Travel through the seas - Part 2: From the Netherlands to Portugal (At least that was the plan)
After a long period of preparations the time has now come to start the adventures - a travel in various stages.
Sunday 29th April 2018:
The Crew`s flight to Amsterdam is cancelled - what a start...after some back and forth they managed to have another flight from Geneva to Amsterdam the next day.
Monday, 30th April 2018:
From Schiphol the Crew drove to the port of Ijmuden where the Nordlys was anchored safely. During the day it became more and more windy until it all ended up in a big storm. At 4 o`clock (am) the crew dressed up in their slicker to see if all ropes are still in good order. Luckily everything was still tight up - the boat next to the Nordlys wasn`t that lucky.
Tuesday, 1st May 2018:
In Zaandam Patrick and Ingrid organized all the things needed for the first stage: Water, Food and other material...and wine.
Wednesday, 2nd May 2018:
The luggage, the safety material and all other loose material got stored and fixed to the boat so that. The crew also returned the rental car and mentally prepared for the departure in two days.
Thursday, 3rd May 2018:
This is the last day in Seaport Marina in Ijmuiden. Tomorrow the Nordlys will enter the sea.
Once again: double checking the route, doublechecking the boat, the engine, the sails - Is everything under control? Well in the end: nobody gets born as professional. It is the experience that will make you perfect.
Friday, 4th May 2018:
10 am. Wind: 3 knots. Wave-height of only 0.2-0.5m. Perfect conditions to start. With about 7 knots the Nordlys and her crew is heading towards Scheveningen. At about 3pm with no problems Nordlys arrivend in the harbour and the crew enjoyed a Port-Welcome-Beer.
Because Scheveningen turned out to be a beautuful place the crew decided to stay for another day. A trip to Den Haag completed the stay so that the next turn was planned for monday.
Monday, 7th May 2018:
At 6am with the sunrise the Nordlys left the port of Scheveningen. During the process of leaving the port the crew had some issues with the autopilot functions. The sea was very calm and there was no real wind so sailing became a problem. With the engine on the crew circled the port of Zeebrugge. A lot of huge freight ships had priority but finally the Nordlys docked in the "Visserhaven". Again the throttle had some issues and the crew needed to coordinate a lot to dock safely. After about 12h the crew enjoyed a cold beer.
Tuesday, 8th May 2018:
Today the crew wanted to spend the day in Zeebrugge but back home in the regular office a colleague got sick so there was the need of finding a solution. Furthermore the crew was also a bit scared of the always suddenly occuring failure with the throttle.
Wednesday, 9th May 2018:
The crew tried to organize technical help to fix the throttle issue but the harbourmaster could only repair it within 2 weeks - so this wasn`t a minor issue.
Meanwhile the crew made an excursion to Brugge whjich is a lovely, historical town but sadly the Cruise-Boat AIDA stayed in the harbour of Zeebrugge and so the town was heavily crowded.
Thursday, 10th May 2018:
Regarding the journey a decision had to be made: It has been a sleepless night for the crew. The broken throttle, problems in the office back home and the anyway strained schedule...
After plenty of discussions the crew decided to stop the journey to Lissabon.
Friday, 11th May 2018:
Patrick and Ingrid organized everything with the port of Zeebrugge, cleaned the Nordlys so that the next day they could arrange the parking only.
Saturday, 12th May 2018:
Until the boat was stored safely it was already afternoon and the crew started the way back home to Switzerland.
The next stages will defintely follow but what one can say is that on a boat things are different.
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