Strategic position

August 19, 2007

Middelharnis-Willemstad, 4 hrs

Not leaving very early this morning, after the enjoyable evening before. But plenty of time to go a bit further westward on the Haringvliet before our halfway turn (a week gone now, another week to go). We have a quick glance at Hellevloetsluis, crossing the Haringvliet to the other side, enjoying the wide views. Also this place offers nice mooring, but not for us this time, we have to turn and take the north side of the Haringvliet, on portside of the island Tiengemeten. Originally this was a sandbank, flooded by the tide, later on dikes were made around and it became farming land of about 700 hectares and 7 farmes (the farmers being the only inhabitants). In 2006 the last farm was closed, the land will be given back to nature http://www.tiengemeten.com/. It can be visited by ferry, but unfortunately there are no places to moor for visiting with ones own ship. Passing by, one can still see the remains of the left farms.

Now we are heading for Willemstad. Originally on this place a fortification was made by order of Prins Willem van Oranje one year before his death (1584) , his son Maurits named it Willemstad ("Williams' town"). On this strategic position with clear views in all directions over the water ways, it resisted many wars with Spanish and French intruders.

The fortification is a clear 7-point star, with on each of the stars a fortification. Each of them is named after one of the original seven Dutch provinces. Emperor Napoleon visited in 1809, after surrender because of the loss of Bergen op Zoom to the French, and further fortified, amongst other with building a (canon/gun) powder magazine. It is one of the several places of interest to visit, besides the typical (round) Koepelkerk (1608) and the Mauritshuis.

Sooner or later, when touring the Netherlands with your own ship, Willemstad should be visited. Not only because it is one of the most famous walled towns of the Netherlands, but also because of its strategic location before entering the Zeeland waterways.

Several possibilities to moor here, even inside the inner harbour, which is very tempting. We were tipped however not to do so. Because of the pubs with their terraces and loud music along the quay, mooring here is not recommendable, at least not on long summernights. We took our 'strategic' position just outside the wall, next to the mill, but also with a good view on the large ships passing by on the Haringvliet.