October 2010
SENEGAL-Dakar
Friday 1st we went ashore at 
0830, we went to the
Tourist Information to find the shops where we could buy some
things. The young lady there was very helpful, guiding us to the
likely shops, some were OK others were not OK. We returned to the
ship by 1010. The ship sailed at 1900 on a northerly course.
Saturday 2nd we continued along the coast of Africa, which was out of sight, on a calm, sunny day. Sunday on a grey morning we sailed north. The clocks were put forward another hour last night. We passed the Canary Islands, which were left to port, at 2130. Monday was a brighter day, the sun shone for most of the day. The voyage continued. Tuesday we travelled north north east, the motion is quite noticeable, the waves are high with fifteen feet between the crests. There was a rain fall during lunch. Wednesday the wave motion was greater this morning. The distance between crests had increased to thirty or forty feet. The sun came out in the afternoon. Thursday the clocks were put forward another hour during the night. We awoke to a clear starry morning. We sailed eastwards all day, early afternoon Yann pointed out Cap de la Hague, Normandy, to Howard. The wave motion in the confined waters of The English Channel was much less, and the ship was much stea
dier. Friday during the night we
passed through The Straights of Dover to turn northwards into the North Sea. There
was a mist in
the North Sea and the visibility was down to a mile. We arrived
at the mouth of the River Elbe at 2130.
Saturday 9th when we awoke we were tied up alongside the dock in Hamburg, an eight hour journey up the river. First Howard and then Mervyn took luggage down to the caravan. We collected our passports, together with Yann just after 0800 and we left the ship soon after. There were no formalities at the dock entrance and we followed Yann to the Autobahn, he then hurried on to Brittany. We reckoned we had started the journey at 0900. The day was warm and sunny, we were held up in a traffic jam for two hours. Welcome to Europe!! The camp was fairly easy to find, except the directions read turn right and we should have turned left. We were settled in by 1645. Sunday we left Mettingen after tea break, we had tried to go on the internet but the office was shut. The travel west from Osnabrück to Delft was fairly quick, we arrived at 1400. The directions were inadequate, we eventually found the first camp down a single track road crowded by cars, cycles and horses. The entrance was blocked by parked cars and cycles. We moved on to the second camp, when we eventually found it, it was the other side of a too low bridge. We set off for Rotterdam and searched for the camp it took a long time, we settled in at 1645. Monday another late start, we managed to use the internet in their office and booked a ferry for Tuesday. We departed by 1030 and had driven forty km when Howard remembered that his passport was in the camp office. We returned, collected the passport and lunched. The journey south and west to camp near Nieuwpoort, on the Belgium coast took until 1645. Towards the end of the journey a French van a hundred yards ahead of us, swerved into the central barrier and then overturned in the middle of the autobahn. When we drove slowly past the van there was someone looking out of the upper cab door, two lorries and four cars had already stopped and people were hurrying back to the van. Tuesday we made an early start, but with only a very large scale map we toured around the immediate area. We finally found the autobahn and drove west to Calais. Just short of Calais we were diverted off the autobahn for road works into a traffic jam. We moved very slowly until the lorries turned onto another route when we speeded up. There was a strike at the dock but we were put onto an earlier boat and left before our booked time. The White Cliffs of Dover were easily visible as we left Calais. We shopped in a Tesco and drove to Welwyn Garden City Camp site where we joined The Caravan Club and booked into the site at 1700.
0830, we went to the
Tourist Information to find the shops where we could buy some
things. The young lady there was very helpful, guiding us to the
likely shops, some were OK others were not OK. We returned to the
ship by 1010. The ship sailed at 1900 on a northerly course.Saturday 2nd we continued along the coast of Africa, which was out of sight, on a calm, sunny day. Sunday on a grey morning we sailed north. The clocks were put forward another hour last night. We passed the Canary Islands, which were left to port, at 2130. Monday was a brighter day, the sun shone for most of the day. The voyage continued. Tuesday we travelled north north east, the motion is quite noticeable, the waves are high with fifteen feet between the crests. There was a rain fall during lunch. Wednesday the wave motion was greater this morning. The distance between crests had increased to thirty or forty feet. The sun came out in the afternoon. Thursday the clocks were put forward another hour during the night. We awoke to a clear starry morning. We sailed eastwards all day, early afternoon Yann pointed out Cap de la Hague, Normandy, to Howard. The wave motion in the confined waters of The English Channel was much less, and the ship was much stea
dier. Friday during the night we
passed through The Straights of Dover to turn northwards into the North Sea. There
was a mist in
the North Sea and the visibility was down to a mile. We arrived
at the mouth of the River Elbe at 2130.Saturday 9th when we awoke we were tied up alongside the dock in Hamburg, an eight hour journey up the river. First Howard and then Mervyn took luggage down to the caravan. We collected our passports, together with Yann just after 0800 and we left the ship soon after. There were no formalities at the dock entrance and we followed Yann to the Autobahn, he then hurried on to Brittany. We reckoned we had started the journey at 0900. The day was warm and sunny, we were held up in a traffic jam for two hours. Welcome to Europe!! The camp was fairly easy to find, except the directions read turn right and we should have turned left. We were settled in by 1645. Sunday we left Mettingen after tea break, we had tried to go on the internet but the office was shut. The travel west from Osnabrück to Delft was fairly quick, we arrived at 1400. The directions were inadequate, we eventually found the first camp down a single track road crowded by cars, cycles and horses. The entrance was blocked by parked cars and cycles. We moved on to the second camp, when we eventually found it, it was the other side of a too low bridge. We set off for Rotterdam and searched for the camp it took a long time, we settled in at 1645. Monday another late start, we managed to use the internet in their office and booked a ferry for Tuesday. We departed by 1030 and had driven forty km when Howard remembered that his passport was in the camp office. We returned, collected the passport and lunched. The journey south and west to camp near Nieuwpoort, on the Belgium coast took until 1645. Towards the end of the journey a French van a hundred yards ahead of us, swerved into the central barrier and then overturned in the middle of the autobahn. When we drove slowly past the van there was someone looking out of the upper cab door, two lorries and four cars had already stopped and people were hurrying back to the van. Tuesday we made an early start, but with only a very large scale map we toured around the immediate area. We finally found the autobahn and drove west to Calais. Just short of Calais we were diverted off the autobahn for road works into a traffic jam. We moved very slowly until the lorries turned onto another route when we speeded up. There was a strike at the dock but we were put onto an earlier boat and left before our booked time. The White Cliffs of Dover were easily visible as we left Calais. We shopped in a Tesco and drove to Welwyn Garden City Camp site where we joined The Caravan Club and booked into the site at 1700.
ENGLAND-Welwyn Garden
City