Good Business

Zandvoort, August 30th, Beach Day Index = 7. This day must be in the top 5 of 'good' days for the beach businesses in the Netherlands. It's sunny and hot and this weather has been announced well ahead of time for people to have been able to plan to actually go to the beach. So it is busy on the beach. After starting at my favorite beach club Tyn Akersloot, Madon and I move to the far South End of the beach and are later joined by my friend Bjorn. This beach is the nude and gaybeach of Zandvoort and I hrdly ever make it here. But the atmosphere is relaxed and friendly so we are having a fantastic day. The North See is at its best today, meaning it is still green and muddy, but it's actually tempting enough to take a swim.

Getting ready

Zandvoort, August 30th, Beach Day Index = 7. The reason the Dutch beach is empty even on good days is that Dutch people can not adjust plans last minute and Dutch weather is too unpredictable to plan ahead for a beach day in a climate where beach days are hit or miss. So when the weather turns suddenly good and say this is announced the day before, the Dutch have already planned the day full of activities and are not flexible enough to make a change in those plans. I have so many friends that I call from the beach and tell how good the weather is and they tell me "sorry, cant come to the beach... I planned to go to Ikea". So when -like today- it is announced days ahead that this saturday is going to be fantastic, whereas the last few weeks have been dark and rainy, then all of the Netherlands is able to plan ahead and decide to go to the beach. So indeed the beach conditions were great and the beach clubs are preparing for a busy busy day. We were there early enough to find the beach empty and peaceful, had breakfast and left just before the busloads of people start coming down.

TGIsunnyF

Zandvoort, August29th, Beach Day Index = 8. After two weeks of gray skies a unny day was more than welcome. I took the afternoon off to go to the beach and this was defenitely a good choice. The only good thing about lousy weather is that you appreciate a sunny day more than you otherwise would. And a good day it was, sunny, warm, quiet, no wind and clear. Madon and me got here around 2pm and stayed until 7. Weather forecast for this weekend is very good so we will sure be here tomorrow as well.

Sunday Morning

Zandvoort, August 24, Beach Day Index = 5. After yesterdays disappoinment with not being able to get to the beach because of the lack of trains, I decided that this sunday morning was going to be ' Breakfast on the beach in the sun '. Despite promising sunny skies in the early morning in Amsterdam, the beach was all gray, windy and desolate. Not the breakfast I had expected and it was the first meal this year I took inside the beach club. But it's better to be on the beach and seeing it's not that great than staying home thinking it may have been a wonderful morning. We got here very early and stayed for a few hours. Not that bad really.

Lightning

Amsterdam, August 23rd. BDI=? With a week of cloudy weather I was so ready to be on the beach in the early morning, read the paper and have breakfast there and the weather certainly was good for it. But unfortunately we didnt make it further than central station because of lightning struck the train system and there were no trains to the beach. What else can you do but explore the city a little more, not bad either on this nice late summer day.

Not good

Zandvoort, August 19. Beach Day Index: 2 *). Today is not a good day for the beach. For heaven's sake it's August it should be sunny, hot and fabulous on the beach and instead it is cold, windy, deserted and depressing and the worst is it is not just today, it has been like this pretty much the last week or so and forecast isn't good either. It is amazing how quick I forget the good days on the beach, although less than a week ago I was on this beach in full summer, it feels like fall for months and I have not been here in good conditions forever. On the other hand, this allows me to also give low score's on the Beach Day Index, today is not more than a 2, I can really not think of worse conditions... the only thing making it worse would be cold and that it isn't today.

*) the beach day index rates beach days on a score from 1 to 10, 10 being the perfect day for the beach. BDI is based on sun, temperature, clearness, wind, crowds, company, food and everything else that makes you feel great on the beach.

High Score

Zandvoort, August 15, Beach Day Index (BDI)=9. Wow, with a weather forecast calling for lousy weather, this day was certainly a surprise. This must be one of the most beautiful days I have spent on the beach this year. Absolute perfect conditions with temperatures in the low 20s, hardly any wind, crystal clear skies, good company this is a 9 on the scale from 1 to 10. Bjorn, Madon and I arrived before 12 and stayed a good 6 hours on the beach. We had a walk to the last beach club, where the owners are battling with all the sand that brought a storm earlier this week into their places. As usual the beach is empty, most of Holland missed another perfect day on the beach. A great way to return to the station of Zandvoort is the Tuck Tuck, introduced a few years ago into the Netherlands. It gets you to the station in less than 10 minutes for about 6 euro's saving you the 30 minute walk.

Good View

Zandvoort, August 15. Today is an exceptional day. I have not seen it this clear in a long time. At the Horizon of this photo taken at Zandvoort Beach is Scheveningen, the beach resort town of The Hague, which is at least 50 kilomters aways.

Friends, dog and wine

Zandvoort, August 14 (Beach Day Index = 8). Today I was on the beach with Bjorn and Madon and the dog. We took a 11 o' clock train and had a great afternoon on the empty beach. Although a bit windy, it was perfect temperature. We had lunch a few bottles of wine. I always feel like time flies when you are on the beach. We sat and talked for 6 hours and it really feels like a short afternoon. The beach always seems more fun after a few days of rain.

Depressing

Zandvoort, August 14. Amsterdam beach season is ending when the beach club operators start to bring their sun beds to storage. I can't believe this one is doing it so early? Beach clubs typically stay on the beach until October, but this operator feels he can do without the beds.

Wind & Rain

Amsterdam, 13 July. It has been windy, rainy and cloudy the past few days. Now and then skies clear up and at those times the sun is warm and inviting. This may sound like a contradiction, but now and then I long for rainy days. They allow you to stay in and do stuff in the house or just be lazy, watch a movie or something. Full sunny days are ofcourse great, but days like this, where the weather changes from fall to spring and back, make me restless. Yes or No for the beach? Madon is visiting me from Ibiza for a few weeks and we explored the city a bit. We took the ferry to ' North ' to have a glass of wine at Wilhelmina Dock, a restaurant on the water side.