Netherlands

There's been slow progress of late, so to put in a 40 nautical miler today was welcome. Also getting past Rotterdam with its continual stream of fast moving shipping. Later I found myself offshore between points of land, but inside offshore sandbanks so on nice flat water. Easy stopping for a rest, as the seals know well.

Forecast is atrocious from tomorrow afternoon and thunder is rumbling now as I write this. Need to get somewhere before the wind comes in strong - that could be in Belgium.

Arms ache from pumping out of the Wadden Sea, a race against time before the tide turned. I kind of made it out in time. Open North Sea for a few days now. Here's a few unused pictures from the last week.

Apologies for lack of news folks! Here's a summary...

Journey back from Helgoland: slow (not as slow as the journey out though!), long way, lots of ships. Got to Langeoog, one of a chain of Frisian Islands. Wind then had a day off - fine by me, who needed one too. Next hop was to island of Juist, where friends of a friend put me up. Particular thanks to Josef for bike tour and insights, and Yann for help getting gear to water the next morning. Enjoyed the island and my stay.