We wake to the birds song and wind rustling through the rigging of all the ships in the harbour. It’s Sunday today and besides some of the tourists visiting the island, it’s quiet. We have an early breakfast and then all 12 of us jump into the dinghy to set off for one of the sandbars close to the harbour. 

It’s low tide and we are able to walk over completely dry sandbars, exploring the seabed. We find lots of different closed shells, crabs, birds and see the ribbles in the sand from the water normally streaming over it.  We spend about an hour walking around before the water starts to flood in again and we have to head back to Guppy. For the afternoon we have a nice walk planned among the bunkers and dunes of Terschelling. We start with nice views from the dunes and a fresh breeze blowing through our hair while we walk over the green beach to the sand dunes and back along the beach. The following morning Guppy’s engine is running at 7 am, ready to depart for the short trip to Vlieland. Early today, before the wind becomes even stronger. A little storm is going to pass that evening and we want to wait that out in Vlieland. Luckily the waves haven’t built really high yet, but the way between the islands is already a little bumpy. By the time we come into the harbour everyone is awake and ready for breakfast 🙂 The rest of the day we spend exploring the island, visiting the lighthouse, and make a nice long walk through the forest and back along the beach. With the wind in our back luckily, as it’s blowing quite hard by now! The sand is flying past our feet and the kids are having fun jumping into the sea foam blowing over the beach. Very tired but content we arrive back on Guppy – the kids watch a movie while we clean up a bit and get Guppy ready for tomorrow night. We’re planning on sailing to Helgoland the following day after dinner. Helgoland is about a 120nm sail so we will sail through the night and a big part of the day to get there. The girls and the 7-year-old boy are still tired from our walk the full previous day so they vote for a chill morning. However, some of our group do want to see more of the Island so we rent bikes, and Jildou and I take a part of the group for a roundtrip on Vlieland. We bike all the way to the Posthuys ( on the other end of the island) against the wind! We have a hot chocolate and a little nibble before biking back through the forest with the wind in the back now. We have an early dinner together with two of our previous Atlantic Roundtrip teens who just happened to be having a holiday on the island with their parents. But we did leave them ashore when we departed the harbour sailing right into the sunset. The night is lovely, we’re racing along the islands watching the ships, lighthouses, and stars above. As we get into the morning, the sea is getting higher and confused so not everyone manages to keep all of the food in their stomach. But once we enter the harbour the seasickness is forgotten immediately as we observe the red cliffs and beautiful green hills before us. And today is a special day because it’s Balde’s birthday! Turning 10 today – so of course, it’s time for cake, games, presents a movie, and French fries for dinner, and then off for an early night after the long sail here. We all sleep very well and have a big breakfast before starting out to explore this beautiful and interesting island. It’s a very small island but big in history and bird population!! We walk along the cliffside and observe hundreds of birds, many of whom have just hatched and are waiting beside their parents to get rid of their fluffy baby coat and be old enough to learn how to fly.  We are able to get very close to them and stand for a while just looking at these beautiful birds. Sadly our trip is already coming close to an end, and this will be the last island we visit before heading back to the mainland of the Netherlands.

There will be more picture’s and stories after the trip, as you can imagine it’s a little hectic right now to keep up with the posting.