Berend and Tom grabbing their lunch supplies upon arrival at Middelharnis.
This weekend was abnormally warm for October. Actually, record-breakingly warm. A few of us decided to spend it on the water! Tom, Berend, and I spent Sunday exploring a new (to me) part of Haringvliet, a former estuary-turned-lake just south of Rotterdam.
The launch site - a small beach in Hellevoetsluis with free parking and a paved walkway to the water,
This weekend was also record breaking for the kayaking club, with 3 trips headed out on the same day! Some folks went on an overnight camping trip in the Biesbosch and some others to Kinderdijk. Tom, Berend, and I were craving some bigger water, especially with winter approaching. We settled on Haringvliet, since it's only a short drive from Rotterdam.
Haringvliet in blue. Source: Wikipedia
Haringvliet is a former estuary-turned-freshwater-lake, which was dammed from the sea between 1956 and 1970 in response to the devastating floods in 1953. I write a bit about this, as well as some related restoration efforts, in my previous post about circumnavigating the island of Tiengemeten, further south in the lake. I also visited the locks when I first moved to the Netherlands, and describe them briefly in this blog post.
The characteristic bunkers which line the west (sea-facing) side of the city, behind the launch site. And a windmill, of course!
We departed the club house in Rotterdam at ~9:15 to drive to the launch site in Hellevoetsluis. There is a small beach just west of the canal which enters the town from Haringvliet. It was a new launch site for all of us, so we were pleased to find a very accessible beach, with adjacent free parking and a paved walkway to the water. Easy peasy! Behind the road was the moat which surrounds the traditional star-shaped city (zoom in on map below). This moat was lined with undulating green bunkers, built (or maybe just expanded?) by the Germans during WW2. You can see the bunkers in the photo above, as well as the quintessential windmill and church.
Parking along the side of the road, next to the beach (right) and bunkers (left)
We quickly unloaded the boats and launched from the little beach into calm water blue water.
Tom and Berend packing supplies for our day trip to Middelharnis.
We paddled across Haringvliet with our noses in the wind, towards the west end of Slijkplaat. Slijkplaat is a low-lying island designated as a bird foraging/breeding area. It is managed by Staatsbosbeheer (I guess the Forestry/Conservation Service of the Netherlands?) and access is prohibited. In an otherwise heavily developed/impacted area, it's one of the few areas where birds and other wildlife go undisturbed. As we approached the island, we stuck to the buoy line encircling it, keeping our distance. As a paddler there's not really so much to see, as the island is held in place by unappealing rocky offshore breakwaters. But I did find some nice photos of wildlife/vegetation online :)
And we're off!
After reaching the island, we turned more east, towards Middelharnis. Now that we no longer had a direct headwind, Berend could hoist his sail and catch some wind. Tom and I stuck to the old fashioned method and slowly chugged along! There were many sailboats out and about, so we had to stay alert and out of their way.
Super sunny day and bright blue water. Photo by Tom.
Photo by Tom.
Tom in the foreground and Berend in the distance, boosted by his sail!
After a couple hours, we approached Middelharnis. We crossed the narrow channel linking the town to the lake and opted to stop at a small beach just east of the harbor entry. It was a small beach with wind turbines in the background (see first photo). We sat in the grass and had lunch and chatted for a relaxing hour or so. Tom gave me lots of helpful tips/info about being secretary of the kayaking club, since he used to be the voorzitter/president. We all discussed our latest favorite Netflix shows.
Arriving in Middelharnis. We didn't enter the canal towards the city, but opted for the beach just to the left.
Another view of arriving in Middelharnis. Wind turbines line the shoreline.
We didn't get any good photos of the paddle back, probably because it was quite windy (bft 5) and we were trying to surf the waves. The wind came from the southeast and increased during the day, giving us quite an advantage on the paddle back. We focused on tracking straight in the following/quartering seas (always a challenge), and I stubbornly held out as long as I could without my skeg. Berend flew ahead with his sail (still need to find out how fast he was going, according to his tracker!). There were some decent sized waves, and I managed to catch a few of them. It was fun! Berend strapped a GoPro to his stern on the paddle back, so I'm looking forward to seeing some of that footage. Maybe he'll even let me post some snippets here on the blog :)
The chart showing Hellevoetsluis and Middelharnis.
I was definitely sore on Monday... Next weekend (and possibly the following weekend as well), we're planning another "big water" trip. Stay tuned!
Date: Sunday, October 14, 2018
Distance: 18 km, 11 miles (very approx)
Duration: 5 hours (including a 1 hr break on the beach)
Weather: Warm and sunny! 23C, 4 bft in the morning, 5 bft in the afternoon
Distance: 18 km, 11 miles (very approx)
Duration: 5 hours (including a 1 hr break on the beach)
Weather: Warm and sunny! 23C, 4 bft in the morning, 5 bft in the afternoon
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