Thirty-eight miles, a following sea, and a send-off from the seals of Nieuwpoort.

Nieuwpoort → Breskens Thursday 2 July 2026 By Ilse & Piet

The morning gave us every reason to stay in bed: grey skies over Nieuwpoort, a steady drizzle, and a stiff westerly pushing 18 to 20 knots across the marina. We had a passage plan ready and a tide to catch, but no interest in leaving on a forecast that might still change its mind. So we waited it out, and by lunchtime it did exactly what it promised — the cloud broke, the wind eased, and Nieuwpoort turned out to sea us off in style, with a small crowd of seals lounging in the canal as if they’d come specially to wave goodbye.

Reading the Day

Thirty-eight nautical miles separate Nieuwpoort from Breskens, and getting the timing right meant working backwards from the tide at Vlissingen. High water there at 16:42 meant the east-going stream along this stretch of coast would start well before midday and hold until early evening — so a departure around 13:00 gave us the best of it from the moment we cleared the harbour mouth.

With wind and current running the same way for most of the route, we expected a comfortable ride rather than a confused one — some rolling from the swell, but nothing sharp. Piet had the preventer rigged and ready before we left the pontoon, just in case the boom needed steadying on the long broad reach ahead.

The Route

The plan was straightforward in principle: hug the coast past Oostende and Wenduine, thread carefully past the shipping at Zeebrugge, then follow the buoyed channel in past Cadzand to Breskens.

• Nieuwpoort to Oostende — keep the Westroombank and Stroombank to port, staying close inshore in 7–10m of water
• Round Oostende and turn to parallel the coast, keeping the Wenduine Bank to starboard
• Approach Zeebrugge with care — call in on VHF and watch for commercial traffic before crossing the fairway
• Follow the green buoyage past Cadzand, keeping it to port, all the way to Breskens
• Round red buoys VH2A and VH2 to stay clear of the Hooge Platen shallows before entering the harbour

On the Water

We slipped our lines at 13:15. The lines had been shortened and left in slip beforehand, so leaving the pontoon was smooth — that manoeuvre keeps getting easier. Just before heading out, Piet talked us through a full 180-degree turn in the fairway using prop walk, short bursts of throttle, and a touch of bow thruster. It worked exactly as planned, which felt like a small victory in itself.

By 13:30 we were out of the channel and into open water, broad reach on nothing more than a reefed mainsail, making a steady 7 to 8 knots along the coast toward Oostende. The waves were bigger than the forecast had suggested, which made us glad of the preventer — the boom stayed exactly where it should on the broad reach out to sea.

“The sun broke through, the boat settled into her rhythm, and for a good long stretch it was simply Adriana, the coast sliding past, and nothing left to do but hold the course.

Past Oostende we moved further offshore, keeping the Wenduine Bank to starboard, and the miles went by quickly. Zeebrugge was the one part of the day that asked for real attention: two large car carriers were coming in just as we wanted to cross, along with a scattering of fishing boats to keep an eye on. We held back and worked the approach for a while rather than force the crossing, and once the fairway was clear we motor-sailed across without any drama.

The stretch after Zeebrugge was the quieter half of the day. The wind dropped and the tide began to turn against us, so we motor-sailed for a while to keep the pace up. Off Knokke the wind found its second wind, swinging round to the northwest and filling in again, which gave us a proper sail for the final approach rather than a motor-in.

Coming Alongside

The arrival in Breskens went smoothly — we’re clearly getting the hang of parking this boat. Lines were secured by 20:00, thirty-eight miles and just under seven hours after leaving Nieuwpoort. We changed quickly and walked over to Lafayette sur Mer for something to eat, to mark the first foreign passage properly — small glasses raised to a good crossing.

The Log

For the record, the readings as they went into the logbook along the way: