20250622

Zonnewende Weekend 20 - 22 June 2025

Hubert and Klarie - Norwegian pram 'Hatseflats'
Joost and Viola - Silmaril 'Grutto'
Marlies - Creizic 'Meisje Loos'
Herman and Eliane - Welsford Pathfinder 'Blue Noddy'
Marlies - Creizic 'Meisje Loos'
Henk and Heike - Arctic Tern 'Magnes'
Gerben-Jan and Fenna - Viking Raider
Sander Leeman - Oostzeejol 'Vita Felice II'
Eelco - Viola 'Zwaluw'
Marcel - Acorn Skiff
Klara and Frank - Waddenjol 'Lucia'
Jan - Chester Yawl 'Nessie' with lugger rig

Helpers in need: Koos and Rene.

The plan for the third edition of the Zonnewendetocht of Natuurlijk Varen was to explore the wetlands between Leeuwarden and Feanwalden. The inspiration came from an article by Klaas Wiersma in Spiegel der Zeilvaart who had made the trip with his father. The canals were very narrow and we would pass three self-operated locks, Neither myself or Joost had sailed here, so we went on a field trip in autumn 2024 to find out if the route would be suitable for a group event. The plan was a clockwise trip starting and ending at Stichting Jachthaven Wartena with Camping De Zilveren Maan as our halfway point.

As the weekend drew near, the anticipated easterly winds forced a change of plan. The best option was to sail counterclockwise. On Saturday we would sail to Westereen via Drachten and Burgum and explore the wetlands and the self-operated locks on the Sunday on our way back.

Friday 20 June

I arrived at 1130 hours at the marina in Wartena. It was hot, so I took my time to launch Hatseflats and set up our little tent. I had brought a tarp to create more shade. During the afternoon and early evening all 11 boats and their crews arrived and launched their boats. Klarie arrived on her folding push bike after work.
Marlies baptized her brand new Creizic 'Meisje Loos' in the evening sun with plenty champagne and fine food. Thus restored it was time to call it a day.

Saturday 21 June

The prediction was SE3 for Saturday, and SSE3 veering to W4 on Sunday. So we stuck to our revised plan for a counterclockwise trip.
After the briefing by Joost we sailed out of Wartena. It was already heating up. Not much wind, but the new bigger sail provided enough pull so that we didn't have to resort to rowing.
We enjoyed sailing down the Wijde Ee and found the designated lunch spot. Eliane shared her home baked lemon cake which was delightful. After lunch we made it under sail to Drachten and rowed until the Bergumer Meer. It was a windstill hot afternoon and nothing moved apart from runabouts with adolescents showing off their oiled pink flesh and tattoos. After Burgum we crossed the Prinses Margrietkanaal. The wind picked up a little and although it looked slow we still made 2.5 knots. We got onto the Nije Feart and when we reached the Zilveren Maan at Westereen it was already 2000 hours. It had been a slow trip for us. The faster boats with their slender hulls had all missed the lunch spot and had arrived around 1700 hours. The last boat arrived at 2030 hours at the camp site. Just after 2100 hours I had to leave to play the trumpet at a gig with the Clay Corners Big Band in nearby Eanjum. When I got back everybody was asleep except for a drunk young lad in a nearby field playing with the volume knob of his radio.

Sunday 22 June

Sunday morning started cloudy so not much risk of getting burned. We rose at 600 hours and packed up our camping gear. Around 0800 hours we followed the fleet towards our first lock just off the Nije Feart. When we arrived we found the other boats waiting outside the lock entrance. it appeared that one of the valves of the lock had been broken with the turning wheel lying in the grass.
Disaster! But in a way were lucky to take the counterclockwise trip. Had we followed the original plan, this broken lock would have been the last of three and we would have had to reverse all the way back to Wartena.
What to do? Joost proposed that the fleet should proceed to Dokkum, where Klarie and I live. With our back yard opening onto a small harbour off the Dokkumer Ee and we were with only eleven (!) boats, what could be easier than to moor at our back yard, collect the cars and trailers from Wartena and retrieve our boats at the trailer slip 200m from our house?
Since our only car was still parked at Wartena I called Koos and Rene to ask if they could come to our house and take the first eight skippers to their cars at Wartena. Koos even bought cake and soft drinks as a consolation prize for the crews.
When Klarie and I arrived, cruising dinghies were moored everywhere around the little harbour at the back of our house. Koos and Rene welcomed the sailors as they arrived and ferried the skippers back to their cars and trailers in Wartena. Thanks to Rene and Koos the event was saved!

This year we didn't make it to the wetlands and through the locks. Maybe try again at the Summer Solstice weekend of 2026?