  

Cheers Charles

Angels and Admirals

Although We have cruised a few kilometers since the last update, I have lacked the enthusiasm to report.
The Summer weather has eluded us until now...the first week of October! We have had no rain for almost a week now, plus record temperatures.
Our plan was always to explore the Netherlands before heading down to France next season. We have certainly done that, cruising from Maastricht in the South to the Northern coastline where we looked out on a bleak North Sea.

                                                                              Who gives way!
Our journey North followed the Maas river, sharing the waterway with massive commercial barges, quiet backwaters providing havens for the night.
At S-Hertogenbosh cathedral we were told to look out for the Angel on the cellphone. Oh yea, pull the other one! But there she was,carved in stone- Jeans, shoulder bag and cellphone up there on the roof with all the others.

The Angel on the cellphone

Where we could, we stayed off the main waterways, bypassing Rotterdam and Amsterdam. The Vecht river has to be one of the prettiest waterways, taking us to the Markermeer and the now landlocked inland sea that used to be the Zuider Zee.
Here we found the rich maritime history kept alive. Museums were out of the wind and rain, we learned all about the Dutch East India Company, and Admiral Micheal de Ruyter, and his battles with the English.
Tradtitional barges have been restored and are sailed enthusiastically. At Enkhuizen a whole village has been preserved as an active working museum. Across the IJsselmeer in Friesland the land is half water. We make it back to Sneek where two years ago our search for a boat began.

               We moor by the Watergate at Sneek, where we first started our boat hunt

By mid september the season was winding down, people had had enough of the weather, We too wanted to get back on the plane. Suddenly Summer happened.
The deserted squares and open air cafes reopened, and boaters pulled off their covers again. One of the highlights of this time was a visit in Meppel to the Korenmolen "De Weert", a fully restored and working flour windmill.

                                                         The working mill at Meppel
We visited Lelystad they have rebuilt the Batavia, a Dutch East Indiaman. Not satisfied with that they are now rebuilding de Ruyters flagship, The Seven Provinces, from scratch!

                         The Seven Provinces, de Ruyters flagship, being rebuilt from scratch

The mornings are misty now and the days shorter. In a week we will be hauling out for the winter in Enkhuizen.
      
 

We cruise to the hills

To the Highlands

Maastricht, from the hill

After cruising the Biesbosch, and spending a few days in Drimmelen marina, on the river Amer, and getting a few jobs sorted, we were told that we must visit Maastricht.
My only knowledge of the town was that here the treaty was signed that formed the EU.
The Wilhelminakanal, a man made waterway took us far to the South, This finger of the Netherlands pushes deep into Germany and Belgium, this is hill country.

Maasbrecht lock, a 12m rise

Massive Deep locks lift us to 300 ft above sea level. while most of Holland is some 5m below sea level.
We are joined in Maastricht by another two couples from NZ and Aus, bringing with them a decent size ensign, to try and match the huge flags flown from the local boats.

A series of  fronts head for Europe

The last few days have tested our patience with the weather, as a series of fronts have swept across Europe.
Heading north once more we have cruised down the Maas river, finding great evening moorings in little well serviced marinas.

A tight fit for Antiope

Misty morning

We are heading into the central regions towards Amsterdam,  
     
 

Cruising the Delta and the Biesbosch

We have gently eased into the gentle art of cruising in the Netherlands.

Restored Botter yachts in Veere

Thus after a couple of weeks getting the flavour of Zeeland, and enjoying the hospitality of the Middleburg Yacht club. We were joined there by a NZ couple Bruce and Val.
Underway again, the Town of Veere deserved another visit at the north end of the Middleburg canal, Once a major seaport when the wool trade with Scotland thrived, now it has become a picturebook tourist village.
Then We ventured once more onto the Meers, or landlocked waters lying between the delta islands.

Morning visitor at our Veersemeer mooring

The Dutch have created isolated island moorings in these meers.Here we moored free and woke up to find deer grazing close by in the morning.

Lift bridge at Zierikzee

Windmills and barge on the Hollandsdiep

Once more through the busy Zandkreek lock and a left turn took us to the old fishing port of Zierikzee. When sailing here as a lad on the old family boat it was one of my mothers favourite stops.

The Ark, built to the original dimensions!

Just around the bend outside Dordrecht we find the Ark! built by an excentric Dutchman over the last year or two, what is he trying to tell us?

A quiet mooring in the Biesbosch

Windmills are still part of the Netherlands landscape, once they were used to drain the land, now the modern versions provide power, These wind generators are everywhere here and after a while you don't notice them.
  Moving slowly inland we stopped at Willemstad and then Dordrecht, Here four commercial waterways meet, It is said to be the busiest maritime junction in Europe.
In contrast to this bustle and just to the south is the Biesbosch a huge wetland sanctury where we found a quiet mooring for the night among the reeds.
The last night aboard for our guests. Wind and rain and low water, greeted us in the morning, and the semi tidal creeks tested our skill with the echo sounder, we made our way south through the lattice of channels
Finally and With some relief we came to the deep waters of the river Amer and Drimmelen Marina.

Excuse the editing some if these pics have ended up out of step with the story
I will use the excuse that my screen is all in Dutch.
Cheers Charles and Annie

The Adventure begins

Antiope 4th July 2011
Our first week in a new country has been all we hoped for.
Two seasons of preparation are now beginning to pay off. After the crossing from England we spent a couple of days in Middleburg before heading up the waterway to the historic port of Veere.

Antiope moored in the old harbour at Veere

Little has changed in this picturebook dutch harbour here since my youth, here on family sailing holidays.
The dutch have been hard at work for centuries, keeping the North sea out of their back yard. in doing so they have created landlocked recreational waterways, like the Veersmeer, where we found a quiet island tied up and set up the BBQ.

First BBQ in Holland, on an Island on the Veersemeer

The morning after this magical evening, there were rumblings in the sky, heralding a dramatic thunderstorm,

Drama in the skies, over the Veersmeer

The trend for restoring and sailing traditional boats is strong here. We were overhauled by this Botter yacht on the Oosterschelte.

Traditional restored Botter yacht

We are getting familiar with lock etiquette. The general rule is that when the gates open and the lights turn green everyone makes their own run at it.
Survival of the fittest, tis good to own a steel boat.

Zandkreek lock at the head of the Veersmeem

July should see us heading northwards towards Amsterdam and the Isselmeer. but just now we are in no hurry enjoying the new found Summer weather.

Solar powered hydrofoil

While moored in Middleburg we watched a competition between solar powered craft, the winner, a hydrofoil reached speeds of 36km per hour.

Cheers Charles and Annie,      in Zeeland

  

The Netherlands at last

After a frustrating few weeks waiting for a weather window we made a dash for it across the North sea direct to Holland, or more correctly the Netherlands.

The Queen Mary passes us at Dawn, mid crossing

Mid way across, and just before dawn we saw what looked like a small ferry boat overtaking us, but it was way off the normal shipping lane. It grew in size and became the Queen Mary, she slowly cruised around us and carried on her way.

Antiope moored in Middleburg

From the comfort of the Middleburg yacht club we can look out on Antiope snug in the calm inland waters.
Now able to relax a little, look out for more regular Blog updates
Cheers Charles and Annie