Peter Boogaard of “Dame Blanche” writes

Welcome to the BNLD Chapter covering Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany.

I have loved sailing since a was a Boy Scout. I still have my original Neptune charter! My passion is with electronics and scientific software in laboratory and manufacturing processes. I have lived for some years in USA and during my time spent, I have explored and sailed west coast Bay area and the Grenadines. When I and my family returned to the Netherlands, sailors without a boat – the void was filled by spending more time sailing ‘Dame Blanche’, a classic Moody M33 – MK1, with the parents-in-law. I felt in love again and in 2015, took over ‘Dame Blanche’ from them, to keep the lady within the family.

Our home port is Bruinisse which is located at the Grevelingen in Zeeland. The now ‘elderly lady’ needed TLC; I found the forums on the Moody Owners website very useful and I signed up for membership right away and attended the annual meetings. During my second AGM (Annual General Meeting) in Dundee, Colin and I were brainstorming, how we could team up. This resulted in creating a new chapter focussing on the Belgium, Netherlands coastal areas including the Zeeland, IJsselmeer and Waddenzee area. In addition, the local Dutch sailors, many ships from Belgium, Germany and UK are enjoying this beautiful area. The reason why I have called the chapter BNLD.

I have planned a meet & greet during the annual Fishing Days in Bruinisse/Grevelingen in July. ( www.visserijdagen-bruinisse.nl/ ) The plan is to organize a sailing trip on Saturday on the Grevelingen and wrapping up with a drink and dinner afterwards. Please share me a message if this option would be of your interest at BNLD@moodyowners.org so I can start planning!

A plan to visit the Marker Wadden. Thanks to the local moody owners, an initial program has been drafted. The official day to visit the islands is September 16. The plan is to meet on Friday September 15 in the Batavia harbour in Lelystad. For those having their Moody’s in Zeeland, we may setup a joint trip using the Staande Mast route via Haarlem or Amsterdam.More details will follow in the upcoming issue of Compass (Spring 2023)

If you have ideas or want to share experiences, I would be delighted if you could share that for the BNLD chapter. You may also contact me for questions by email (BNLD@moodyowners.org) or phone. I speak German, Dutch or English, so please use what is convenient for you!

I am looking forward making the BNLD chapter an active and cooperative initiative.

Peter Boogaard – Captain BNLD Chapter