By Amanda Mustard
It all started with an offer to Claire from Kees van Vugt in the Netherlands. And before we knew it, 5 unsuspecting members of NBRC ( Ann, Claire, Sandy, Amanda and Duncan) found themselves signed up for something called The Flanders Tideway Race. Race distance? No one knew, 28km? or 40km?
The WhatsApp translations from Dutch to English offered more mystery than clarity. “Strong wind might have meant tidal apocalypse”. No one was sure. The weekend turned out to be a masterclass in philosophy – “If you don’t know you don’t know, you don’t know”.
Chapter 1:
To simplify matters, those travelling via Newcastle became SCAA (Sandy, Claire, Ann and Amanda) – Somehow Competent Against All Odds.
So SCAA boarded the DFDS infamous overnight party boat from Newcastle to Amsterdam, where some of us arrived in Amsterdam the following morning a bit sleep deprived and caffeine deficient. Ann however, proudly announced she’d had a full night’s sleep and was feeling fresh as a daisy – information she shared too often.
So, with our Google maps open, our next mission was to get to Wetteren in Belgium, using train timetables and signage in Dutch. So with no PhD between us, this became a group IQ test.
Meanwhile, Duncan, who had chosen to fly (clever man) began his own “race across the world”. Despite this not being a competition, SCAA arrived in Wetteren 10 mins ahead, thus winning the unofficial pre-race race.
Chapter 2: Welcome to Wetteren.
Dragging our bags through quiet streets, we eventually found our hotel, Bloemenlust and our hostess Annika. A hotel full of interesting character with only 3 bedrooms but all very comfortable. Also a popular local’s bar, even for a retired Mayor, until the early hours of the morning.
Chapter 3: The “Race” ( or something like it)
Saturday dawned and Annika kindly drove us to the meeting point – probably relieved we hadn’t attempted to find it ourselves. There we met fellow Skiffies from Scotland (2 from Lossie, 2 from Wormit and 1 from Ulla). 10 skiffs and 1 dragon boat – because nothing says “level playing field” like mixing in a vessel with a dozen rowers and a drum!
After all the meets and greets and pressies given to our hosts, we boarded a bright red London bus (obviously, because this was Belgium?) to the start in Moerzeke, where our skiff awaited: the Flying Dutchman. It was kindly lent to us by Woudrichchem Rowing Club in the Netherlands for which we are very grateful- a beautiful boat with a setup completely different from our NB Skiffs. Then cue around 20 mins of fairly polite faffing, time for only a few adjustments, minor arguments, with the hooter already sounded, we set off with catches and finishes Lyndsay would sadly not be proud of!!
Still unsure of distance, we decided on sticking to the original plan of changeovers every 5.5km, ensuring everyone took a turn as cox and was able to top up energy levels with Babybels, energy bars and question their life choices.
With the tide thankfully in our favour, we rowed down the Scheldt River, finishing the 28km ( not 40km thank goodness) in 2hrs 44mins.
Chapter 4: Fame at last
Post-race, all hands helped get the skiffs out the water – the true test of endurance. Then out of nowhere, Claire and Amanda were cornered by a local journalist who wanted to know more about coastal rowing back in Scotland and how we found the racing on the river etc.
Little did we know, Flanders Tideway would appear on regional TV news the following evening, so thanks to Annika for setting up the TV in the bar of the hotel for us to watch our 10 seconds of fame – rowing on TV!
Chapter 5: Beer and Glory
We were squeezed into cars and whisked away to Reuben’s, where food and beer flowed freely. This was followed by a moment of unexplained generosity, the Scots contingent were awarded a huge trophy for just showing up – proof that enthusiasm really does count!
Chapter 6: The Morning After
Sunday morning arrived with the dull throb of too many beers. Duncan flew home, and the rest of us ventured into Ghent – which turned out to be so beautiful that even our hangovers paused to admire it. Naturally we ended up on a mini-cruise too on the Leie, because apparently we can’t stop getting into things that float. But would highly recommend, as it was stunning. Afterwards we found waffles with chocolate sauce, and all was right with the world again.
Chapter 7: The Odyssey home
Monday came too soon and it’s not until we started our journey that we found out Antwerp station was closed. Of course it was! So after rethinking, our return journey involved 4 trains, coffees and a group breakdown somewhere between Rotterdam and sanity.
Eventually we stumbled back onto the DFDS ferry to Newcastle, collapsed on deck 11 and then headed to the bar for more laughs and memories from the weekend and celebrated our survival.
Epilogue
And so ended the SCAA and Duncan expedition to Belgium – the tale of confusion, endurance and trains.
We came, we rowed, we possibly raced and we all definitely drank beer.