As mentioned elsewhere, our move to the Netherlands came about following a Centre Parcs holiday at Port Zeeland on the Grevelingenmeer. We finally
picked on the Veerse Meer as it was the most southerly of the old river estuaries and therefore the closest to drive to. A quick look at Google Maps
shows what it looks like and why it's called the Delta Region.
Some History
Everyone knows of the constant battle the Dutch have had over the centuries trying to keep the sea out of their country and most people learnt about
the transformation of the Zuider Zee into the IJsselmeer when at school – well I did anyway! What people are not so aware of is all the other amazing
feats of engineering the Dutch have achieved, particularly in the 20th Century.
If you’re old enough, you will remember the flood of 1953 when wind and waves conspired to flood around 150,000 acres of Eastern England and over 300
lives were lost. In the Netherlands 1,835 people lost their lives and in the aftermath, the Dutch Government of the day declared that such a catastrophe
should never happen again. Thus was born the “Delta Plan”.
The south of the Netherlands is dominated by the combined deltas of the Maas and Schelde rivers. The 1958 Delta Plan Act set about creating a number of
inner and outer dams and storm barrages to control future flood waters. The result was that river estuaries such as the Veerse Gat were closed off from
the sea to create the Veerse Meer. The last of the major closing off projects was completed in 1987, nearly 30 years after initiation.
Keeping our boat, as we do, in the Veerse Meer, we are reaping the benefit of the Dutch engineers’ creation. And what a creation it is too!
Today the Delta comprises the following bodies of water:-
The Westerschelde river estuary is totally open to the sea and is a major European seaway, serving the Belgian port of Antwerpen. The story goes, that
when the Dutch first conceived the Delta Plan, they wanted to barrage off the mouth of the Westerschelde. But since the river's estuary led to the
Belgian port, the Belgian government of the day kicked up such a stink, the Dutch had to back down!
As a river estuary to sail in, it is does not have much to offer as it is very busy with a lot of commercial traffic. From our point of view it is the
best route into the North Sea. Emjaytoo's first major passage was from Ipswich to Vlissingen and then up the canal to the Veerse Meer. More recently
we went back through the canal, into the Westerschelde and down to Oostende.
Places to visit:-
The municipal harbour has all the normal facilities and there is a Yacht Club on the quay side serving drinks and food. There is a well stocked chandlery
and you are only a short walk from all the cafes and restaurants in the city centre.
Spend a day wandering around all the old buildings and delve into some of the narrow alley ways where you will see a townscape that has changed little
from the days of the Dutch East India Company.
Vlissingen - or Flushing as the English call it is on the Northern side of the Westerschelde. It is the main arrival point for the southern
Netherlands and gives access to the Kanaal Door Walcheren leading to Middelburg and the Veerse Meer. There are two marinas to choose from, the Michiel
de Ruyter which is accessible directly from the Westerschelde and the VVW 'Schelde' marina inside the lock at the bottom end of the canal. A word of
warning about the Michiel de Ruyter, our Dutch chart 1803.02b suggests there is only 0.7 to 1.1 meters at LAT. How ever we have seen some quite
large boats in there. If you are heading up the canal then the VVW marina is convenient and rather pleasant even if it is surrounded by industrial/dock
developement. It is however a very long walk into the city centre. On the other hand it is only 5 mins walk from the railway station and the foot
passenger ferry to Breskens. When Kim brought Emjaytoo over from Ipswich, he left her for a week or so at the VVW and it was a simple matter for the
crew to get the ferry over to Breskens where Wendy was waiting to collect them all.
Middelburg - perhaps should feature under the section for the The Veerse Meer. It is about half way up the Kanaal Door
Walcheren, between Vlissingen and Veere. For most British yachtsmen crossing the southern part of the North Sea, it is probably the first really quaint
part of the Netherlands that they see. Middelburg is the Provincial Capital of Zeeland and more information can be found on
Wikipedia .
The amazing thing is that the city was completely flattened by the Germans in 1940. After the war, despite all the records having been destroyed, the
city was rebuilt to it's former glory - the buildings you see today, that appear to be hundreds of years old, are in fact "post war"!
Approaching the city from either the north or the south on the canal, the only point of note, if you are continuing on, is a series of opening
bridges that you have to wait for. But don't pass on, divert off to the west and you enter a small canal that leads almost into the city centre. There
is a municipal harbour master who can find you a berth for a few nights and from there you can explore a wonderful Dutch city.
Breskens - is on the south side of Westerschelde opposite Vlissingen. We have not been there so can't comment. If we visit in the future we will add comments.
Terneuzen - is further east on the south side of Westerschelde and is best known as the point where the new tunnel under the Westerschelde exits. It is also the entrance to the canal that leads south to Gent in Belgium. It is a very industrialised area with lots of commercial wharfs. There is a yacht harbour with direct access off the Westerschelde and there appears to be a smaller one just in side the locked canal.
Having visited Terneuzen by car, we would have to say we would not choose to visit by boat other than as a refuge/bolt hole!
Places to visit:-
Kortgene - This is our home port and the location of
Delta Marina
where we keep Emjaytoo. The main part of the marina has been in existence for some time. Adjacent to the main marina was a secondary port known as
the Landbouwhaven. This was an agricultural harbour in the days when the Veerse Gat was open to the sea. When the dam was built in 1961 the harbour
went into decline. Subsequently, the grain silos were demolished and the harbour side was redeveloped as residential/holiday homes and apartments.
The old harbour became filled up with an eclectic mix of “house boats" most which have recently been cleared away to accommodate the latest phases
of the marina. The marina has the usual facilities you’d expect from a modern marina, although the holding tank pump out facility is expensive at €2
and difficult to get access to as it is on the fuelling pontoon and inevitably you have to queue up with boats waiting to refuel.
Kortgene is a lively village with several pubs and restaurants. Our favourite is Iets Anders, where we have always enjoyed an excellent meal. The
Overstaag is a restaurant that used to have an excellent reputation, indeed we went in there in 2007 and had a fantastic meal, however when we went
in there a couple of years ago, it was empty whilst its competitors were packed out. The meal was okay, but we haven’t been back there since.
Recently reopened
after a period of closure is the Graaf Van Buren, but we have yet to try that. Over in the main part of the marina there is the Veerhuis, where we
have eaten a couple of times. The food is good, but for us being in the Landbouwhaven it is a bit of a trek.
In addition to bars and restaurants the village boasts amongst others, a Spar shop, a bank, a butchers, a bakers and a disproportionate number
of hairdressers. Down from the Landbouwhaven is a large camp site – the Paardekreek, which has a very well stocked shop.
Wolphaartsdijk - is a complex of four or five marinas including, somewhat strangely, the Royal Belgian Yacht Club. It is located directly
opposite Delta Marina and of course being on our doorstep, so to speak, not somewhere we have ever been to by boat. However, we have visited by
car on a couple of occasions and can report that it appears to have all the facilities you would expect including an impressive chandlery, a Spar
supermarket and two or three restaurants. The main town, though, is about two and a half miles away and from a drive through, does not appear to
be very exciting.
The water in the Veerse Meer is quite shallow over a large percentage of its area – less than 2 meters deep and consequently it gets quite warm
in the summer (over 25 degrees centigrade). Tied up to a jetty on a hot summer’s afternoon, swimming off the back of the boat followed by a
bar-b-que is living The Dream.
Directly opposite Bastiaan de Langeplaat, on the Eastern side of the Veerse Meer is De Omloop, a small in, round & out mooring complex, which
we have yet to visit, although we have been round it in the dinghy. It does appear to be quite shallow, hence the reluctance to go in there!
This island has cattle, horses and deer on it and the deer will often wander into the open area near the harbour in the evenings when the day
trippers have gone home and the place is quieter. Definitely one of our favourites.
The town is a good spot for shopping, especially as Veere does not have any grocery shops. There is a C1000 supermarket, although it is a bit of
a walk with heavy bags – about half a mile. As for the rest of the town, we can’t really say much. The marina looked as if it had not quite got
up to speed. There was no evidence of fuel or pump out facilities, but then you have pass right by the ones at the main marina. There was a
restaurant but no sign of a chandlers. There is also a Planetarium and a Laserquest type place, so it may get busy/rowdy in the evenings, but
we don’t know.
We visited the main marina four years ago, when we had our MacGregor and stayed in a vacant between piles “box”. We ate in the restaurant and
remembered the meal as acceptable. The fuel & pump out jetty is easy to get on and the pump out is only 50 cents which is a lot cheaper than
Delta Marina.
There are three choices if you want to visit Veere. Least impressive is to stay at the Veere Marina which is at the top of the Kanaal door Walcheren just
outside the lock. The marina itself is fairly basic, but it is convenient for the town. The next choice is the visitor jetty, on which one can stay
overnight, but it has no electricity or water and is a bit of a trek to the showers/toilets. By far the best place is inside the harbour on the Kaai.
Veere developed as a major port for the import of Scottish wool during the 15th & 16th centuries and subsequently has some very strong Scottish
influences. Since the closing of the Veerse Gat in 1961 the fishing fleets dwindled and Veere had to reinvent itself as a tourist town. To this
end it has been very successful – too successful some might say. The Kaai is exquisite; the main street is like a film set and the Grote Kerk
has spectacular views from the top. Add some Napoleonic fortifications, a windmill, a classic
Dutch lifting bridge and the picture book effect is complete.
The Veerse Meer is the smallest of the river estuaries to be closed off. The eastern end was closed off from the rest of the Delta system when the
Zandkreek Dam was completed in 1960. A year later the seaward end was completely closed off from the North Sea with the Veerse Gat Dam. At the seaward
end is the old town of Veere and from here the Kanaal door Walcheren goes south to Vlissingen. With the canal and the lock at Zandkreek the meer has
a small amount of commercial traffic passing through it, but predominantly, it is a leisure area with a number of fully equipped marinas and plenty of
jetties available for overnight stops. The meer is non-tidal and until a few years ago the water was brackish. However, in order to improve the ecosystem,
the meer now has sea water flushed through and has returned to being salt water.
Bastiaan de Langeplaat - and the adjacent island of Zandkreekplaat are typical of the numerous islands that abound in the Veerse Meer.
Presumably in the days when the Veerse Gat was a tidal estuary these islands would have been sand banks covered at high water. Now they are
permanent islands equipped with landing jetties and some very basic amenities – rubbish bins and chemical “thunder-box” toilets. The amazing
thing is that these jetties are free to use. The regulations for the area forbid stays of more than 24 hours and whilst the authorities do not
appear to enforce them, most people seem to abide by them. In fact, a large part of the appeal is moving from one location to another each day.
The Haringvreter - is the largest of the islands in the Veerse Meer and has three separate jetties. On the western side, south west of
Veere is a long slender jetty stretching out several hundred meters into about 1.5m – 2.0m. This jetty tends to be fairly quiet, perhaps because
it is on the windward side (given the prevailing south westerly winds). On the eastern side there is an enclosed harbour and jetty system giving
about 2.0m on the outer side and down to about 1.0m in the actual harbour. This part of the island is very popular especially for shallow boats
that can get right into the harbour and tie up at the grassy quay side. Here one can take advantage of picnic tables and an open grassy area to
spread out. About a quarter of a mile south there is an unattached jetty close to the ferry landing stage. Because this does not have walk ashore
access to the island it tends to be a lot less busy, even in the high season. If you have a tender then it is no problem to get ashore. The
presence of a ferry landing stage suggests that land lubbers can take excursions to the islands, although we have never seen the ferry come alongside.
The island has the usual basic facilities – rubbish bins & “thunder boxes”. Large parts are fenced off as protected wildlife habitat, but there
is a circular walk around the island – not always that well marked - but you can spend a very pleasant hour or so.
Kamperland - was known as a short canal off the Veerse Meer, with a marina at its entrance and leading up to the old industrial harbour
where there were some municipal moorings. But last year, however, the top end was redeveloped as a new marina. We went up there in early
in the year and it looked as if it had just opened since virtually all the berths were empty.
Veere – this is without doubt the Jewel In The Crown of the Veerse Meer. Whenever we take guests over to the boat for a weekend, we take
them to Veere and it never fails to impress. We also have some friends who live in Veere as well so that makes it especially appealing for us.
Unfortunately the rest of the world thinks Veere is especially appealing, so consequently it is usually packed out.
The Kaai is run by the municipal council and the Havenmeester has his office in the Veere Yacht Club’s clubhouse. The jetties have power and water;
toilets, showers & laundry facilities are a short walk over a bridge and there is wi-fi, albeit a bit expensive.
There is holding tank pump out, which is free - very impressive!. However, as is often the case, it is on a section of jetty that you are most unlikely
to be able to access. We went on the Kaai last year and it was deserted, so we were able to get along side the pump out and make use of it.
A night's stay, at that time, was around €17.
The Yacht Club has an excellent restaurant where you can get a very reasonably priced meal. In addition there are plenty of restaurants in Veere and
apparently the Campveerse Toren is very exclusive!
What Veere does lack is any type of shop, for buying food other than a baker, albeit a very nice baker. If you want food supplies, then you will need to head over to Kamperland. There is a bank though and a small chandlery in one of the back streets. Thereafter it is all touristy shops selling expensive toot.
Oostwatering - is a large marina to the west of Veere, which we have not visited, so can't comment on. Being large, it presumably has all the facilities one would expect of that size of marina.
Middelburg - refer to the section on The Westerschelde
The Oosterschelde
As the Oosterschelde is tidal there are some very large areas that dry at low water, so care is needed and you should stick to the buoyed channels.
There is also a fair amount of commercial traffic exiting the Kanaal Door Zuid-Beveland at Wemeldinge and heading up to the Volkerak.
Places to visit:-
Zierikzee is well served with shops, banks and restaurants and there are a couple of chandlery type shops along the quayside. A good place to eat is the
Eetcafe Marktzicht
on the Havenplein. The restuarant is done out inside as a pirate's galleon, it is a bit of a rabbit warren inside with lots of cosy
areas including one where water is periodically sprayed on the outside of the windows to simulate waves & spray. We ate in there in May 2010 and whilst
it was very busy on a Saturday night, the food was excellent.
Be warned, the last weekend in August gets very busy as there is a Mussel Festival.
Roompot - Not been there yet.
Colijnsplaat - Not been there either!
Wemeldinge - Nearly got there last year!
Yerseke - there is not a lot to say about this place. We went there in 2008 and the only thing we can remember about it was going aground
when leaving. The channel is quite narrow and turns sharply as you exit the marina, so at low tide, a bit of time spent studying the chart and
buoyage is worthwhile (something we didn’t do!). From memory the marina was okay, but the town wasn’t anything to get excited about.
The marina has a restaurant that looks out over the river with terrific views and in July 2010 we had an excellent meal there. Other typical
marina facilities
appear to be on hand and there is a chandlery. The town is fairly bland, but does have a good supermarket within a short walk of the marina (or at
least it did in 2007).
The Grevelingenmeer
The Grevelingenmeer was closed off from the North Sea in 1972 with the construction of the Brouwers Dam. The eastern end had already been closed off
with the Grevelingen Dam and lock back in 1965. Because, when the lock was built, the Grevelingenmeer was still open to the sea, the lock is large
enough to take commercial barge traffic. Today there is little or no commercial traffic, the whole area being devoted to leisure craft. Originally
the Grevelingenmeer was brackish like the Veerse Meer, but now days salt water is sluiced through. Large expanses of the meer are very shallow –
less than 2 metres.
Unlike the Veerse Meer, cruising the Grevelingenmeer is not free. You need to purchase a cruising pass which can be either for the season or
weekly. The main marina J H Buinisse is a convenient place to get one and if you tie up at the waiting pontoon by the lock after entering the
Grevelingenmeer, it’s a pleasant walk round to the marina.
In addition to the old towns/ports/marinas dotted around, the meer offers a number of natural islands and “sport islands” (man made islands)
offering overnight mooring facilities. The Grevelingenmeer gets very busy in the summer and the lock at Bruinisse is reputed to be the busiest
lock in the Netherlands.
Places to visit:-
The approach to Brouwershaven requires some care as it is up a very narrow channel that, when approached from the east, doubles back on itself.
The channel then has a single storm surge gate, which is only closed when required. The gate has a sill which is reported to only have 2.0 metres
Clearance, although once inside there is generally between 2.3 and 2.6 metres.
The gate is controlled from the havenmeester’s office which is a modern control tower type building on the right with a waiting jetty.
Once inside the surge gate there is a new marina complex on the right, then the channel turns right and becomes the old town quay.
The centre of the town is dominated by the harbour and the adjacent market square. When we visited in 2008 there was a market on Mondays.
There are toilets and showers on the quay side, a museum, various shops and restaurants. Notably, in 2008 we found free Wi-Fi.
The main island has about six jetties, a sandy beach and surprisingly, a brick built toilet block. We are not sure where the waste goes –
presumably into a holding tank as the toilets are flushed via a hand pump not dissimilar to the marine toilet in your heads. In addition
there are wheelie bins for your rubbish.
The views are spectacular and you get some fantastic sunsets.
The Oosterschelde, or the East Schelde was closed off from the North Sea by a massive storm surge barrier, completed in 1989. This operates on a
vertical gate system. When each of the 60 plus gates are in the open position, the tide is able to flood and ebb in the normal way making the
Oosterschelde completely tidal. The gates can then be lowered to completely close off the river estuary from the North Sea. The storm barrier
with it’s roadway on top was a massive civil engineering feat by anyone’s standards. It is actually in three sections with artificial islands
Neeltje Jans and Roggenplaathaven. These islands were fundamental in the construction process and on Neeltje Jans there is a large exhibition
centre devoted to the Delta Plan in general and the storm surge barrier in particular. It is well worth a visit either by car or by boat staying
at the Roompot Marina near by. For vessels wishing to passage from the Oosterschelde to the North Sea there is a lifting bridge/lock facility at
Roompotsluis.
About 5 or 6 miles in from the storm barrier is the Zeelandbrug which spans about 2½ miles across the Oosterschelde. This again, like anything the
Dutch, build is pretty spectacular. Height clearance will vary depending on the tide, but if you have a mast, then you are best using the opening
section adjacent to the north shore.
Zierikzee – This is one of our favourite places and definitely the best on the Oosterschelde. It's a mile and a half up a canal just west of the
Zeelandbrug on the northern shore and is a major mussel fishing port. There is a marina along the left bank as you go up the canal and then at the
top, on the edge of the town, is the town quay. This is a very popular place in the season and we have been rafted 7 deep! It's an interesting
quay as it's tidal, but you moor to a floating pontoon, so no need to worry about the tide. There is power and water on the pontoon and
toilets/showers on the quayside. They are rather basic and often collect a lot of dead leaves in autumn, but they serve the required function
and the showers are hot.
A short walk from the town quay is the Oude Haven which is reserved for museum exibits of traditional style Dutch sailing boats, all accessed
through a traditional Dutch double lifting bridge. The town is typical of Dutch Zeeland towns with ornate town hall and lots of gabled buildings.
A major attraction, well worth a visit is the "Monstertoren", a church tower built in the 15th century, with terrific views across the Oosterschelde
and surrounding area.
Sint Annaland - is a pleasant place to sail to, being reached up the Krabbenkreek, a tidal estuary off the main part of the Oosterschelde.
It looks as if it would make a good spot to anchor (we’ve anchored just for lunch) and according to our latest electronic charts, there are four
mooring buoys opposite the marina entrance. Mooring is mostly between piles and the tidal range is about 3.0m. The piles are equipped with steel
cables running up them so a couple of large carabiners are useful to attach your stern lines and then you moor the bow to the floating pontoon.
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Bruinisse - is known as the Mussel Capital of Zeeland. There does appear to be more than one place claiming this title however! From our
point of view, Bruinisse is the gateway to the Grevelingenmeer. It plays host to the locked entance, has a couple of well equiped marinas and
the town has some superb restaurants.
Brouwershaven - means “brewers harbour”, not that we have found any evidence of a brewery. Again this a typical Zeeland port of old and
you can easily visualise it as it was when the meer was open to the North Sea with fishing boats and small cargo vessels filling the town quay.
Archipel - is a cluster of three man made islands with mooring jetties. The smallest does not have direct access, but there are two
berthing dolphins. The next island up has a single jetty with access to the island, but the access is pretty academic as most of the island
is fenced off, such that the bit you can walk on is about the size of a tennis court!
Stampersplaat - is one of the larger natural islands – presumably a sand bank in the days when the Grevelingenmeer was a tidal river
estuary. It has a wonderful little harbour along with the usual basic facilities of “thunder box” toilet and wheelie bins. The little harbour
has a grassy quayside for the more shallow draught boats, whist there is deeper water along a couple of jetties. The island has ponies on it
and they often come into the harbour area.
Numansdorp - technically Numansdorp is not in the Haringvliet, being in the Hollands Diep, but after you exit the lock at Volkeraksluizen,
it is a good place to stop over before going through the Haringvlietbrug and into the Haringvliet. There is a large marina complex to the West
of the town, but give this a miss and head up the narrow channel towards the town itself. Be careful of the submerged mole on the west side of
the channel. Once up the top of the canal you will find a quaint little quay with the harbourmaster's office. There is some
mooring against the quayside, but you will need fender boards as there are protruding piles. Better to get allocated a "box" between piles.
Hellevoetsluis - This is the major town on the Haringvliet, having an extensive history closely entwined with the Netherland's Navy.
The town grew up during the 17th and 18th Centurys as a major naval port and ship yard. The town boasts the Netherland's oldest dry dock and
an absolute rake of buildings and structures from various periods throughout the town's history.
Middelharnis - is on the south side of the Haringvliet up a canal about a mile long. The approach is through a storm gate
that is in the open position and the canal is lined with boat moorings. The town quay is very picturesque, with lots of street cafés, which on
a hot and sunny day create a “Mediterranean” atmosphere. On arrival select a vacant box displaying a green “flag” and then wander down to the
Harbourmaster and tell him where you are.
Willemstad - Like Numansdorp, Willemstad is not really in the Haringvliet, but at the western end of the Hollands Diep. Resist the
temptation to go in the modern marinas and head into the town quay. It’s a bit tight and it does get very busy, but it’s well worth the effort.