It has been a while now but I know that on the water you literally get detached from the world and so it is high time for that. With any luck, I can get my whole family involved. I consider that if I organise it under the slogan “Father’s Day” that the initiative will be hard to refuse. I don’t trust my rusty sailing experience enough to hire a sailboat so I decide to go for a sloop for safety’s sake. My choice falls on Lake Grevelingen.
After a quick breakfast, we pack our bags with towels, swimming trunks and bikinis. And of course a bag of provisions for hungry sailors. As frantically as on a weekday, on Sunday morning I rush my family out to leave but as soon as we stand outside we stare at each other dumbfounded. It’s raining! 31 days of drought we have had, records have been broken and a tropical week is also predicted for the coming week. So how is it possible that it is raining today of all days? Don’t you always get what you deserve? It gives food for thought as to who’s karma is in the lead here. And, of course, I then remind us that we will not be thrown out of the game (or out of the boat). Boarding, then…
Once in Bruinisse, it is dry and the temperature is fine. Walking across the harbour area, we immediately imagine ourselves in the South of France. Later we hear that this is perhaps the most beautiful harbour in the Netherlands. So beautiful and so modern that the lack of sunshine is hardly noticeable. We follow the signs in the direction of Aquavitesse. A short walk takes us to the floating sailing school, which has an impressive fleet on its doorstep. Everything looks brand new. At the reception, we meet Marieke. She runs the business with her husband Richard (see first photo in gallery) and it is clear she does so with great enthusiasm. We get a little instruction and Marieke shows us on the map in which part of the lake we have a great chance of a meet & greet with seals.
When we are assigned our sloop, we are pleasantly surprised. Not only is it a beautiful boat but it is also bigger than we had thought. Last but not least, the spray hood provides enough shelter for when it starts raining again. Not that that’s of any use to the skipper but you can’t have everything on Father’s Day 😉 After the final instructions by instructor Peter, hubby deftly sails out of the harbour. I know that on a sailing yacht it is really not done to leave the fenders hanging outboard but we can’t see a storage spot so we leave them hanging. That probably won’t bother the seals either. I wonder how they actually ended up in the lake. I only know about the lock at Bruinisse. Could a male and female have swum through there at some point to start their own seal dynasty here? Now that we have to sail for a while anyway, I might just find out how it is….
Turns out it’s not an Adam and Eve story. Apparently there is a sluice in the brouwersdam. Since 1978, they have been using it to keep the saltwater level in balance but it also turns out to be a bobsled run for seals. This is because there are two huge pipes through which an average of over a hundred cubic metres of seawater flows per second. Seals make grateful use of this fast-flowing highway to swim from the North Sea to Lake Grevelingen and back. What a brilliant facility! The sluice is open all year round (except for 30 days between September and December). In spring, the seals thus chase the herring that migrate from the sluice to Lake Grevelingen. Apparently, there are now around 100 seals enjoying the good life in Europe’s largest and cleanest saltwater lake.
As we approach Veermansplaat, the first enthusiastic scream sounds. Two seals spotted on the port side! For a moment they look at us curiously and then quickly make their way out. Unfortunately, I am too late to capture the exchange of glances but that should not spoil the fun. We decide to alter our course and visit the little island right in front of Aquavitesse, as we need to keep an eye on time. On the way, it starts raining again and I marvel at how happy the sight of the seals has made me. It helps to brave the elements but fortunately the downpour does not last long. Docking goes surprisingly smoothly and we see another Aquavitesse sloop moored. It occurs to me that an uninhabited island will be an experience in itself for small children. So this activity is also particularly suitable for young families. We climb the watchtower for a while and then head back towards the home port of our little sloop. I know that there is also a very nice restaurant on the harbour (Sailor’s Inn) and we quickly agree that it is the perfect location for an extended evaluation. The sun is tentatively breaking through so possibly we can go out on the terrace for a while.
Although the swimsuits and bikinis did not come out of the bag, we had a lovely day. Apparently you don’t necessarily need brilliant weather for a great day on the water. And an additional important benefit is a much better result from the selfies. Hard sunlight isn’t everything either so if the weather doesn’t allow it we might have to go again 😉
Love,
Anna