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wTuesday, October 10, 2006 | |
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Latina in Holland Diary of Yoli de Brendt V 26 - Holland Trip  Leaving already some windless weeks behind, the Freestyle Worldcup for us women in Sylt cancelled and still some weeks to go for my return to my home Island of Margarita and my favourite Spot El Yaque. I got addicted to the weather forecasts it seemed, checking the world wide web for wind almost every hour, until I saw my Chance, a big Deep Pressure over the dutch Coast. My husband Tom, who used to sail along this Coast for ages, explained me how the weather cards have to look like for a succesful Trip. We did not even hesitate for a second, packed our stuff and went straight to Westkapelle, where one of our friends got a big Caravan, though I was wondering about the Germans, telling me all the time that the dutch are the ones with the Caravans. I would say, I wouldnt be able to confirm that at the end of my Trip. As Holland and his Coast would be something absolutely new for me, I wrote everything down in my little Travel Diary : Day 1 : Our drive through Belgium and than to the Netherlands, starting in Aachen, should not take too long, but it gave me enough time to see the difference of the Countries and to think about what could be waiting for me, dreaming of perfect Windconditions and some nice Freestyle Spots, while Tom was just talking about the Waves he was hoping for. Once I passed the dutch Boarder I became pretty much surprised, I did not expect the perfect and clean Landscapes. I felt free immediately, forgot about grey and rainy Germany and Belgium and enjoyed the dutch architecture, which became my favourite one in Europe straight away. But still it was nothing compared to my first View onto the North Sea Dunes. I have never seen something like that before, some long, sandy Beaches of course, but in Combination with this kind of nature ? Never before. And... it was windy ! But first we had to check in at our pretty luxury Caravan, another thing I have not expected. But now it was time for the first Spotsearch. The first Beaches we visited in the South of Westkapelle had pretty strong currents and some huge Ships passing by, not even 200 metres from the Beach, so no way for windsurfing. We went up north and finally found a place between Westkapelle and Domburg. Around ten Sails flying on the water caused our attention. But for us it was already too late, the Sun was settling down. At least I wanted to ask some of the Locals everything about the Spot and was really surprised when they recognized me and everything about me. Seems like it was the day of the thousand unexpected things. I liked it, so many new Impressions and feelings already on our first day, wow ! Bedtime, but not before trying the dutch Food Culture, A big portion of Frietjes and a Frikandel Speciaal. Or is it more the german food i thought when I saw me surrounded only by the dutch Neighbors. Day 2 : Holland was always explained to me with lots of rain, cold and grey and this is exactly what I saw when I woke up the second day of our Trip, but... there was not enough wind. Luckily the Weather changed completely until midday and so, after a pretty long breakfast, we continued our search for wind and Spots, since the Spot we found the night before did not work today. Another really kind Local explained that with the Southern Wind directions we should try the Verse Meer for a Freestyle Session. So we did and for the first time I touched dutch waters. After too much time without wind I was really stoked with my 99 Litre Board and the 5,0 Sail. It was exactly what I have been hoping for. Perfect Flatwater and nice winds, Freestyle !!! Tom did not last too long on the water, after performing some Freestyle Moves he changed his dress and Gear to shoot some Fotos and we both ended up satisfied and another of my Dreams came true, it was my first time sailing in front of Windmills, something I always dreamed of since I have seen the first historic ventilator on TV. In the late afternoon the wind became too gusty and so we packed our Stuff to go home for a nice huge Pasta, but not without checking some more Spots and Beaches. We found another Place close to Domburg with not too much wind but Waves for surfing, unluckily Toms Board broke on the last Trip and he could not find another one since. After the big Pasta and still my Freestyle Session in mind, I was ready for a long long sleep.  Day 3 : The morning of day Three woke me up with bright Sunshine. No clowd at all, what a day and the Trees where also bending in the Wind. Would our closest Spot in Westkapelle work today, it did not, neither did the Spots in Domburg and our Freestyle Place from yesterday, the Versemeer. The wind just turned too south. So we decided to just follow the Road to Brouwersdam, where Tom had some great Days years ago he said. First we stopped in Renesse, a really nice Place with all the Bars and Cafes though I heard it can be pretty packed in Highseason, to say hello to Arjen de Vries at the Windsurfing Renesse Shop. Tom and Arjen spent many times together on the NorthSea, those days ago... A really nice guy, with lots of experiences, Stories and even more Tipps where to go with this Winddirection. We follwed his first Tipp and checked the Spot at the Lighthouse in Ouddorp. After the long, long walk to the Beach I could see some small Waves braking over the outer Sandbanks but the Wind did not want to kick in, so we went to Brouwersdam, just enjoying the huge Dunes and the 29 degrees airtemperature, absolutely unlikely for Septembre in Holland I heard and so that it would never be windy when the Sun shines so hard, a shame I thought, exactly when the Wind did kick in and Arjen arrived for a really nice Session together. The offshore Wind prepared a perfect Freestyle Platform one more time and since the wind was blowing a little harder, also Tom had more Fun on the water and Arjen stayed at the Beach to take some nice Shots before we all met for another big portion of Frietjes. Usually it is not really compatible to my Healthy diet, but, hey, we are in Holland. In Italy we also eat Pasta the whole day ! Having seen three new Spots, sailed one for a couple of hours, we went on our one hour drive home, arriving right for a perfect Sunset at the Westkapelle Lighthouse. Day 4 : It is already day number four on our Trip, and just one more day to go. We decided to stand up early for some Fotoshoots in the morning and to get more time for even more new Spots and places to see. In the last days we read and heard everywhere that almost all winddirections are good for the dutch Coast, less the easterly winds. Exactly those we got on our day number four. East south East, where to go? No Locals to ask, but I remembered that they told us about Vrouwenpolder, the place right before the Oosterschelde, at least when you come from the South. On our way up North we passed our obligatory Spots Westkapelle, Domburg and the Beaches inbetween and it looked just too flat and offshore everywhere. When we arrived there was no wind at all, not in Vrouwenpolder neither on the Lake Side at the Versemeer. Would Arjen in Renesse know a Solution ? Yes, he did, no big surprise. We checked some different Spots at the Grevelingemeer and indeed it was windier than at all the other places, but still not enough, but I was curious about all the other spots I have not seen yet, knowing well that we wont have the time to check them all on our Trip which was nearly over. But anyway we saw the Spots around Rotterdam and the huge Harbour before I wanted to check if the wind might be back more in the South and so it did ! Back at the Versemeer the wind was just strong enough for me with the Freestyle Equipment at the Spot in Schotsman for another Training Session and a Fotoshoot we still had to do for a big german Newspaper. Muchas Gracias. Right before I lost my smile, the wind saved also this day, though also without wind I really enjoyed anything I have seen during my Trip, Landscapes, Culture, People, all the different Spots, Dunes and not to forget ... the Windmills which in my Home Country Venezuela are the number one indication for Holland, together with the wooden Shoes, which I could not find in my Size. Day 5 : It should be our last day after we extended when we heard rumors about a Hurricane coming close to the european Coastline, which might bring Swell and lots of Wind. But it did not want to arrive, at least not while I was there. Slowly and a little sad I packed my stuff together and left the Coast, in company of grey skies and some rain, the kind of weather which was already waiting for me once I would be back in Germany for two more weeks. Back in Germany and writing my Diary and Report, I cant stop thinking about how much I liked my Trip and I hope to be back again soon. Back to all the Windmills, Beaches, Dunes and the supernice People we met. Now I understand why my Worldcup friends Anne Marie Reichman, Femke van der Falk and Remko de Weerd are always talking about their country... What I still do not understand, all people I saw in Caravans were german speaking... posted by Yoli de Brendt at 10/10/2006 09:12:00 PM |
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