Nancy Blackett made it to Flushing (aka Vlissingen) in just under 24 hours, arriving at 3.15am today (Wednesday), having cast off at 3.30 the previous night. Skipper Bryan Bonser reports an uneventful passage, with very little wind. “We had one hour’s sailing at 5 knots, followed by a half-hour at 4 knots, then what could be considered motor-sailing for two to three hours before the wind died away completely, and we motored, with the sail up to steady the boat, for the rest of the way.”
Nancy entered via the main buoyed channel and went straight to the canal (not into the small marina in the former fishing harbour that we’ve previously used), locking-in just as the Goblin did, and as she herself, with Arthur Ransome at the helm, had done 75 years ago. After a brief tie-up and a nap, and the departure of one crewmember, Adrian White, for the station, she proceeded up the canal to Middelburg, for a shower, a meal and more rest. Tomorrow, she plans to head on to Veere – also visited by Ransome – to meet up with newly-elected vice-president Brian Hammett.