We were joined at Goes by our last guests of the season, my parents, who arrived from Schipol to the nearby rail station. It was a fine morning today for their first Dutch cruise and we enjoyed the relaxed inland passage to the lock at Sas van Goes. There was quite a crowd of boats gathered waiting to go through the lock and we had to wait about an hour for our turn. As usual there was more jostling than queuing and it was every boat for themselves.

A straightforward cruise across the Oosterschelde, following the buoyed span under the huge Zeelandbrug, with a minimum of 11.5m clearance. Despite the clear markings we encountered a Dutch yacht coming the wrong way through the west bound span, apparently oblivious of the one-way system. Once past the open stop-lock in the Zierekzee channel we found a space at the first of the two visitors pontoons, downstream of the fishing vessels. There was some wash when they started work again on Monday morning and the inner harbour may have proved a more sheltered spot.

Zierikzee is reputed to be one of the best preserved towns in the Netherlands with lots of medieval buildings including the town hall and cathedral tower. The maritime museum, housed in the old town jail, is complemented by the museumhaven, a fine collection of traditional barges afloat in the old harbour.

On Sunday we were keen to visit the Delta Expo, sited on Neeltje Jans island at the mouth of the Oosterschelde. On advice from the harbour master we opted to go by boat and stopped at the Beton haven pontoons right next to the exhibition. The Expo provides a detailed explanation of the Delta project and the 1953 floods which prompted it, as well as having numerous other water related exhibits which keep all the family entertained.

Cruising Statistics

Distance: 11 nm

Total to date: 2051 nm

Avg Speed: 5 knots

Duration: 2 hours

Diesel: 20 litres (est)

Mooring: €16/night

Electricity: €0,50 meter

Tourist tax: €0,64pp/night

Locks

Sas van Goes

Bridges

St Maartens brug

Ringbrug

Wilhelminabrug

Waypoints

Sas van Goes
51 32.33N 03 56.23E

Marina Kats
51 34.30N 03 54.60E

Zeelandbrug E
51 37.07N 03 54.73E

Ziereksee entrance
51 37.81N 03 53.46E

Charts

1805.5

1805.8