{"id":508,"date":"2026-06-22T12:58:32","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T12:58:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sailingadriana.com\/sailing-adriana\/?p=508"},"modified":"2026-06-22T13:07:44","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T13:07:44","slug":"celebratingadriana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sailingadriana.com\/sailing-adriana\/archives\/508","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating\nAdriana"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A christening weekend we will still be talking about in a hundred years \u2014 and a naming ceremony that almost made us cry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Ilse & Piet – Breskens Marina – 20 \u2013 22 June 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We are writing this with an enormous sense of gratitude. This was a weekend we will look back on with pleasure for a very long time \u2014 quite possibly for the rest of our lives. Three days in Breskens: our first sailing trip with guests, a midnight thunderstorm, a passerelle that tested the patience of everyone aboard, an ice cream on the Spuiplein with half of the Netherlands in fluorescent orange, and a naming ceremony that we nearly didn’t get through without crying. In short: everything we had hoped for, and a few things we hadn’t expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Thursday evening<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arriving in the Rain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We loaded the car to the roof with food and supplies and drove straight to Breskens. When we turned into the marina car park, it was bucketing down \u2014 the kind of rain that makes you question your life choices. We sat in the car, quite sensibly, and waited it out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wait was worth it. When the downpour eased, the sky put on a proper show: a play of light and shadow across the estuary, and not one but two full rainbows arching over the Westerschelde. We had left our rain jackets at home, which was perhaps the one planning oversight of the weekend. We arrived on board dry, by some small miracle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“After the downpour eased, the sky put on a proper show \u2014 two full rainbows arching over the Westerschelde. A preview of the weekend to come.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We stowed everything, discovered that the fridge was struggling to hold temperature and pressed the cool box into service for the critical provisions. Then, tired and happy, we went to bed. The new Seminautic mattresses, it must be said, are excellent. We slept like anchored boats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Friday<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shopping, Scrubbing, and our little Prince<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Friday morning we were at the Plus with our list, filling the trolley with everything a proper celebration weekend requires. Back on board, we cleaned and polished and added the final touches \u2014 the kind of careful preparation you do when you want guests to feel immediately at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, because being boat owners has not yet excused us from our most important obligations, we drove back inland to collect Luca from the cr\u00e8che. He was doing that thing small children do when they see someone they love: the full-body scramble, the enormous eyes, the smile that simply refuses to be contained. We melted, as grandparents do. A few intense and wonderful hours together, and then, like thieves in the night, we slipped back to Breskens \u2014 alarm set, because Saturday morning would come early.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Saturday<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our First Sail with Guests<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We had been studying the tidal charts and weather forecasts obsessively. Could we get out of the harbour at low water without grounding? Could we get back in? We sent Tania and Rudy revised departure times more than once. We were \u2014 there is no polite word for it \u2014 stressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Tania & Rudy<\/strong>
First guests aboard Adriana<\/td>		Breskens \u2192 Cadzand \u2192 Knokke<\/strong>
Westerschelde & Belgian coast<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

They arrived exactly on time. Coffee was served in the cockpit, accompanied by the safety briefing and what Tania and Rudy, to their credit, treated with complete seriousness. Life jackets adjusted and fitted, lines cast off, and we eased out of Box 6 with the gentleness the moment deserved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the forecast there had been very little wind. On the water, there was a lovely breeze \u2014 the Westerschelde in a cooperative mood. With the wind and the tide working in our favour, we covered the distance to Cadzand in no time and went gliding past Knokke, all the way up towards Zeebrugge. It was genuinely fine sailing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then the wind dropped, as it tends to do, and we drifted pleasantly off the Knokke coastline for a while. When the current turned, we began making our way back towards Breskens. As Cadzand came into view ahead, we spotted a thunderstorm building on the horizon behind us. Safety first: sails down, motor on, and we pressed for home at a sensible pace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The docking<\/strong> was an adventure. Getting Adriana neatly back into Box 6 with a bit of current running took every pair of experienced hands available \u2014 our neighbours in the marina, and Tania and Rudy’s calm, capable involvement. We got her in. The thunderstorm passed close enough to feel but delivered not a single drop of rain on us. Under a suddenly clear blue sky, the gin and tonics came out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lunch had long since become aperitif time, so we served the afternoon meal as dinner and ate it in the cockpit with a light breeze across the boat. Then, because the day clearly demanded a proper conclusion, we walked into the village for ice cream at Gelateria Brescia. The Spuiplein was heaving \u2014 it was haringfeesten, and the Netherlands had just won a resounding World Cup match. The square was fluorescent orange in every direction. A fine backdrop for eating a good gelato.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Saturday night<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Storm That Cleaned the Deck<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We turned in early, pleasantly exhausted. There was no wind forecast for Sunday morning, so no early start required \u2014 we had made the cheerful promise of a relaxed morning. And then, in the middle of the night, an enormous thunderstorm rolled in. Lightning from every direction. Rain in quantities we had not entirely anticipated. Hatches were hastily closed. The foredeck received a thorough freshwater rinse, which we were able to note with some amusement, since freshwater rinsing of the foredeck was already on the Sunday task list. Scratched off before it was even morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sunday<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Naming Ceremony<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sunday brought warmth \u2014 real, generous summer warmth that built through the morning. We installed the bimini so the cockpit would be in shade for the ceremony. While we still had a moment before the arrival of the second wave of guests, the four of us \u2014 Piet, Tania, Rudy, and myself \u2014 started work on the passerelle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The passerelle is a project in itself. It is a genuine challenge, and we are fairly certain that operating it with only two people is an ambition we will leave behind. We have also decided to ask the previous owner for instructions. In the meantime, Rudy, armed with water, soap, considerable balance, and apparently limitless goodwill, scrubbed every trace of green moss from it. We have made him a solemn promise: he will be the first person to use it properly. He has earned it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Around lunchtime, Jolien, Jeroen, and Luca arrived and the group was complete. We walked together to Lafayette sur Mer<\/a> for a proper lunch. Luca stole the show entirely \u2014 as he always does \u2014 and won over every heart in the room without noticeable effort. His current obsession is spaghetti bolognese, which he ate with a focus and determination that we found both admirable and very relatable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neptune, Champagne, and Everything We Felt<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

After lunch we gathered on the aft deck. The temperature was climbing, and a small breeze found its way through. We held the official christening ceremony of Adriana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We honoured Neptune and the gods of the four winds \u2014 asking, as tradition requires, for safe passage and fair weather on every voyage ahead. We asked to be carried safely through the world, and at every turn to feel, fully and completely, that we are alive. The champagne flowed freely. There was cake. There was that particular warmth that only comes when people you love are gathered around you in a place that matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the speech, we asked Neptune to let us safely explore the world \u2014 and at every adventure, to remind us that we are alive. We had trouble keeping our composure. We managed. Just about.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We had trouble keeping our emotions in check during the speech. We managed, just about. We are not going to pretend that was easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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