Motor Boat & Yachting — August 2017

T

he Netherlands are building vast
new swathes of offshore wind farms
opposite the Westerschelde Estuary,
stretching up to 30 miles out. This
small but resourceful country has
an extraordinary record of maritime
works, not least in securing its very existence from
invasion by the sea. Now they are beavering away to
meet the EU target of producing 14% of their energy
from renewable sources by 2020, and 16% by 2023.
The recently released charts of the southern
North Sea are quite literally action packed. The
Belgians are at it too, so there are pecked wind
farm zones galore, along with the usual complexity
of traffic lanes, separation schemes and sandbanks.
Anyone cruising to Holland this season simply
must have the latest cartography on board, and
I say this as one who generally hangs on to charts
for as long as possible.
Imray’s popular passage chart C30 covers the
whole area likely to be used by yachts crossing

from England to Holland,

and has the great

advantage of clearly

marked waypoints and

routes to show the ways

through all the magenta

tint. While to some folk wind farms at sea have

an elegant, aesthetic quality, I find them rather

sinister except in the calmest summery conditions.

For navigators, they are like malevolent expanses

of reefs suddenly created to hinder an otherwise

straightforward landfall.

Imagine being carried towards a wind farm by

wind or tide in the event of an engine problem or

something round the props. Picture the scene in a

bit of weather, those short steep seas, frothy brown

over the banks, and a lurking lee shore of battalions

of turbines. Makes me shudder to think of it.

Yet Holland is a delightful boating country

once you penetrate its burgeoning layers of civil

engineering. I love exploring the intricate rivers,

sheltered meres and

placid waterways through

neat rural landscapes

and picturesque towns.

But to get there you

need a flanking strategy,

a sideways attack behind all the hazards. For most

UK boats, the least stressful route is to start from

Dover or Ramsgate, cross the Dover Strait to Calais

or Dunkirk, and then follow the coastal buoyed

channels east towards Vlissingen, stopping in

Ostend if you fancy a jolly Belgian interlude.

This way you scuttle inside the copious

shipping lanes, TSS junctions, wind farms,

waiting anchorages, mine-laying practice areas

and other discouraging features. Vlissingen is a

vibrant estuary pilot base where huge ships pass

constantly. Here you can lock into the real boating

Holland and relax, especially when passing those

beautiful old windmills that, unlike their modern

descendants, look so soothing.

To some folk, wind farms at sea

have an elegant, aesthetic quality.

I fi nd them rather sinister except in

the calmest summery conditions

PETER CUMBERLIDGE: The North Sea is fi lling up with new wind farms, especially off the Dutch

coast. Anyone heading for Holland this summer needs the latest charts and a carefully planned route

CUMBERLIDGE

ON CRUISING

The marina at Vlissingen

is a relaxing and

welcoming haven

Sinister and eerie

or ethereally

enchanting?

COLUMNS