I was unable to get this out on Wednesday.:

Wednesday September 25 at Latitude 51.31.00 N 004.00.334 E

There was a light mist on Tuesday morning when I left “de Schinkel”. It burnt off later in the day and then it was shirt sleeve, nearly wind less, weather. Perfect for motoring through calm waters. My sister Karolien and my brother in law, Herman, waved me goodbye when I passed through the Ringvaart near their home in Badhoevedorp. I stopped in Woubrugge at the boat yard of Van Wijk, to drop off my book “De Mastmakersdochters” I had met Bouw van Wijk in 2007. The “other” Mastmakers’ Daughter, my mom’s cousin, was the sister of his grandfather, Wouter Boot.  His great grandmother and mine traded their maritime products and sons and daughters. One of my grandfather’s sisters married Manus Boot and his younger brother married Gerarda Boot, the mother of the “other” mastmakers’ daughter.   Marinus, the barge skipper who towed me up the Rhine in 2010, met me before the Juliana lock, near Gouda. I had planned to stay there for the night but he managed to talk me into having him pilot me to Dordrecht, where we arrived at 8.30 p.m. I could have never done it and found my way in the dark across the big rivers and all the traffic going in and out of Rotterdam. He knows these waters like the back of his hand.  He had left his commercial barge in the hands of his wife Leni and a deckhand to unload in Antwerp and drove to the Juliana lock. He slept on the boat and took the train from Dordrecht and a stiff walk from the station to his car. He also went over the charts and wrote sheets of very useful information for today’s and tomorrow’s directions. If I had not made it to Dordrecht last night it would have taken me three instead of two days to get across the Western Scheldt to Terneuzen. Last night I could not find a wireless connection and here in Wemeldingen I hope to get this out. I am at the reception float of a marina and no one has returned my call yet. But I cannot get off this float to the shore without inflating my dinghy to get into town. Well, at least the moorage will be affordable. I need it to buy a new handheld VHF. I dropped mine overboard accidentally at the last lock. They are essential for the locks and traffic control centers. But there are no marine stores till I get across the Western Scheldt, tomorrow. It was a delightful day to travel. Again quite balmy. This time I travelled mostly in wide estuaries and bays, so I had time to leave the helm to the autopilot. I made it to Wemeldingen by 5.45 p.m. in a marina just to the west of the north end of the Kanaal door Zuid Beveland. The town is just short bicycle ride from Kapelle-Biezelingen, where my mother went to school when she was between 11 and 13. Her recollections are in “the” book.  My 28-200 zoom lens does not focus any longer in zoom. The below picture of the full flip of the wave boarder was partially corrected with photo shop. I will now use my 28-100 lens.

Thursday Sept 26:

I left Wemeldinge around 8 a.m. on the Canal through Zuid Beveland, into the Western Scheldt. It was a gorgeous day. The ebb tide swept me to Terneuzen. I purchased a new handheld VHF Radio in Terneuzen. $300… Ouch. But this one floats…. Got back on the road again another 35 km to Ghent. I am staying at the Royal Belgian Y.C., pleasant spot, just north of the city. The large warehouses of Van Hoorebeke Timber are right across from the marina. I sold my largest single volume order, ever, to Franz van Hoorebeke when I worked in Brussels for Weyerhauser in 1966. It was a deckload of construction grade Douglas Fir that was loaded in Coos Bay Oregon and discharged right here in Ghent. We stayed friends through the years. I plan to take a train from tomorrow night’s stop o Saturday to Leuven to visit Corrine, my granddaughter, and Euan.