The fleet make Brouwershaven were they will stay two nights
Early morning heavy rain awoke crews but there was no great urgency to get up just yet. It was a civilised 11am start for the fleet, today they would make for Brouwershaven on the Greveiingermeer which was approximately a 4-hour passage.
On the stroke of 11am the first boats were departing Delta Marina accompanied by Time Flies, and were heading towards the first lock of the day onto the Oosterschelde. Blue Fin departed with the last group of boats which included the Sealine F46 Dignity, Fairline Phantom 43 In Motion and Broom 450 Mister Green.
A beautiful evening – Hardy Commander 32 Tidesend on the Grevelingermeer
The Oostershelde is a tidal stretch of water connected to the North Sea, and in a large section of it there is no speed limit. Today it was busy with holiday boaters and this proved a problem by the next lock. The second lock of the day, onto the Grevelingermeer was even busier than the first and the MBM fleet boats joined the forey. Unfortunately before they could even enter there was a problem with one of the lifting road bridges, a technical fault that would cost some of the fleet two hours of their journey. 10-year-old Zoe from Rosie D passed the time by drawing a picture of Blue Fin and Time Flies which she presented the MBM team. Time Flies had made it into the previous lock but remained trapped in there for an hour and half before a technician came to remedy the problem. When Time Flies finally escaped the lock, the queue on the Oosterschelde side had grown considerably, which lead to some interesting jostling by local boats.
An artist in the making – 10-year-old Zoe’s artist impression of the MBM control boats
The church bell was chiming 6pm in the small harbour of Brouwershaven as the fleet were assembling on the town quay. There was some impressive manoeuvring by all boats, the town basin is quite tight and bows facing out of the harbour is enforced by the harbour master. It had been another long day but everyone was looking forward to exploring a new place and with a rest day tomorrow they could relax.
