Europe is cold in Spring

The springtime Dutch weather was kind to us with bright blue skies and gentle breezes but we could almost feel Seminole Wind shiver as her keel touched the cold water. The North Sea is definitely not the Caribbean but all the same good to be back. After a couple of days re-commissioning we will be off to the Channel Islands via Holland, Belgium and Northern France. pretty sure I won’t be diving along the way and until we squeeze through the marine traffic of the Dover straights and into the first Atlantic swells It is the grey muddy waters of the North Sea that will signify our homecoming.

I was never a fan of the North Sea, It has a nasty temper and seems continually grumpy. We kept our previous boat, Tenku on the East Coast for a year and sailed here long enough to know that whilst there are those who love it, we are not in the club. It has the advantage of nice harbours to visit in Holland, Belgium is best skipped through and the Dover Straights open up to our old stomping grounds, French bread and Moules.

Right now though the focus is to bend on the sails, re-rig the canvas put the rib back in the davits, service the engine, etc. etc. etc.. Different ocean, same old maintenance.