We were more confident this time than we were on our first trip to Antwerp. Upon leaving we found the normal lock, Royerssluis, was closed for 2 weeks. Compounding the challenge, we had to go through the main harbor and use the locks used by the biggest ships. All went easily and we made it back to Bruinisse in one day.

On Saturday, the 23rd of September we received an invitation from our neighbors in the marina to sail to the nearby town of Zierikzee.

It was an enjoyable sail and a very beautiful town.

Following the line of boats up the channel into Zierikzee.

The channel continues into the center of town and there we were met by the harbor master in his small boat. Our friends had asked him to watch for an American flag and let us tie up to them. In a very narrow channel, with a row of boats behind us all wanting to continue in, the harbor master said, "Just turn around here and back into the next row and tie up beside your friends." Much easier said than done. Maybe we did it slowly, but we did do it without hitting anyone.

We found our place in the "parking lot". The first boat in a row tied up to the dock, then another boat tied up beside that one and then another tied up to that one............we were the fifth boat of what became a row of seven boats. To go ashore we needed to cross the decks of 4 other boats first. As we came back from dinner someone on an inside boat said he wanted to leave bright and early the next morning. Not in our original plan!

Antwerp was home for 10 days to Jim and Tenaya

We are now feeling reasonably confident sailing, but wanted to learn more about sail trim. How should the traveler be set in light winds? Where should the leads be positioned? How much should the backstay be tensioned in high winds? How do you set a storm jib and running backstays? How do you easily set a gennaker with 2 people?

The marina where we were based this season has a very good sailing school, Aquavitesse. Two instructors have helped us immensely on Tenaya , Hans and Peter. They are skilled, friendly, patient, and very knowledgeable. As Katie had very, very little sailing experience and Jim's was mostly 30 years ago, we took a total of 32 hours of lessons during the season.

Here we are with Peter on the Noordzeekanaal. We were a little apprehensive sailing 80 miles in the North Sea alone our first time so we arranged for him to accompany us. We learned more things, beginning in the Roompot lock (only tie the stern and keep the engine running when you are the only ship) and ending with Jim trying to surf into the harbor entrance at IJmuiden. He really liked the feeling of being in the ocean and able to sail a longer distance. The swell bothered Katie a bit but didn't dampen her enthusiasm overall, just kept her quiet that afternoon. We really enjoyed Peter's sense of humor and his easy going teaching style.