Vertue 61

October already and time to crane out the mast and get out the winter covers before the cold sets in and it becomes an endurance test.

Stavoren harbour

Has been a much better season for sailing for me and my wife than the former one which had me languishing in long covid fatigue. Thankfully this condition finally improved after nearly a year later than the initial infection.

I made the choice to become a member of the VKSJ which is the club for classic sharp yachts, it was very convenient as they have a number of rallies in and around the home waters here of the Markermeer and the Ijsselmeer, we were already members of another club which in recent years we had found the numbers of boats in our length had become very few so there wasn’t much chance of keeping up with the larger vessels when cruising in convoy, no one likes being consistently last to arrive!

We’ve have had some lovely weekend surrounded with a very diverse group of lovely classic boats, the racing has been delightful at times quit frustrating as the wind was very light on two of the occasions, it was then quite surprising how the Vertue crept up on many of the larger boats, although as the wind increased they had the edge over us, but on the whole the Vertue was a force to be reckoned with against the boats of her length namely folkboats!

Due to the prolonged wet period July into August we decided against a longer trip on the boat but instead had many good weekends enjoying the lovely Hoorn and surroundings.

Virtue racing off Stavoren, photo courtesy of the VKSJ club magazine.

Another strange year, after having worked hard and had very little free time the last 25yrs running my antiques business importing from the UK, regretfully that had to come to an abrupt halt when the UK exited the EU, the forced closing due to covid also played a part in it being to difficult to continue retailing in Amsterdam, anyway with a much less busy work schedule of just a couple of days a week I had anticipated long cruises and half the year on my boat. 

Reality check I found that a bout of covid in March had not completely cleared up and left me with a number of symptoms foremost chronic fatigue bouts after minor exertion, what a bummer, never the less fitting out was completed and the freshly varnished mast was craned into position again in my home port of Hoorn.

As the season commenced a number of lovely weekends have been spent dithering in brain fog state, or sailing in light weather back in time for supper. It did at one time seem that the condition had improved considerably and I tried to get away for a couple of weeks meeting up with friends, the sheer effort of getting installed and off took so much of my energy that I didn’t make it past the first day and had to wave off my friends and hang out a few days recovering in Enkhuizen before limping back to Hoorn where I was happy to stay and day sail when I had the energy. I have had two nice weekends with overnighting anchored off the Markerwadden which has become a lovely recent new destination being at a convenient 2-3 hour trip from Hoorn.

Been having a strange sort of sailing season this year, started with an apprehensive craning out for a re-paint, where we dodged around guiltily  with a paintbrush trying to avoid being detected and told to go home, and then a few weeks where we were OK to sail as long as we didn’t take our mates with us, and then we could use some of the harbours as long as we had our own sanitation facility’s ( glad to have a holding-tank!). Now it is all systems go again although technically nothing has really changed qua risk, in fact due to most people sailing locally it’s been quite busy everywhere so the busiest spots are best avoided.

Eel ark, replica of the boats that used to sail to London to sell their 15 ton of live eels

Now these look familiar in the museum in Joure

Douwe Egberts began here!

We have had for a number of years now the requirement to catch the waste from our sea toilets in holding tanks to be pumped out via pumping units provided by the harbour or marina, it has been a rather unpopular rule as the immense cost of installing the pump out facility’s was not subsidised so resulting in very few places providing it although technically it is required if you have more than 50 moorings. Most of the smaller yachts have not really got the space to house these tanks so have chosen not to use the toilets when in the harbour, we have also been doing this for some years now.

There was threats to check and issue fines to boats not conforming to requirements, and this could easily be done as we all go through the locks etc., as yet it’s not happened as far as I am aware, however the facilities are pretty good in most harbours so using the harbour toilets is not really a hardship, we are also allowed to pump out at sea, although this technically means 12 miles out! The main trouble with this is that in a number of the recreation islands where we like to sometimes moor there aren’t any public toilets, pumping out into the same water that people are often swimming in is also not really an option, so new project a holding tank for a Vertue.

After a lot of consideration I decided to mount a tank on the hull under the deck in the hanging locker and opted for a very simple configuration pumping from toilet into tank with the outlet from the tank going straight to the seacock for self-emptying at sea, of course there is also the pump out hook up on the cabin roof and the breather hose to allow the air out as you pump in.

Vetus make a rather handy 30ltr tank for wall   mounting , their special hose is also very handy because you can bend it pretty easily, had to make quite a rugged shelf to take the weight and a couple of straps completed the installation, I really hate making big holes in bulkheads but was actually very pleased with how it turned out, and the pump out chrome cap didn’t look at all bad on the cabin top.

I had actually no idea that this Covid crisis would have caused all our sanitaire facility’s to be closed for months when I installed this but am now a little smug as I can happily moor in any harbour as I am according to the rules conforming and catching my own waste, boats without holding facilities are not welcome in some instances.

Ivé long had a fascination with the Brittany coast with its multitude of charming coves and harbours and lovely towns and islands and longed to see it again, unfortunately with my restricted free time I’d use most of my holiday getting there along the most dull bit of coast until you reach the channel islands and then it becomes fun and more interesting, but guaranteed the weather will have turned unsettled and I’d be storm bound for a few days waiting to proceed along the ragged northern Brittany coast.

I found a trip advertised on the classic lugger sailing from Douarnenez to Vigo in Nothern Spain over a one week period, sounded like fun and I could have a day in Douarnenez before a gentle sail over the bay to Spain, what could go wrong, early June was generally very settled  weather.

Getting to Douanrnenez proved a little more involved than I anticipated, starting on a bike then a plane to Paris, then a plane to Brest, then ah !~! no Busses taxi to tram stop, then a bus to Quiper, then another  bus to Douarnenez.

                                                        Port Rhu

Having missed visiting Douarnenez on my previos voyage I was delighted to discover the picturesque harbours and visit the Maritime  museum, it was amazingly quiet and I think it is the only place I have been that is surrounded by harbours on all sides, there is a a strong tradition in wooden boat building and repairing and also a boat building college.

The greyhound is a remarkable ship run by a no less remarkable a  couple who had against all odds re created an 18^th century revenue lugger of the type used off the Cornish coast to catch smugglers, a fascinating ship put together with much attention to detail, and an enormous amount of love and care it was really very amazing that this sort of experience could be booked at the click of a mouse!! And for a very affordable price!

Whats more they are also carrying small amounts of cargo to various ports on the way, not to mention us thrill seeker charterers.

Well after a briefing and a night at anchor we set sail into a light S W breeze being careful to try and keep well clear of the pont du raz which I could remember from my previous trip that the tide tries to suck you onto the coast if your not very careful.

The pace was kind of stately for the first period, we’d not been at sea very long before we came across a very large dead whale blotted and floating very high in the water from a distance it looked very like an upturned yacht, we reported it with some difficulty to the coastguard station on the nearest cape.

The next day we had accompaniment of dolphins which was really lovely to see, at night you could also see the white streaks under the boat as they played in our wake.

We fell into our four hour shifts and progress seemed very slow as we banged into a bit of a slop without much wind for a couple of days and then the wind started to increase and at last we were making some speed, infact the wind was approaching 6-7 in a a squall as we turned in around 2am to sleep for four hours, then there was a lot of noise and I imagined that the wooden blocks were beating hell out of the deck, little did I know then that it was the broken  bowsprit banging the hull next to my berth!!

Bowsprit on deck

Around 6 am when I was due on deck I noticed that the motion had changed and we were rocking from left to right hove too, on deck the huge bowsprit had been hauled alongside and the skipper was busy trying to bring it over the bulwarks to secure it on deck.

We had left douarnenez a couple of days ago with what looked like pretty good weather forcast, however the barometer had plummeted quite dramatickly so we had to call up a ship to get a more up to date forcast, thankfully it was not expected to worsen much more in the coming hours.

It was most unfortunate losing the bowsprit as the forestay to the first of the three masts was also now gone, probably the recoil of losing the tension had cracked the mast also, meaning the sail had to be lowered and all lines were used to secure the mast so that there was no danger of it coming down.

There was now only one possibility and that was to turn round and gently sail downwind under the reduced rig back to Douarnenez for repairs which took a further day and a half. We arrived back and the weather had really deteriated and the next day ther was proper storm infact it was that storm Miguel which had cost the lives of three lifeboat men on the same coast, was glad to be in the harbour for that one !!

fordeck before the breakage

It was a shame to not make Vigo but the last couple of days chilling in Douarnenez was also no bad thing, before returning with the flix bus from Quimper, which takes it’s time but proved a very relaxed and cheap way of travelling back to the Netherlands.

It was a very memorable experience, the breakages were most unfortunate as this ship is more than well proven having previously sailed right round the atlantic, many thousand sail miles without incident!

has canonons and knows how to use them!

Of the proffesionality of the skipper and crew I can’t fault them and the boat was very well equipped and regularly checked and tested, it just goes to show that despite the best preparation and an apparent good weather forcast, were not fully master of the elements and need to treat going to sea with respect and caution as things can go rapidly wrong and do from time to time!

pair of rowing gigs as tenders, the optimists were cargo to go to Spain.

A lot of the fun is the group of shipmates you get to share your trip with, always seem to be a good and and interesting crowd,  not to mention the amazing catering that is included, shall be booking again but maybe give Biscay a miss.

The day after the storm promised a light north westerly which should be ideal to  drift up to Harlingen via the lock in the afsluitdijk at Kornwerderzand. Unfortunately the wind didn’t materialize in anything other than a couple of knots so after hoisting the sails in hope the wind would suddenly wake up and help us out, it didn’t and the flies came down and covered us as we slowly motored up the ijzelmeer, it was worse than I had ever encountered, in fact I opted for using buckets of water to wash them of the boat but by the time I had gone round the deck I could begin all over again.

Made a ghastly mess of my new sails as it was impossible to lower the sails without crushing lots of flies leaving green smudges everywhere, after a few miles we motored into Makkum to clean the boat which took several hours and much scrubbing to get rid of them, we weren’t alone other boats around us were also busy, and the next door boat had inadvertently left the fore hatch open and had found that there bed was thick with flies, it was really a shocking experience, and one I shall hope to never repeat, apparently this happens mainly along the East coast of the meer, but is restricted to a few weeks only.

Makkum is lovely and it has several marinas and some easy access town mooring on a large jetty which is a nice spot to moor to visit the town.

Next day we took the tide along the coast to Harlingen, wind was against unfortunately so we motored it but with the tide under us it takes no more than hour and a half to reach the port of Harlingen where we proceeded through two bridges to moor in the town harbour nicely central for the festivities of the coming days. 

Finally in Harlingen ready for the arrival of the tall ships the weather could not have been more ideal ,many of the ships were able to sail in with the light wind from behind, my sons ship had come in in the night so I had missed his arrival as he was earlier than expected, he had an amazing experience and made lots of new friends and was already planning his next trip.

As far as the race was concerned it was a bit of a shame that after a delayed start because of high winds they had started with light winds but with the ugly swell from the day before and after 38 hrs the wind was gone and they had to stop the race so they could motor to Harlingen to arrive on the appointed day, the race app I had been following was still giving race positions all the way to Harlingen so it looked like they were winning when in fact the race was long over and they didn’t feature very highly in the positions, I must add that that vessel had previously won the race on two occasions but anyway it was never about the race but about the experience.

We greatly enjoyed the open days visiting the ships and the crews parade through the town, the final evening climaxed with a spectacular firework display, I was delighted to have been able to be there for the event.

It had been an amazing few days and my son had shipped back into his cramped quarters in the forepeak so with the still settled weather forecast  we sailed wind behind the 25 sea miles to Terschelling and moored in the marina for a few days. It is always delightful being on the island and we rent bicycles and cycle to all the extremity’s, there is also a cycle path along the shore which is sometimes nice to do. The temperature was unusually high in the mid thirty’s and with little wind it was actually rather suffocating hot on the boat and on land there wasn’t much relief.

Well it couldn’t last forever and after a couple of lovely days a storm with following storms was forecast, you have to watch out you don’t get stuck unable to make the mainland for a week or more, and the tides are quite crucial as you don’t want to be fighting both wind and tide back down the buoyed channel to the Mainland.

In the end we had to take a very narrow weather window which I would not normally advise but if we missed it we would certainly have to wait three or four days more. We Headed off in about 6knts of wind behind in the sun around lunchtime to catch the tide up to Harlingen, forecast was supposed to be NE backing E to SE 5 to 6 occasionally 7 later force 8-9 SW, we were hoping to be tucked up in harbour by the time it reached 8-9, but as always it’s about whether you trust the report or not, well and hour into the trip the wind had swung round and was blowing 5-6, I had lowered the main as it was on the nose and I didn’t want to tack in a narrow buoyed channel, then came the rain, good progress was made although it was getting pretty lumpy approaching Harlingen, you can turn right and go down the channel to the lock from Harlingen so because the wind was going to be favourable we carried on and sailed then against the tide but wind behind down to the lock where and unpleasant half hour was spent waiting in driving rain and strong winds waiting for the bridge and lock to let us through, after which we made a quick run into Makkum and tied up with extra lines waiting for the severe storm to hit, luckily the jetty was holding us head to wind, so I just had to make sure there was enough lines to cope with any surges of waves and guard against chaffing .

Well it was a rough night and the following day it was still blowing 7-8 and rain squalls from the direction we needed to go to leave, so we were kind of grounded for a lazy day looking round Makkum.

Next day SW 8 later 7 dropping to 6-7 in the afternoon, not really a weather window but under the 7 and we were off reefed down with the small staysail we motored out of Makkum into a very lumpy sea, for a moment I asked myself if I really want to be doing this ! Lots of water over the deck and off went the boathook for a second I contemplated whether it was worth trying to pick up a € 29 plastic and aluminium boat hook in this sea, no not worth the risk!

As soon as we could bear away slightly the  wind was on the nose it became an actually very exhilarating sail, we were at times a little over canvased when the gusts came but I could easily spill wind the haul it in again, I was impressed with how this modest little craft was handling battling into a gale of wind on the nose, my son was out in the cockpit and we both were actually enjoying the exhilaration of pounding over the waves and roaring along at near hull speed, in fact the larger 40 footers were not really making better progress than us . We made Enkhuizen in four and a half hours which was pretty good.

later in calmer conditions passing the lighthouse at Marken

Next day was again strong SW winds forecast and I couldn’t face another day of fighting head winds over a lumpy markermeer down to Amsterdam so we left the boat and went home by road, to return a week later with my son to sail back to Amsterdam, checking in to go through Amsterdam in the night there was around 45 yachts to go through which made it a huge challenge to fit them all into the lock at the other end, they do need to be locked in before the rail bridge can open and the next opening is the next night so and effort was made to squash us all together to get the last two boats clear of the rear gates.

sardines !!

Amsterdam again.

 On reflection it was quite an adventure and the conditions were with the hot weather very extreme, the wind was either a lot or nearly nothing it was mainly against us, the experience I wouldn’t have wanted to miss, Harlingen and the Tall ships lovely sunsets etc. was hard to beat. Seems to me there is a lot more extreme weather around these days and we seem to always end up on the boat in it, maybe someday we will get a week or so of normal conditions as most of the time when we’re not sailing the weather seems rather boring and nothing happens?

With the school term reaching an end at the end of July we had planned to take Virtue North through Amsterdam to be situated in Harlingen for the arrival of the Tall ships race from Stavanger Norway, in which my son was sailing on the Swedish ship Vega Gabley.

Vega Gabley

Leaving Aalsmeer for the second time at dawn!

6am on the Westeinde

motoring in convoy towards the Kaag, through the fields

The initial departure was a week earlier to get the boat through Amsterdam and leave it then in Enkhuizen for a few days before sailing to Harlingen. The weather had been week after week of lovely settled weather and was every day in the 30 degrees which proved to be a problem for our bridges in Amsterdam, having confirmed the opening of the night convoy through Amsterdam we duly moored up at the top of the Nieuwemeer ready for the transit only to hear that regrettably there was no way as six of the 16 bridges were stuck closed! Was a bit of a bummer as the only other way was to motor South 20 km back passed Aalmeer and across the Kaag lake and then motor in convoy through a number of villages via Haarlem   and Spaarndam, it’s not a bad route but is considerably further and emerges ten miles away from Amsterdam so really it is quite a long day to go round that way.

North sea canal, ship coming right at us out of a side berth !!

We did also have to go through the motorway bridge we had navigated the night before at 5am so we had a good early start which we were glad of as the heat in the days previous had been so oppressive that we were glad to be underway before the sun had too much chance to overheat us, my raymarine plotter proved unable to cope with the temperature and insisted in shutting down continually, just as well I didn’t really need it except for the speed reference. We emerged into the North sea canal around 2.30 pm which was an earlier than expected but motor sailing down to the bottom of the Markermeer to Durgerdam took us till 6pm by the time we had negotiated the lock and bridge by Schellingwoude.

Durgerdam

Durgerdam is a lovely spot to stop for a night, the harbour is much larger than it appears and they normally have enough berths for visitors, charge was around 12€ per night so was very reasonable, it’s full of interesting classic boats and that is all against the backdrop of the reed banks and charming village built on the dijk.

crew busy with the violin

Next day we had a  southerly  light breeze so we hoisted the spinnaker briefly as unfortunately the weather did the dirty and rained on us ( first rain for 37 days !), and after that the wind turned Northerly and blew in inconsistent strengths all afternoon waiting till I had got my biggest sails up before it escalated to above the 20knts, anyway Enkhuizen was duly reached not without the considerable trials of our patience .

 Having put my son on the plane to Norway we returned the following week to depart on a leisurely cruise with a remarkably settled weather outlook planning to be in Harlingen five days later.

The weather was still incredibly warm the winds were light force 2 SW, but there was a few thunderstorms about, most of them very localized, having just had a very brief downpour we sailed off on expectation that there could be a small rain squall but likely it would remain fine during our crossing to the other side of the lake.

Just before the storm

 Was a lovely day we were with a number of boats having a lovely downwind sail in the sun, minutes later a large dark cloud seemed at first to be going to miss us and then it was over us and the rain hit, then the wind started to pick up and increased within a few minutes it was over 35knts and it was becoming apparent that reefing wasn’t going to be the option, I was downwind so I turned the boat onto the reach and let out the main completely, the boom and quite a lot of the main was in the water as we were still keeled over to the toerail only with the working jib sheeted in! by this point my wife was inside with the storm boards in so luckily I had the auto pilot set up so I left the helm and climbed along the healed cabin top and released the halyard and pulled down the main which was then all dragging in the water, back in the cockpit I pulled in the sheet and gathered up the main.

The waves had built up dramatically by this time and we were heading north on a reach so the sea was fairly side on, but I was aware that I needed enough northing to clear the sandbanks off Stavoren  which could be a problem if the waves pushed me too far to leeward so I started the engine and motor-sailed for Stavoren hoping to clear the sandbanks.

At this point I was asking myself which of the leeward harbours was going to be safe to approach in force 8+? tricky decision but I was fairly confident  of sailing straight into Stavoren although it might be a very rolly and wet in the entrance,  and I mustn’t mess up on my approach. At this point I was suddenly aware of a lot activity  on the VHF as many people seemed to be in a muddle and there was several inflatable rib lifeboats charging back and forth, and people on the radio were being told that they were going to have to wait as they had a number of other boats to help first, it was really a little surreal and to be honest a bit scary. The squall probably didn’t last much more than an hour and a half and by the time we entered Stavoren it had dropped to force 6 and although the swell was still uncomfortable we made the entrance without drama, followed by a lifeboat towing a couple of yachts in one of which had been pulled off the sandbank, there was also one boat on the rocks one sunk with two young guys who  were rescued by helicopter, apparently the approach to Urk was very difficult due to the swell and the lifeboat was very busy guiding boats into the harbour, so that would have not been a good option.

Happy to be in the harbour of Stavoren

I have had quite a lot of experience with squalls on the Ijsselmeer but never had one as severe as this, guess the extreme hot temperatures had contributed to the severity and quick escalation of the storm, but never the less was a warning to me to be better prepared and to watch the weather better.

lovely sunset after such a dramatic day !

Agnes with me standing on the aft deck.

I have just returned from a week in Falmouth as chartterer crew on Agnes the Scilly islands pilot cutter, was a remarkable experience. Coming originally from the East coast of the UK and having spent many years now in Holland, Falmouth was a place I had long wanted to visit and Pilot cutters were boats I have a mild fascination with partly due to the reported relation in design that the Jolie Brise was partly the inspiration to Laurent Giles when he designed the Vertue class.

The famous Jolie Brise, very pretty boat and still fast!!

The week in question had three days of racing against other pilot boats in the 2018 Pilot Cutters Reveal, we got to race and actually beat the famous Jolie Brize, at the meet up on the river pontoon it was remarkable to see the differences between the Scilly island boats a design from around 1840 to the Bristol style boats mainly dating from the early 1900’s, the reality of the older boats was there wasn’t really much of the original left as pretty much every part had needed replacement at some time.

The two boats in the Scilly islands style were both built by Luke Powel who has built a respectable number of these types, currently there is a large 60ft boat called Pellew, a copy of the Vincent being built in their yard in Truro, I climbed all over it as a team of workers were busy sawing hammering etc. in a very traditional manner huge timbers in mainly oak, it seemed quite remarkable to see that going on in pretty much how it would happened hundred years ago, it is now easy to see the amount of thought and effort that goes into producing these most remarkable craft.

Agnes was a delight in as much as she was so beautifully put together, amazing attention to detail, with none of your immaculate polyurethane finishes, oil and tallow finished the bright work and spars, the cabins were lovely, masterpiece of cabinetry  and very cosy although we were with nine people, Joanna catered for us with finesse in quite a compact galley, I was amazed at the lovely home cooking that appeared constantly with coffees and teas and plenty of beers.

The rig has a complexity that I have not appreciated previously, you have a huge gaff mainsail topsail, staysail flying jib and  top flying jib and no winches to pull them in the sheets had a block on them but even still it was very hard to pull them in, the mainsail was something else I couldn’t pull it in without someone stronger helping, I learnt very quickly not to have my legs anywhere near the loose mainsheet when jibing!, the weight and force of that spar coming across the boat was quite intimidating, not to mention lethal!!

Having tacked her gently up the bay in Falmouth I was continually reminded by the similarity’s to how my boat handled and felt, yes she did kind of feel like a large Vertue, admittedly the hull form is not that similar she has a lovely deep forefoot and a full length straight keel, in light wind she takes a good amount of time to bring the nose through the wind, give her a good 10+ knots of wind and she a different experience altogether and charges a long at a very respectable speed for her waterline length and beamy jaunty form, remarkable steady on the helm, we did over the three days carry asmany sails as was possible, at one point there was some concern for the bend in the topmast as it was a little strong to be carrying still the topsail, and the flying jib attached to that spar, there are two sets of back stays which are being continually set up and removed to tack the boat, with all the different sheets etc.  it is a very full on job sailing her in the races.

Luffing match between Amelie Rose and Agnes

We sailed her form Truro through Falmouth out to sea and down to Helmond river for the first night, following morning we sailed back past Falmouth up the coast to Fowey where the other Pilot Cutters assembled to beginning the next day Friday with the passage race down to ST Mawes which we finished a respectable second after Jolie Brise, who is larger and faster  than Agnes.

The following two days we raced mainly around the Falmouth bay rounding a number of different buoys, memorable was the first race on Saturday having sailed down the coast a little we had to round a buoy quite close to the beach, the wind was exceptionally light here and we attempted to tack clear of the area by doubling back along the shore line instead of facing the slight swell, it was tricky to get her nose through the wind but eventually she turned and we escaped that pocket of no wind and the rest of the fleet remained there unable to get away from the shore, we had a good steady breeze so won with an embarrassing lead.

With two firsts a second and a third we were the overall winner of the Reveal, and Luke the builder owner was delighted to finally win the trophy with her after ten years of trying.

The full crew of Agnes with the Comodore presenting the trophy right.

All in all it was delightful experience and was very impressed by Falmouth area  as a cruising ground, it is however not an area I can get my Vertue down too in a hurry but who knows maybe I’ll find a way to get there some day.

Links:  https://workingsail.co.uk/

https://www.classic-sailing.co.uk/

 video made on Unity during the regatta : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjtOWKDkHCY

Documentry about building the Pilot Cutters: