Written by Miguel Van Damme
BrightWolves team events are often the opportunity for a wolf to share its passion. Sven took the wolves to the golf. Bieke initiated us to ultimate frisbee. After more than 3 years, it was finally the day to have everyone taste sailing. The wolves gathered at the Veerse Meer as we rented 6 polyvalken for the entire day. The Veerse Meer is an inner sea since the damming of the Veerse Gat inlet in 1961.
The set-up was ideal. Reasonably windy and sunny. The northerly breeze of 3 Beaufort in the morning gradually increased to 4 or even 5 at times. After a rapid breakfast and an extended briefing, everyone boarded on its ship. The 6 captains were facing different challenges. Some knew the area and the boat perfectly; others were more or less “Chinese volunteers” and still had to figure out a few things.
The mainsail up and here we go. The wind gusts push us rapidly away from the pontoon. The sail boats are heading West, towards Veere. The first half is relatively easy, as we can go straight toward our destination. We pass by horses and cows. When reaching the turning point “De Piet”, the real fun starts. We now need to go north – upwind – to reach Veere. The 6 boats take a close-hauled course and start to tack every 3 min due to the narrow passage. The waves are also a bit bigger, and the boats still small. The crew mates in the front of the boat get reasonably wet.
After a rapid lunch in Veere, we already need to head back to our starting point, Wolphaartsdijk. The departure will cause some headaches to some captains (names are silenced on purpose 😉). After safely returning to the harbor, we enjoyed a great dinner in Goes. Thank you Bieke & Vigo for the organization.