Nancy Blackett and her new crew have had a busy sixth week in Zeeland so far, as new crewman Nick Ardagh-Walter writes.

The new crew arrived in Middelburg on Saturday morning and joined sitting tenant Iain. After settling in, and a supermarket shop, the safety talk was given, with man-overboard equipment for recovery being thoroughly explored.

Our plans for Sunday were for sailing to Goes, as the tides, wind and weather were looking favourable. We decided to try to use up some of the ingredients left aboard by the previous crew – a slightly odd mixture, but we called it fusion cooking.

We spent our first night aboard, and some of the company were very excited about actually sleeping on the boat. We set off on time on Sunday with the mainsail up, although we did use the engine to head out into Veerse Meer. We got the sails up there and then proceeded to Oosterschelde.

The two new crew members both had lots of opportunity to become better acquainted with the boat and helmed for sections, learning about negotiating locks. Several people recognized Nancy Blackett as we sailed by, and one Dutch boat called out, “that is a very good little ship”, so clearly they knew exactly who she was.

On Sunday evening we were moored at Goes, having had a drink at the clubhouse honesty bar, and eaten a wonderful curry made by Mate Iain. A brief stroll around Goes showed it to be a delightful place, with lovely buildings and a market square.

On Monday we had a splendid sailing day out of Goes, making fast progress up the canal into Ostschelde, over which Nancy streaked along at 6.5 knots on two reefs and half a jib. We went up-channel with the tide until close to the northern end of the Zeelandbrugge, then returning as planned down the Brabantsche Vaarwater with the tide, sailing past basking seals on the sands.

The skipper demonstrated advanced manoeuvring skills in reversing out of a packed marina. We had another superb meal on board, followed by drinks and Dutch apple pie in the charming 16th century town square.

On Tuesday we left Goes in a substantial convoy of boats, headed by the Lisa Life from Woodbridge, as the weather turned cool and blowy. As we entered the large lock taking us into the tidal Oosterschelde, we were relieved that the large cargo vessel didn’t try to squeeze in behind us.

We headed up under the Zeelandbrug with a force 4-5 headwind as the tide started to turn against us, and moored next to the clubhouse at Zierikzee, which does a good coffee (and, like all of these marinas, has palatial and spotless shower facilities, which almost always free – except there’s 50c charge at Goes).

Zierikzee is an attractive town with 16th century houses, a very fancy spire on the town hall, and a massive tower which can be seen from most of the Oosterschelde.

The evening’s entertainment included a card game (Racing Demons) and another bout of creative cooking.

Header photo: Nancy Blackett and the Zeelandbrugge/Sophie Neville.