Travellingman reisverhalen - - Nes - Schiermonnikoog
Day 4: Maandag 5 september 2016
Nes - Schiermonnikoog

I got up around 7.00 AM and took a cold shower on board. The water you have to pump away manually. The water should be heated by a heater, but this one does not always work. Afterwards I had breakfast and chatted with fellow passengers. It was almost dry, a few small rain showers. The wind force had dropped considerably.

Around 9.30 AM we left the harbour. After raising the sails we could do some sailing, but soon the wind force dropped and we had to go further by using the engine. Both the current and the wind were against the ship, so we there was no natural power to push us forward. We also had to make a winding route because we had to stay in the channel. The channel is marked by buoys. The Wadden Sea has many shoals it's easy to get stuck on the bottom, even with a flat bottom ship. We conduct towards Schiermonnikoog and had to pass two shoals (slack water). This had to done at high tide so we had to be there on time.



Just before the harbour we let down the sails again and followed the very winding and narrow channel leading to the harbour. We were the only large sailing ship that docked in port and for the skipper it was the first time he docked on the island of Schiermonnikoog. It all went well and the sun was now full. We covered about 30 kilometers.

After berthing most of the passengers left to the village, so did I. I was walking with two others into the village that lies behind the dike and is approximately one kilometer walking distance from the harbour. We walked through the village, which has a one and a half shopping street, an old church, some old houses and also several restaurants. We ate an ice cream on a terrace and were accompanied by the skipper, who was also in the village. With one person of the ship, I walked on through the nature area behind the village. We passed a football and tennis court. We walked to a lake named Berkenplas and into a bunker from World War II. This bunker was built by Germans to put an antenna, but that was never realized. The bunker is called Der Wassermann and is at a high point, which gives a beautiful view over the island. The two lighthouses can be seen from here and also the various dune parties.



We walked back to the village and settled down at the cafe the It Aude Beuthus (The Old Boathouse). We drank a local beer (Schiere monnik) and chatted a bit. Several others on the patio ordered a meal, what looked good. Around 6.40 PM we walked back to the ship and were just in time for the meal, which was very well prepared.

After the meal we took pictures of the sunset. It is low tide so a large part of the sea bottom can bee seen, there was no water near the island. The ship, on which we stayed, now lay at the bottom of the harbour. Because it is a flat-bottomed, this gives no problem.



After the pictures I lay down on the couch and fell asleep for a while, while the others were busy chatting. After an hour I was awake again and read a book. Most went to bed already. After chatting somewhat with the remaining passengers and enjoying the beautiful starry sky, I went to sleep around 1.00 AM.

Initial publication: 10 september 2016
Last update: 28 september 2016
© A. Heeroma











Click photo to enlarge