Den Helder - 52° 57' 44" N 04° 46' 56" E

... and many of the things Den Helder is known for.

After an overnight sail and weaving our way between wind farms and Traffic Separation Schemes, we arrived at the mandatory reporting buoy of the channel into Den Helder just before dusk.  Den Helder is the main base of the Royal Netherlands Navy. so they like to know who is coming and going.  After reporting our position and our intentions (entering the harbour and then the marina), we were told, "Proceed."

By the time we had worked our way up the channel, it was dark.  So we entered the Den Helder Harbour with a strong cross current and a confusing array of lights from ships, navigation marks, buildings ashore, cranes, barges and cars.  Even trying to locate the entrance was a leap of faith, leaning heavily on our modern navigation technology. 

Den Helder Harbour.  Add traffic lights, illuminated signs, some buildings with lights on and car and truck headlights and tail lights and you can imagine what we were looking at through tired eyes.

Trying to pick out the entrance to the marina was impossible so we simply pointed the boat towards the spot our charts assured us it was and hoped there was a gap!  When we finally made out the specific lights that we thought signalled the entrance, we sensibly opted to do a 'sail by' before attempting to enter.  In no time, we were tied up safe and snug.

Even in daylight, the entrance is very narrow

We are berthed across from the mighty Guardian.
She is a Coastguard Emergency Towing Vessel and is stationed in the North Sea when the wind is 
Force 5 (60km/hr) or above to ensure she can respond quickly to any incident.  Rather comforting.

... and we love the street art we find in our ports of call.

And being the base of the Royal Netherlands Navy, of course, Den Helder sports a fabulous naval museum.  This is spread over the old navy dockyards of Willemsoord and is a fabulous place to wander around.  It has lovely cafes along the canals, historic ships both in the water and out, and a submarine!

This is a touching memorial.  The sculpture casts shadows to represent the sense of loss to families and the community because of mariners who are lost in battle.

We jumped on our bikes and rode around poking in and out of the historic buildings and the monuments and artefacts. The wind was bitter but the sun shone brightly.

Old navigational buoys

An old lightship. 

Love the life raft.  Not sure of your chances holding onto one of these in a North Sea winter storm!

Dry dock

A heart-warming mural on one of the concrete buildings by the pier.

Loved this one, too.

As is much of Holland, Den Helder is protected by a dyke.  We rode along the very windy dyke (in the right direction of course) and wound our way back to the marina through the town.  

A steel lighthouse that was fabricated as a quick construction 'kit' and erected in weeks on sight, very similar to one we saw and toured in Indonesia when it was a Dutch territory.

The Royal Netherlands Navy keeping us safe!

Cars, bicycles, pedestrians and even boats ... with a bit of greenery to make it pleasant. 

After touring along the dyke, we went inland to avoid cycling back into what would have been a nasty headwind.  As cycling has always been a viable means of transportation in The Netherlands, the transportation corridors are designed with ALL forms of vehicles in mind.  Hooray for good urban planning.

The glorious, glorious borek.  Note the nonchalant blackbird waiting patently for crumbs.

Riding through an urban landscape meant we had some excellent local choices for nourishment.  Dutch borek is a pastry with different fillings - this is the remnants of a cheese-filled one and two spicy chicken boreks ready to go next.

Excellent bike paths ... right into the port area.

Into the beautiful-but-gentrified old port area.  Small pleasure craft still wind their ways up and down these canals.

The Koninklijke Marine Jacht Club - a floating building on a barge!

We made our way back to the marina after a brief look around Den Helder.  The town, by reputation, doesn't get the respect it deserves.

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Kate also wins an award for first swim in single-digit temperature water to free the weeds from our rudders.  She came out smiling!  Brave!