Two years have passed since my last visit to the Oostdyck Radar Tower. Today, conditions were good and so we set of from the Oostduinkerke beach. It is a very good navigation exercise because, although the tower is 36 metres high, you mostly cannot see it until half way. The tower is located not less than 22 kilometres offshore. It’s operational since 2003 and its purpose is to provide guidance for the bigger ocean ships. The international shipping lane is nearby and also the Westhinder anchorage (where ships have to wait for the pilot to come on board). On some days, with extreme good visibility, you can spot the tower from the coast when standing on an elevated position. We have been nine hours on the water to reach the radar tower and get back to shore. Again, it was worth the effort, reaching it and not being able to see the coast! Three hundred and sixty degrees of pure, open water, absolute peace and quiet…… The tower itself is unmanned.
My teammate Harry and I are using a P&H Cetus MV.