The Victoria Shadow Association

 

Hi there We are getting close to England every day it seems and we can now count the days until we get back. We hope to be in London before 30th September so we haven't long to go. We eventually left Cuxhaven on Thursday and sailed past the Frisian Islands doing an overnight sail to Harlingen. It was 173 miles which took us 28 and a half hours. Jan came with us as he had never done that journey. He then had to get a train back to Hamburg which was about 6 hours. Yesterday we floated gently on a flat, glassy sea in the IJsselmeer with the sun shining and very little wind. It's the idyllic pictures you see about sailing. Great. A perfect day. We are now in Enkhuizen and again socialising. Two other Hallberg Rassy owners came to say hello and as they have old boats they appreciated a tour of ours and kept comparing them. Then they offered us drinks on a 42 footer which was quite different inside. They even had a TV and a microwave - but no washing machine.

Harlingen

 

We have spent the day wandering round the outdoor museum here, which was fascinating. Traditional old buildings have been re-erected and there are demonstrations of old crafts. Fish was being smoked and it tasted delicious. We are waiting for Gus and Helen to arrive. They stopped at Vlieland after the night passage so will now be catching up with us again. Next stop Amsterdam, then the night convoy through the bridges en route to Flushing. What a great life this is! Janet and Simon

Enkhuizen