Wednesday 1 June

June opened with clear skies and sunshine. We headed off on the bikes to the east, down the Kampweg. Stopped for a few minutes at the goldfish pond, named after local man Klaas Douwes, then carried on towards the Fortweg. This links the marina to the northeastern point of the island. Upon approach to the dune crossing, two ship's masts appeared very close to the dunes. On reaching the top of the crossing a ship was stranded across one of the breakwaters. Apparently, the Noorderlicht, a flat-bottomed sailing ship, had attempted to reach Vlieland late last night. However, on account of dense fog, strong northeasterly winds and strong tidal currents, she went off course and ran aground. Her 28 teenage passengers left the ship unhurt and were put up in a nearby campsite. Her crew stayed on board, and the Noorderlicht was pulled free on the high tide in the afternoon. She was towed away to Harlingen for checks. Meanwhile, at midday we settled down in the Dining restaurant (deining is Dutch for sea swell) at the marina, for a cup of coffee and cake. After an hour, we proceeded to and through the village, out the other side and down the Wadden Sea coast to Lange Paal, and then back to the Boeier. Unfortunately, the northeasterly wind made the last part of the journey, through the dunes, a tad difficult as it was a headwind. Later in the day, we walked to the Strandhotel - and back along the beach.