24 July 2015
The Captain (V) had been watching the weather systems on WindFinder and had noticed that there was a Big Storm building up and forecast to arrive in Friesland within about 30 hours. We thought it a good idea to head for the city of Leeuwarden rather then be exposed on a nature mooring, so at 0900 we started the engine and rather than use the bow thruster (which is annoyingly noisy) we moved off the mooring by the simple and silent method of leaning on the boathook until we were far enough into clear water to be able to motor off.
We arrived at about noon in still calm and warm weather. By the evening it was still 20C and almost no wind, although light drizzle had started.
However, the warnings were accurate. By next morning pressure had dropped 28mb in as many hours, but it was still warm with almost no wind. The calm before the storm. It began to drizzle gently at 1600 but at 1630 someone flicked a switch. Within a few seconds the wind went from 4 knots to 40. And with torrential rain.
Having been in Leeuwarden earlier in the year, we knew that we would rather not be in the park area because of the overhanging trees, so Veronica had chosen a mooring alongside the wall just after the entrance to the Historic Harbour. Good choice - the morning after the storm we took a walk around the park and there were a lot of broken branches on the ground with boats covered in twigs and leaves.
/Rich
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