In the May holidays we will go to Antwerp in between all the work of Toine. On Friday and Saturday, May 2 and 3, we will sail via Wemeldinge to Antwerp. Both days we have good sailing conditions with a wind from the north. The first day we only had the genoa, with wind force 5-6. For the first time in the lock. The propeller effect is exactly on the other side (right propeller) and now we notice that the SeaQuest is a size bigger.
Wemeldinge is a great place to moor. In the evening, we take a nice walk through the village and along the Oosterschelde. The next day, we left at around midday on the Westerschelde. Via the canal through Zuid-Beverland with two bridges and a lock we reach the Westerschelde. Again we can sail everything with main and genoa full in wind force 4. In the evening we approach the entrance to Antwerp. Inge, Mark and the kids are already waving at us. It still takes us an hour to go through the locks and bridges and into the marina.
Toine has to go to the airport of Brussels early the next morning for a few days in Avignon, France. We spend two days with Inge, Mark and their kids in Antwerp, where the weather is nice and sunny. Regularly we sit down somewhere and have a good meal. Antwerp is a relaxed city and the people are nice. On Sunday we visit the Vogeltjesmarkt, eat lunch in the park, and walk through the old part of Antwerp back to the harbour. In the evening we go back into town for a pizza; it's all so easy to do within walking distance. And finally in the dark we go to the top floor of the new museum next to the harbour with a beautiful view of all of Antwerp by night.
On Monday we stroll through a lot of shopping streets and have lunch with a delicious bag of Belgian fries. In the afternoon they leave for Luc's gymnastics training and it is just the three of us again.
Plenty to see and good food everywhere. The last day we are with the three of us and we go shopping for clothes. We also spend some quiet time on the SeaQuest. On Tuesday night we pick up Toine in the rain from the station and then the family is complete again.
Wednesday we sail back to Bru. At 10 o'clock we go through the lock on the Westerschelde. It rains and the wind is against, so we do a lot on the engine. At the end of the Canal through Zuid-Beverland we set all the sails to sail back to Bru. The wind has picked up and the sailing is fine. Until we are in the middle of the Oosterschelde and the wind increases to force 8. This is a bit too much and between all the shipping traffic we manage to reef the sails just in time. It turned out to be a stormy trip back to Bru. Fortunately, we have no further plans, because the next few days the wind will continue to blow very hard. We end our holiday with a delicious dinner at De Vluchthaven in Bru.
