Nieuwpoort, Belgium

Monday 6th June 2005

Nieuwpoort is a small fishing harbour on the North Sea coast, and is well-known for its shrimps. The city is made up of two distinct parts, the old city centre and its market place and fishing harbour, and the coastal town which is being developed for tourism by the beach. Nieuwpoort has one of the largest harbour and marina facilities for sailing yachts and pleasure craft in Europe. The monument we have photographed is in memory of Belgian King Albert I, it is in memory of all victims of the First World War.

We decided to spend the day in the marina and town to give us a chance to have a look around, do some laundry, shopping and buy some additional french canal books that we had not been able to get before we left. The marina office had a cycle hire service but the first 2 hours are free of charge. Neither of us had been on a bike for several years but after a few wobbles we were off! The cycle lanes were ideal for amateurs like us and it was only a short ride into the town itself. It is mainly restaurants and chandlery shops that line the harbour side, but if you go just one street back there are some lovely shops and we were able to stock up with some delicious meats, pate's and bread - to my husbands relief, we were limited to what we could buy to what we could carry on a bike.

Harwich, UK to Nieuwpoort, Belgium

Sunday 5th June 2005

After checking the weather forecast we decided that we should leave for Belgium today, or it is very likely we will be weather bound until much later in the week. It is a lovely clear day with a bit of breeze, probably around a force 4, so we checked with the Harbour Master who agreed we could lock out of the marina around 12.15pm

The first three hours of our trip were ok but when we started to reach open water, it got really rough, blowing at least a force 5 and at times a force 6. The waves were thrashing against the starboard side of the boat and coming over the top. I remembered from a previous trip that there was a high rise block of flats very close to the marina at Niewpoort and if I could only see them, we couldn’t be that far away – if only!! Eventually I spotted the flats, so much for being close when you could see them, it was nearly another hour before we got into the harbour entrance, around 6.30pm. We made it!! There is something very special about arriving in a foreign port under your own steam.

We were directed to a berth, which was a floating pontoon, but only a very short one. Getting on and off the boat was going to be tricky, but at least we were tied up for the night.

Niewpoort Marina

After cleaning up, washing down the boat and having something to eat, we decided to have a look around the marina. The facilities are really good, there is a shower & toilet block, launderette, a chandlery, bike hire (free for 2 hrs) and a bar/restaurant. The Yacht Club was open so we decided to pop in for a quick one or two(it would be rude not to) before heading back to the boat for the night.

Niewpoort Marina Yacht Club