Freezing and the Frisian Islands. Scheveningen, IJmuiden and Oudeschild

We spent 4 nights - 3 days - in Scheveningen so we could meet up with Marjolein and Alfred, a Dutch couple we'd become friends with on our last trip to the Baltic in 2015. In fact, it was at Scheveningen that we'd met them 2 years ago, when we'd asked to raft alongside their boat in the harbour.

It was great to see them again and to catch up on what they'd been doing over the last 2 years whilst consuming tea, cake, Easter eggs, cheese straws and prosecco (not all at the same time!).

Scheveningen is like Den Hague (The Hague) on sea, as there's no real divide between the two places. We decided to burn off a few calories by strolling to, around and back from Den Hague - clocking up over 20,000 steps and 9.28 miles (according to my phone) in the process. We'd been there 2 years ago too, but took some more photos of the place in any case:

The Passage - posh shopping centre. We went in via the front passage...

Den Hague has canals too. Well, this is the Netherlands after all!

View from the balcony of the 42nd floor (the Penthouse) of the Hague Tower...

... and another...

... and another...

... and another.

Jo with her customary lunchtime champagne. Hang on, the exposure's not quite right...

That's better. You can see the view now!

The Hague Tower and balcony

Walking back from the Hague Tower we came across the demonstration below. A very eloquent and passionate supporter of the demonstrators explained to us that it related to the arrest and subsequent imprisonment in Den Hague of Laurent Gbagbo, the Ivory Coast's elected president, by France in 2011.

He went on to explain that France subsequently installed their own puppet leader who willingly traded with them at the expense of the Ivory Coast's own people.

He was very persuasive and it all seemed most unjust from what he'd said. As usual, however, there are 2 sides to every story. The summary of events published in the Guardian at the time of Gbagbo's arrest presents a very different perspective.

Protest relating to Gbagbo's arrest and imprisonment in Den Hague

Knight's Hall

Binnenhof - the Dutch Houses of Parliament

Not sure what's going on here!

Noordeinde Palace - the king's pad

The Peace Palace

The Peace Flame

After 4 nights in Scheveningen we were keen to move on and so, at about 0645 on Monday 17th April, we set off for IJmuiden - about 25 miles north.

Leaving Scheveningen

The forecast wasn't ideal as the wind would be coming from the direction we wanted to go, but it wasn't forecast to be more than 15 knots until late afternoon/early evening, by which time we'd be alongside.

Well, the weather is an unpredictable beast and, whilst the forecast proved accurate initially, the wind soon increased to the point where we were experiencing gusts of more than 30 knots over the decks. This made life interesting as the increase in wind happened quite suddenly, catching us with more sail up than we should have had for the new conditions. A flurry of activity ensued as the mainsail was reefed (made smaller) and a substantial part of the headsail rolled away.

This calmed things down a bit, allowing me to move forward along the deck to tension the headsail's leech line to stop it motoring (flogging rapidly on the trailing edge of the sail - making a din and delighting the sailmaker who's ready to cash in!). I cut this excursion short though after a further gust of wind saw Cyclone heel more and immerse her port side deck - the one I was standing on - into the North Sea. It's interesting looking down at your boots and watching the sea flow over them at 6 knots!

We had a fairly uncomfortable 5 of 6 hours of these conditions in a choppy sea and were glad to arrive at IJmuiden (we're wimps, you see. Our friends Tim and Natalie sailed their much smaller boat to the Caribbean and put up with far worse weather for 4 days or more when on route to Madeira!). I should stress that there's nothing dangerous about such conditions - the boat will put up with far more - it's just a bit unpleasant for those hanging on!

As we approached Marina Seaport IJmuiden I became aware of a rib following us with the word Politie on its side. Now my understanding of the Dutch language is not perfect, but I managed to work that one out. Sure enough, once we were alongside it tied up behind us and the Dutch inquisition (nothing like the Spanish one) began.

It was all very courteous and a matter of routine - checking passports, ships documents, VHF licence etc. - and naturally everything was in order. Everything that is except for the cabin which, following our earlier experience with too much sail up for the conditions, looked like it had been ransacked by intruders! I did my best to clear sufficient space on the floor for the immigration man to stand in order to carry out his cursory inspection!

Oh dear! I must replace those locker catches and the Velcro on the settee backs

There is loads of space for visitors in Marina Seaport IJmuiden so I'd chosen to tie up on a long pontoon (completely empty on our arrival) with a view from our orangery of the harbour entrance. Settled down for the evening and admiring said view, we (well, mainly I...) was rather miffed when a dirty great big Dutch barge chose to moor behind us in such a way that we could see nothing else! Why, when there's so much available space, do some skippers choose to moor on top of the only other boat there? Grrr...

Seaport Marina IJmuiden. We're on the long pontoon at the back - with the Dutch barge!

There are 2 walks marked on the tourist map of IJmuiden; the Bunker Route and Old IJmuiden. We opted for the latter, passing the start of the Bunker route on the way.

World War 2 bunkers

Now Jo's not always a fan of my walking tours. This is partly because once started they have to be completed (and nothing missed out) and partly because she's convinced that they're often compiled by Tourist Information personnel with the unenviable task of finding something of interest in a dull place.

Usually I find something to counter Jo's lack of enthusiasm but, on this occasion, I had to admit defeat (we did, of course, complete the walk in its entirely...).

You see, Old IJmuiden isn't really there anymore. The walk simply guides you from information board to information board - each depicting a photograph and explanation (rarely in English) of what used to be on that spot.

It would be uncharitable, however, to be scathing about this as it is all a sad consequence of World War 2. From the website https://www.ontdekoudijmuiden.nl/international/ which carries a huge amount of information in English about IJmuiden's history:

"At the end of the war Old-IJmuiden was in ruins. The buildings that were not completely demolished were heavily damaged by the many bombings of the harbour area. The total of destroyed buildings amounted to 3,190 houses, two churches, nine schools and 159 other buildings. Many more were damaged: 4,600 houses, ten churches and 363 other buildings. The old IJmuiden was never going to be the same again; many inhabitants of IJmuiden longed for the pre-war conviviality. After the war Old-IJmuiden was a sad and dilapidated place. Everywhere were empty spots, such as the completely wiped out police station and bandstand in what used to be Willemsplein. The Koning Willemshuis and Hotel Nommer Eén on Kanaalstraat, Café Cycloop on Prins Hendrikstraat: everything was bombed or demolished. Only the Gebouw voor Christelijke Belangen (Building for Christian Interests) on Enchedéplein, the old Mercurius on Breesaapstraat, Café Afslag, the old Planteijdt auction on Kanaalstraat and the Bell Telephone building near the old lock were still standing."

The rebuilding of Old IJmuiden was slow to get started and continues today.

Old IJmuiden walking tour information board with picture of what used to be on the spot

One of the few surviving buildings - German propaganda films used to be shown there...

IJmuiden's Vissershaven

Tata Steel works

Canal locks. IJmuiden is Amsterdam's link to the sea

With another 9 miles of walking behind us, I must start to lose some weight soon!

Now, apart from our view being blighted by a Dutch barge, there was another problem with our chosen berth. After we arrived, the wind increased further - to more than 30 knots of true wind - passing over a pleasant sandy beach before reaching Cyclone. The result was that we were steadily sandblasted and had visions of waking up under our own floating sand dune!

You'll have to enlarge the picture to see it, but Cyclone's covered in sand

This is why. That's Cyclone's mast to the right and the sandy beach to the left!

Sand waiting to descend on Cyclone

The harbour entrance from the beach above

The sand got everywhere - below decks too. I even found sand inside the chart table!

All things considered, we decided to move to a finger pontoon further from that beach. Result! Our view was back and no more sand!

Just after sunrise on Thursday 20th April, we set off for Oudeschild on the island of Texel - the most southerly of the Frisian islands. It was blooming chilly - hence the post's title - and a layer of ice covered the decks!

We'd waited an extra day in IJmuiden for decent winds and our reward was a fast sail as the wind veered from behind us to just aft of our beam.

Sunrise over the IJmuiden Tata Steel Works

I'd used part of our extra day in IJmuiden to replace our kicking strap with a Walder boom brake that I'd bought secondhand from a fellow CA member. As its name suggests, the boom brake slows the movement of the boom across the boat, thereby preventing potentially dangerous accidental gybes (when the boom crashes across the deck at high speed). Tension in the line holds the boom down, allowing the brake to perform the role of the kicking strap as well. Finally, the brake stops the boom from banging about when rolling downwind. It did this successfully on this trip, so it's looking promising so far.   

Goose-winging downwind. Note new boom brake

Lots of these passed us, flying low ready to land in Schiphol airport, Amsterdam

The lighthouse at Den Helder

The final approach to Oudeschild

Entering Oudeschild harbour

Pontoon mates. Ruddy turnstones?

Talking of pontoons, look at the length of those in the photo below. These are designated for 10-12m boats. Ours is 10m and they only come about half way down the length of the boat! They're also very narrow, low and bouncy.

Waddenhaven - Oudeschild Texel - gets very busy. But not in April!

The day after our arrival on Texel, we decided to go for a cycle ride. For us, this entails removing copious quantities of rope and miscellaneous other objects before lifting the two folding bikes from the bowels of the cockpit locker (eugghh!).

Naturally all 4 tyres were flat and, as luck would have it, one had a puncture too. New tube duly fitted, we set off on our tour of the island.

Fishing fleet in Oudeschild harbour

Jo. Untied from the galley for a bit of daylight. Entrance to Oudeschild in the background

The Den Helder to Texel ferry at its berth in in 't Horntje

We bought a small gift from here for someone who may be reading this! Be afraid!!

Dunes and bird watchers type place. There's lots of this on Texel

When it's spring again, the blah blah blah, tulips from Amsterdam Texel 

And again. Loads of 'em

Wilf's friends?

Typical street in Den Hoorn, one of only 4 towns on the island

Ahhh! Lambing time. Loads of sheep here and plenty of woolly sheep toys for the tourists!

Our trusty steeds tied up in Den Burg, Texel's biggest town

A Den Burg courtyard (B&B)...

... and a Den Burg shopping street

Marina's private beach

In common with most of the Netherlands it seems, there are cycle lanes everywhere. This makes cycling a rather pleasant way of getting around (except when you're pedalling into a strong headwind...). We probably cycled around 15 miles in total, only a couple of them being on the road.

Today is Saturday and a day of rest. The wind is howling across our decks and we're hoping for better weather tomorrow to whisk us to Vlieland, our next port of call.

Thanks for reading.