20190922

Dorestad Raid 2019 18-22 September 2019

Dirk and Joop - Drascombe Coaster - Struner
Hans and Margreet - 21ft Kuperus Sloop - Wuptem
Gerald and Frank - Caledonian Yawl - Skua
Onno and Anneke Geest - Caledonian Yawl - Gjoa
Janko and Gerben-Jan - Caledonian Yawl - Mousa,
Hans - Haven 12.5 - Nathia
Hans and Menno - Viking Raider - No name
Marten and Leen Peter - Beenakkervlet - De Blauwe Schuit
Piet - Akkrumer Jol - Mazzel
Herman and Eliane - Welsford Pathfinder - Blue Noddy
Lieuwe and Douwe - Double ender (fka Scottish Disaster) - Amice
Ben and Yvonne - 18ft Seil - Scarlett
Hubert and Klarie - 15ft Norwegian pram - Hatseflats
Sybren and Tineke - Tirrik - Stirn
Joost and Viola - Goat Island Skiff - GISwerk
Boudewijn - Drascombe Scaffie - Sea Miracle
Willem - 12 foot Dinghy - Seepaerd
Steve , Bob and Jan - Llafurio - Swallow Bayraide
Paul , Robin, Ania, Natalya and Susannah - Reyer de Boer Special - Elf II (for sale)

Wednesday 18 september, arrival at Akkrum

As everybody seemed to arrive at the same time, it was quite busy with launching boats from the single slip. Tineke of the organizing committee gave each boat a launch slot of 5 minutes so we had to be efficient. After two hours, all 19 boats had been launched. While the crews stayed behind with the boats, the skippers drove their cars and trailers to Zoutkamp, the destination of this year's raid.
Before the Lauwerszee was dyked in, Zoutkamp was a thriving fishing village. There are still trawlers working from Zoutkamp but the bigger boats are now based at the sea-harbour of Lauwersoog. Once we had parked our trailers we went back to Akkrum by coach, got into our boats and rowed out to our hotel ship In Dubio lying just outside of Akkrum.

Thursday 19 september, Akkrum - Leeuwarden

To celebrate the 10th Dorestad Raid, all participants were given a blue buff with the Dorestad Raid logo. After breakfast we were briefed by Joost that we were to navigate to Leeuwarden. It was quite sunny. Whatever wind there was came from the SW. We rowed through the backyards of Akkrum and Nes and hoisted sail on the Pikmeer near Grou. Then we sailed on to the Doekesloot where we had lunch. After that, more rowing was on the menu. When we arrived at the Hempens just before Leeuwarden I had rowed 20km out of 24km. This ordeal was sweetened a bit because we could sail the last 15 minutes.

Friday 20 september, Leeuwarden - Birdaard

After breakfast we were again briefed on the deck of In Dubio. Nobody was in a hurry because it was drizzly. There was just a little wind from the SW but we had to navigate through the outskirts of Leeuwarden before we would be able to hoist sail. Once we had passed the railway bridge east of Leeuwarden we sailed for a little while before we had to lower our masts and row through a string of villages. Then we stopped for lunch. It appeared our lunch spot was a private jetty and we were expelled by an angry owner. Chewing on our half-eaten lunches we rowed and sailed on. Finally we got to Birdaard, a small village with a riverside supermarket with its own jetty. We were just in time to visit the Ruurd Wiersma museum. Ruurd was a lifelong bachelor who sublimated his love for buxom ladies by making every single item in his cottage into a painting. After our visit we passed the bridge and continued for a little while along the Dokkumer Ee until we arrived at our hotel ship for supper and sleep.

Saturday 21 september, Birdaard - Kollumeroord

Finally a bright and sunny morning with a little more wind. After breakfast we tacked up the Dokkumer Ee into the town of Dokkum where St Boniface was butchered in 754AD. After our coffee break we continued through the city centre until we got back on the Dokkumer Ee.
We continued tacking up the Dokkumer Ee hoping to bear off in some of the river bends. But the adage that the wind follows the bends in the river proved true once more. While the hardliners continued tacking up the river, Klarie and I and some others chose to use the tow path. We soon left our group behind and reached the locks at Dokkumer Nieuwe Zijlen after a couple of hours. Once through the locks we rowed to the marina of Lunegat and hoisted sail for the last mile to Kollumeroord, where In Dubio was moored.
Saturday night was party night, with stories and song and dance accompanied by ukelele, flute, accordeon and trombone.

Sunday 22 September

A beautiful sunny morning and a force 4 wind. And sufficient time to frolic on the Lauwersmeer. We headed to an island off the Schoenerbult for a coffee break. The faster boats then went on to round the entire Schoenerbult island, while the slower boats headed straight to the marina of Hunzegat at Zoutkamp.
After retrieving our boats onto the trailers and saying our goodbyes we had a meal with Hans and Margreet at one of the nearby fish restaurants and then it was time to drive home again.