Crisp air, blue skies, and a blazing sun greeted us on Texel, the largest of the Wadden Islands off the northwest tip of Holland. Any grogginess at the finish line of a 25-hour sail with only a few hours’ sleep was chased away by the buzzing marina. Almost every slip was filled with a sailboat flying the Dutch or German flag.
We’re busy every month except January,” said a tall chandlery owner. “You should see it here at Christmas!”
This bicycling paradise, with many more miles of trails than roads, is a haven for nature lovers and bird watchers. So, “when in Rome,” we hopped on our two-wheel ponies to pedal up to the trails perched atop the dikes.
On this island, as in most of the Netherlands, you constantly bump into tall grassy hills — more specifically, a long, single mound that goes on for miles. That’s a dike. And the Dutch in their wisdom have built bike trails along the ridges at the top.
Think of the Pacific Crest trail, only flat, grassy, eminently bikeable, and endless. Oh, and dotted with friendly sheep. There are 14,000 sheep on this island, about the same number as humans. Even in the marina, you can hear the gentle “baa, baa”…
Meanwhile, we’ve noticed water accumulating in our aft port locker. It couldn’t be a leak in the hull, we wager. That would have sunk us by now. We suspect the raw water strainer, but a towel wrapped around it stays dry while we motor. So we turn the engine on while I strap on a headlamp and drop into the cavernous locker to take a look.
We think it’s a leaking exhaust hose, but we can’t see the actual fissure. What to do? Floating in the sun and water all the time, boats are like Swiss watches of thousands of parts that decay, wear out, and simply die over time. So most boat owners get good at diagnosis and DIY. Our method is the equivalent of throwing spaghetti against the wall in the hope that some “fix” might work. I jam a finger-full of gooey silicone behind one suspect hose, spreading it like jelly, and repeat the process 24 hours later.
Then, the moment of truth, we flip on the engine to practice anchoring in the shallow waters near the harbor entrance. One minute…two minutes. No drips! Conclusion: No more leak!
“You obviously come from a medical family, hon,” jokes Gero.
After caulking our skylight hatch for a second time, we celebrate our technical successes with smoked halibut (luscious), a grapefruit-size block of Texel sheep cheese (not to be missed), Texel wheat beers (made on the island), and a liter of Vla — a liquidy flan made of eggs, sugar and fresh milk that you slurp down like a milkshake. Heaven in your mouth.
The next day, after doing some laundry and a few more chores, we dip our toes in the North Sea (warmer than expected), and jump on our bikes to Dunes of Texel National Park, pull out our monoculars, chocolate oat biscuits and grapes, and watch the symphony of greylag goose, wigeon, eider, scoter, spoonbill, pied avocet, and other birds.
Back at Compagnie in Wadderhaven, we catch the Euro Cup match between the Netherlands and Austria. Sadly, the Dutch team loses, but this hiccup doesn’t seem to phase the happy-go-lucky islanders. We soak up their joie de vivre and pack our knapsacks for a visit to Haarlem, a sweet town near the Dutch capital, to see more of this enchanting land. We love the Netherlands!🇳🇱🍻❤️🥰
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