Dave and Doreen

	TORPOINT MOSQUITO SAILING CLUB Cruising Section
	Samphire of Rame
From: Dave and Doreen Sent: 13 July 2011 11:44 To: Simon England Subject: A Message From Dave and Doreen England Update on cruise to Holland – July 9^th ^{Dave and Doreen on Samphire of Rame} We had to turn for home somewhere and we chose Haarlem. In fact we spent 14 days there, joining the hundreds who sat around in the big square drinking coffee. We have strolled the miles of beautiful canal, seen the impressive cathedral, enjoyed the Teyler’s museum and relished the lovely Dutch architecture. Wally and Allene have joined us for the trip back, which will make the boat handling easier in the locks and yachthavens. Our first stop together was at Kaag Island, where we had a joyful reunion with Ian and Denise, who flew the TMSC cruising flag to show us where they were moored. This was an excuse for a bit of a knees-up all together in the yacht club. The next day we bid them farewell as Caprice moved northwards for Haarlem and Samphire southwards for Gouda. Wally declared that Dave only handed the helm to him when the difficult bits came! We had to negociate 9 lifting bridges and, with the skilled intervention of the new crew, things went well (protest from Dave here). We were having a quiet beer in the cockpit with our Dutch neighbours when there were shrieks from the crew, “It’s Alan and Jess on Lydia!” So now all the boats from TMSC have met up and the Mosquito flag is proudly flying. Another hooley with Jess and Alan at a restaurant is scheduled for today – these things have to be done. It’s clear we’ve all had our moments of stress in the locks as well as lots of fun. We have now spent 3 days at Dordrecht, said to be the ancient capital of Holland. We’ve certainly enjoyed the architecture and canals. We should be off to Willemstad tomorrow but the present wintry weather is off-putting. We will probably have another week in Holland before reaching Belgium. Hope you are getting a little bit more sunshine than us, Love Dave and Doreen From: dave and doreen [mailto:davedor@live.co.uk] Sent: 22 June 2011 09:58 To: Simon-Hilary England Subject: Wanderings of Dave and Dor Hi Everybody, We are finding the cruise up through the canals fun, challenging and interesting. Of course we've had a few heart-stopping moments in the locks and the narrow canals. Can't believe the size of these canal barges ploughing towards us! Had nothing but kindness from the Dutch people, but not one sign in English. Marinas as we know them are few and far between. Many are stop overs run by the council and rudimentary but have the basics of electricity and water and are cheap. We wish we had bikes as it is often a long leg into town. We are presently at Lisse, not far from Amsterdam and the airport and we aim to go to Haarlem next, which might be our turning point. We are weighing up the possibility of returning via the French coast. We are still trying to empty the tanks of red diesel, which, as most of you know , is verboten on the Continent. Hope you all have your brollies out for Wimbledon, Love from Dave and Dor on Samphire June 22nd From: Dave and Doreen Sent: 09 June 2011 21:04 To: website@tmsc.org.uk Subject: Cruising Progress Report from Dave and Doreen on Samphire in Holland Wednesday 7th June We have re read our log today and it has quite surprised us how long we have been sailing-it’s more than a month now but time passes quickly when you are having fun ! We have been so impressed with the Netherlands and the people have been so kind to us. We have hardly seen one sign in English so we have entered locks on a wing of a prayer ! In getting up to Holland we did several 70 mile days, sometimes sailing at 0530hrs and doing a 12 hour day. We were lucky to have had favourable winds to do this. Somewhere near to us are TMSC members Denise and Ian Thomas who have made good progress in not so favourable weather conditions and we hear that Jess and Alan have got to Caen after a later start. We look forward to seeing them all Our jewel in the crown so far has been Willemstad , the home of William of Orange. We are now in Dordrecht, a beautiful maritime town, reeking with history and charm, with so many delightful waterways through the town. We’ve hit a little snag in so far as we have heard of a collapsed bridge ahead at Gouda, which is part of our only route north, so we may be delayed in getting up to Amsterdam. Sitting here with a beer at the sailing Club, with the sun setting, life couldn’t be better! Hope you are all well, Dave and Dor From: Dave and Doreen Sent: 12 May 2011 18:07 To: website@tmsc.org.uk Subject: Just a little up date on our holiday trip! Doreen, Hugh Napp and I are tucked up in a Nature Reserve estuary on the Isle of Wight having sailed over this Thursday from an anchorage at Studland Bay,near Poole where we spent a calm night. We had a fantastic sail up from Dartmouth - probably a leg of 70 miles in 12 hours. We are tempted to stay an extra day here as it looks fascinating and we are in no hurry Best wishes to you all Dave ,Doreen England