Texel

The 'kermis' was not that bad, it was definitely not well attended so at around 9.30 the guy who was desperately shouting 'shake your body' over the intercom every 10 seconds had gone quiet and by 10pm silence reigned!
This morning the slight mist had lifted by the time we got up and after loading water we were off though the lock, then through the naval harbour and into the Waddenzee. The salt water 'sounds' very different when you motor through it, there is a 'foamy' sound to it and I love it! The crossing to Oudeschild, the harbour of Texel only takes an hour and by 10.45 we were tied up in a very quiet marina. The season has not really started yet, many boats are still on the hard in their winter storage so in spite of the good weather (force 3 Bft, sunny but cool, 12 degrees max today!), and the fact that it is weekend, there are only about 20 boats in this 200 berth marina at the moment.
We walked to the village to do some provisioning and after lunch got out the folding bikes and cycled to some of the villages. Tomorrow we plan to do the 'Thijsse route'. My great grandfather was a teacher here between 1890 and 1893 and they named two cycle routes (of 40 Km each) after him. The signs are being removed and replaced by different signs without the 'Thijsse' name on it, but at the tourist information they still gave us a route map (after I explained the family connection).
We will stay here until Tuesday morning, weather allowing we will then go to the next island, Vlieland. Texel is quite big, about 25 by 15 KM and it does not really 'feel' like an island but it is very nice nonetheless.