Strange journey

We had not expected to blog the taxi-train-train-plane-underground-train journey home. However two events made in memorable. 

On the platform at Flensburg we were approached by an elderly 'character' to take his photo in front of a Danish train (pic) and he then regaled us on his enthusiasm for Sherlock Holmes - he was wearing a deerstalker and many badges - and he pressed upon us a picture of Basil Rathbone in the gear with a picture of him alongside which he'd obtained on a visit to the hallowed ground of 221b.

On the train to Hamburg we were joined by a hundred or more people of various ages dressed colourfully and with mad wigs (pic). They began drinking and singing at 11:30 and decided to congregate in our carriage. Funny at first, then slightly wearing, then downright irritating. We moved three times to get away from them.

As a final grump, BA at Hamburg is a tiny operation with no self-service kiosks and glacial queues reminiscent of the 1990s. We look forward to our arrival into Heathrow Terminal 5, the planning for which Nic worked on 10 years ago.

Flensburg and home

End of second leg of this year's cruise. A mere 287nm this leg, and a total of 650nm from England. 

The Niro Petersen marina we happened upon is a real find; in a quiet protected corner of the Flensburg harbour area which is unbelievably boaty from marinas to historic ships to museums. Inga in the office, German with a Scottish accent, could not be more helpful. We harbour (ho ho) slightly different feelings towards the harbour master who woke us at 7am asking why we had no sticker on the boat to show we'd paid ... Inga had not given us one cos we're here for a month.

The taxi office being right behind the marina is handy; we repaired to the Bahnhof and got our tickets to Hamburg airport for tomorrow. Strolled down 'Sugar and Rum street' (pic), past the apparently famous rum shop (pic), which leads to the harbour front. Delicious kaffe kuchen was indulged in on the way. Five minutes quiet repose in the Heiliggeistkirche church built in 1386 which still has services in Danish despite being in Germany (by about 2 miles). Much history there. Next we had our sandwiches and apple (how thoroughly British) gazing at the Flensburg waterscape (pic) and waterfront (pic). Finally we reconnoitred a supermarket for stocking up when we return - the rum is cheap in this town (pic).

Thence back to the boat to do many jobs in preparation for leaving her for a month or so - tweaking warps & fenders, taking down flags & stowing equipment, much cleaning. A meal to finish the fridge contents and a splendid bottle of Sekt rounds off the day. We're now signing off for a while, back in Aug.

Safe harbour for a month

It was still blowing hard when we left Sonderborg in Denmark to travel the 20 miles up into the winding Flensburg fjord and back into Germany. We planned our departure with great care as Nic has strained his right wrist and the windy conditions were challenging. For once, leaving the box mooring went well.

On the way we encountered dozens of yachts and saw many marinas. This area is reminiscent of the Solent, for the sheer number of sails. Much of the journey was motoring straight into the wind and waves. Very unpleasant. No question of raising sails today.

We had already found our berth number from the very helpful Inga at Niro Petersen marina in Flensburg. But when we approached it was far too big a box for our boat and our ropes. We tried but it was bloody...until Inga appeared and showed us an alternative berth. Nic had to perform a very tricky manoeuvre to get us out of the first and into the second. Much swearing from Lesley. But when it was done, Sirena IV was safely tucked up in her berth for the next month while we go back to London. The marina looks towards the city of Flensburg  (see pic).

Tomorrow is packing and putting the boat to bed. Saturday we take a train to Hamburg for the flight home. 

Historical Sonderborg

Last night we had the first experience of expensive Scandinavia when a single icecream cone cost €3 - we had no Krone but here they dual price everything.

We decided to spend the day here partly due to wet & windy weather and partly due to local interest. This is where the final battle was lost by Denmark against the Prussian-Austrian alliance in 1864. They lost Schleswig-Holstein, about 1/3 of their country - until a plebiscite in 1920 returned most of it (but they don't say what the vote was ... 52-48 perhaps?!). 

We learned all this and a lot more at the Castle which started in 1270 and was upgraded to its present 4-sided, 4-storey fortified house by the Dowager Dorothy in the 1570s. Unfortunately we just missed the biggest ring-riding and tilting (jousting) event in the world - 460 horses. Or perhaps it was fortunate, because the huge marina here is full by 4pm and it may have been even worse then. We were dead lucky that someone left a slot just as we hunted past and we whipped in quick. 

After 2 hours around the castle, including a chapel little changed since Dorothy built it, lunch was calling and we found a window table in a restaurant on the Town Quay (rainy pic) from where we could watch the yachts jilling around waiting for the bridge to open. The pilot book says twice an hour but it's clearly only operating once an hour. Good to know because we plan to go through when we return in Aug. The food was excellent but we eschewed alcohol - a bottle of beer is 69Kr or more than £8. The food prices were ok.

Thus fortified and informed we strolled around the town, spending quite some time in a modern furniture museum (no, we don't quite understand either) which show-cased (pic) all that is wonderful about Danish furniture design and quality. It is all really beautiful but my dear, the prices! £2,000 for a simple sofa. The town is quite sleepy and rather pleasant. Good to be among many old buildings, unlike German ports where we bombed them flat.

Back to the boat, our fragile atom of English soil, for tea and toast ... and watch all the yachts hunting for a space. They are so desperate that one tied across the stern of 3 others, using an anchor to hold himself off. Using an anchor in a marina? It's simply not done, yet we do sympathise.

Sailing from DE to DK

The 'firsts' abound. We forgot to say a few days ago that we passed the 4,000 nautical mile mark since we bought the boat. Today we clocked up another country by sailing from Maasholm in Germany to Sonderborg in Denmark.

Note we SAILED. The first day for a very long time where we motored out of harbour, set the sails, turned the engine off, and 5 hours later turned the engine on to drop the sails and enter our destination harbour. That is how it should be - thank you Baltic. We had everything from F2 to F5 and from driving rain to bright sunshine - all in 20 miles. And that's fine because we had the time and NO tides to worry about.

The visibility was poor and the land is generally flat so pics may be uninspiring - today's are our first Danish yacht harbour and us flying the Danish courtesy flag in our rigging.

By chance we moored next to a Nicholson 31, a small sister to ours. The owner introduced himself and offered any help we needed, as did the man from 2 boats down who caught our bow line when we arrived. The Danes are a friendly lot by reputation and it's true.

On the Schlei

The hot weather and blue skies had departed this morning when we crawled out of the forepeak. It was grey and damp and time to leave Kiel. 

First, we telephoned marinas in Flensburg where we hope to leave the boat for a month when we go back to the UK at the end of this week. One was full,  but the second could fit us in. Inga with a broad Scots accent told us all we needed to know. So we are booked in, all being well. 

We set off north from Kiel up the wide and deep waters plied by tankers and ferries and endless yachts.  And today, there were half a dozen serene tall ships, some carrying full sail in what was patchy easterly wind. They sailed in our direction.

We didn't expect to sail on this our first day in the Baltic Sea, (little wind forecast) but wonder of wonders, the breeze strengthened enough for us to sail for a whole hour. Then the wind died off and the engine was back on. 

It rained for much of the trip and we were wrapped up in waterproofs and sea boots.

We decided to spend the night on the Schlei, an area that reminded us of Strangford Lough in northern Ireland with its narrow entrance and expanse of shallow waters inside. In the marina at Maasholm of course it was yet another tricky box mooring, fraught with new challenges and potential mishaps. We managed though.

Alongside the harbour masters office and the fishing boats we found a fish bar and snacked on chunks of fried fish laced with bacon! Very German. Later we had a bowl of pasta on board and a small sherry to celebrate our first day actually sailing in the Baltic.

Tomorrow, who knows, we may be in a new country. 

BALTIC DAY

We felt Baltic water on our keel today, having arrived in Kiel. Hoorah! 

We left Rendsburg bright and early and purred up the last 16 miles of the Kiel Kanal in cool air and brilliant sun. Saw an eagle/buzzard - L quite excited. The lock at the end of the canal has 4 chambers, usually 2 commercial and 2 'sport' ie leisure. However after over 100 years of continuous operation they chose this year to renovate, and they have closed 3 out of the 4 leaving one commercial lock for everyone which is 'kin big ships and loadsa yachts & motorboats.

So we had to moor on a waiting pontoon and ... wait. We were the 5th boat to arrive and after 2 hours there were about 25 all tied up chaotically. Lucky it was a calm day, and this was the calm before the storm. Suddenly an announcement over loudspeakers and everyone leapt to their engines and ropes, and started streaming towards the lock. We jettisoned our English reticence and streamed with the best of them. There were already 4 commercial ships in the lock and we all squeezed in beside the hugest of them all (first 2 pics). 

The storm came in that the huge ship still had his propellor turning which caused a circular flow in the lock which meant that some boats got spun around if they didn't tie on quickly enough. Many went sideways and at least one ended up pointing the wrong way. We were caught by it and to recover had to reverse right under the stern of said ship to get space in which to straighten up and throw warps to the boat against which we were trying to tie up - all very exciting, and not in a good way.

After that 15 minutes of mayhem we sat for half an hour while the lock did its thing before we were released into the Keiler Bucht, the stretch of water that runs down to the city.

We turned south and moored in the marina closest to the city centre - Durstenbrook. A box mooring which we had trouble with as usual (sigh). As always another yachtie was on hand to help by holding the bow - these box moorings are really hard with just 2 people but we'll get better with practice. At least we found a space close to the Harbour Master and facilities. 

A quick switch to shore-going clothes and off we went along the promenade to the centre. Kiel is a VERY yachtie place, it's like Cowes on steroids, absolutely stuffed with boats and being a Sunday many of them out sailing. There are few genuinely old buildings in Kiel because we flattened it in the war. We ducked into the church of St Nicholas, invited in even though they were mid-service with a rockin' choir - building is probably rebuilt to look old (pic). The Altstadt is mostly new buildings and shops and a few restaurants - surprisingly quiet for a summer weekend. We came across, not entirely by chance, the Kiel Brewery which happily seves food as well as their own beer (pic). Wonderful dinner topped off with schnapps and a happy stagger back to the boat.

Rendsburg Market Day

The plan to hightail it up the canal to Kiel fell through today for a mix of reasons. Food shopping had to be done and Nic had to work on the water system which has developed a glitch. After these jobs we sallied forth to downtown Rendsburg to see the Saturday market and bought salmon and roll mops for supper. 

The town is mostly modern but with some appealing bits of medieval thrown in. (See pics) We had pasta lunch, coffee and a delightfully vague wander around sunny streets. Along the way we decided which day we will fly back to the UK and even booked the Hamburg flights on the phone.

Back to the boat for some serious planning about where we go tomorrow when the target is reached and we are actually IN the Baltic. We've spent so long just getting here that we hadn't a plan beyond Kiel!

Now we have a plan. (See pic of Lesley and charts),More of that anon. 

We hear dark rumours of hours waiting to exit the final lock in the Kiel Canal because only one of four locks is working, dammit. Could be a long day tomorrow.

Kiel Kanal contrasts

First pic is the ship Shuya that we saw aground in the Elbe entrance - he had no business being anywhere that green/white stick which marks the sandbank he has hit.

Having worked out that the tide in the Elbe river runs 1-2 hours later than the normal tides, we realised an evening passage upriver to the Kiel canal lock would actually be night. So it had to be early morning and kiss goodbye to half a day looking around Cuxhaven. Sigh. On the bright side this is the last time we'll be tide-bound for perhaps 2 years. There's a thought.

We were first out of the SVC marina harbour (and very nice it was too), but we're overtaken by a squadron of German, Dutch and Swedish yachts because they all seem to motor flat out whereas we go at a pace where the engine sounds happiest, the fuel consumption  is moderate, and the all-pervasive rattles are at a minimum.

A grey, flat-calm morning and a boost from the tide saw us upriver the 16 miles in under 3 hours (pic). We jilled but not for long, and the rain arrived in torrents as we pushed and wormed our way into the lock which already contained the hugest of barges. In half an hour we were released into Kaiser Wilhelm's watery motorway that links the North Sea to the Baltic - built for naval reasons and now mostly commercial and 'sport' as they call us. Bridges (pic) are all over 40m high, enough for all shipping (we only need 15m) so we have 55 miles with just big ships (pic) and little ferries to avoid.

The sun comes out to dry us off and suddenly it's warm. Y'day L was wearing full thermals and sailing gear - what a difference as we venture inland. Still no wind, very peaceful. Butterflies, birdsong.

Then around a bend we find a small ship that had passed us earlier has inexplicably rammed the bank (pic) - I would like to entitle that pic "you probably didn't want to do that" or to the strains of the Navy Lark (50s radio 4) "when I said 'left hand down a bit' I didn't mean that much". Later he passed us again so he managed to get his bow off the grass.

Now we are moored in Rendsburg, a delightful backwater off the canal about 2/3 the way along. Had a lovely meal at the restaurant 50m from the boat. We asked the harbour mistress about the famous transporter bridge (one of only 8 in the world, check it out) and why it was not working. Apparently a ship hit it, injuring the two people on board, so now it is being repaired.

So that's 3 shipping accidents in 2 days (2 witnessed, 1 recounted) which makes us even more wary of the shipping around here. Oh and today's problem is that our fresh water is leaking into the bilge - that's one for the morning zzz

Big ships

We just devoured a bowl of goulash soup after a 12 and a half hour journey from the island of Nordeney to Cuxhaven at the mouth of the Elbe.

Along the way we passed many huge ships including the German warship Baden Wurttenberg (see pic) and a tanker which had just gone aground!

It displayed the three black balls which are the humiliating signal for 'aground' which when you do your collision rules theory,  you remember as 'a balls-up'.

We skimmed beneath the channel markers for the big ships all day.  We had the main sail up but yet again the wind was on the nose and we had to motor. It was fairly uneventful if not tedious and though the sun shone it was as cold as charity.

We had a scare this morning when Nic did engine checks and found an exhaust pipe had been weeping seawater around part of the engine. He had to cut off some damaged pipe and re-site it. To do that meant moving the microwave from its snug cupboard. You get the picture.  He effected the repair quickly enough for us to be on our way only 20 minutes later than planned. 

Now we discovered that the water tank is empty.  It's 2245 but it has to be done. Just another thing to keep us on our toes. 

Today may have been our last long passage for some time. Tomorrow we cross the river to the start of the Kiel Canal and our passage to the Baltic.

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Norderney Not a problem

First a few more words about Borkum. We met up again with Val and John in Solera and I suggested a drink at the HM's cafe instead of the onboard routine. But the cafe had closed 1 minute before we got there. So we walked all of 6 minutes round to the other marina on the island and had some beers sitting outside (in coats) looking over the supposedly silted up old marina where lots of boats were arriving. 

The HM has a Scottish wife, and requires a €50 deposit for the key to the toilets and showers. I'm not saying the two are connected. In the morning we asked about our plans for the passage to Norderney and were given more of the dire warnings about the shifting Sands. Aargh.

Originally we had thought to arrive at Norderney at High Water so we'd have as much depth as possible under our keel. But that is 10pm which is a bit late. So we left at noon, calculating an 8pm arrival. The weather was calm with too little wind to sail, which is a good thing for the dreaded Sands. We did get 1 hour of sailing before the wind got weaker than the tide. We admired the low hills and sandy beaches of the East Frisians as we purred along in loose company with 4 other yachts. To our surprise Norderney has high rise blocks, rather a blot but it seems to be quite the German resort. 

We always make our passage plans pessimistically because psychologically and practically it is better to be running early than late. Today we surpassed ourselves and arrived at the much maligned Sands at 6pm, only 2 hours after low water. Emboldened by the calm conditions, a large wind farm vessel roaring down the channel at 20kn and the 4 yachts ahead of us we followed the buoys in and had no problem. 

The next surprise was the marina here which we expected to be small and old-fashioned. Not at all. It is huge (pic), the HM told us where to berth and was v efficient in his office. For one night around here we are paying about £13 compared to more than twice that in the UK. There is a very smart restaurant where a dish costs a lot more than a night's berth, and we had a curry onboard. 

So Norderney is lovely and not at all the problem we expected. 

Riddle of the Sands

Borkum was today's target,  one of the places mentioned in the glorious spy novel The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers. The book is on board and Lesley is reading it for the third time. This time is particularly delicious as the shallow and treacherous coast featured in the story is where we are sailing now.

We left Delfzijl early to catch the tide to take us down the river Ems towards Borkum. Soon we had plenty of wind in the nose and so much wind over tide that we were bucking and plunging like a fairground ride. We had the main sail up but had to motor as we were too close to the wind. Very uncomfortable, cold and peppered by salt spray, we set our jaws and motored onwards for a total of 5 hours. It was a salutory reminder of what seaways are like compared to the tameness of canal chugging.

Borkum is a sleepy harbour. Our first Frisian island. Slightly otherworldly...

Every where we go we hear oyster catchers peeping plaintively. There are trawlers and wind cats here as well as a good many yachts, many of them German or Dutch.

 It's a quiet place to stay before our next venture to the shallower waters of Nordeney  (which also stars in Riddle of the Sands). A man at the harbour master's office told us sternly that the approach to Nordeney is 'very dangerous' and we must hug the buoys. There are no spies in our story but there may be adventures. 

Delfzijl pause

Weather too rough to venture up the river Ems to Borkum, so we had a 'rest' day. This means a long list of little jobs.

We had a delightful fish lunch in a small restaurant on stilts, looking out over the river. Oddly we were surrounded by diggers and giant pipes and piles of sand because they are constructing an ecology park - good for them.

At 6pm we entertained our new friends Val and John with G&Ts & nibbles, with many a sailing yarn exchanged.

The wind has howled, now the rain is bucketing, and we wonder about tomorrow's weather. Meanwhile the technology gives us grief with phones refusing to connect and our portable WiFi (mifi) from 3 deciding it has forgotten how to connect also. The rigours of cruising.

Saltwater and tugs

Today we chugged sixteen miles, but it took four hours to go the very last leg of the Staande Mast canal route and pop out into the salty waters of the north sea at Delfzijl.

The day began slowly at the Oosterhaven marina where Sirena IV has been snugged up for 10 days while we were in Scotland. For the first time we saw another British boat, Solera, and met her friendly owners Val and John. They are heading the same way as us. 

The annoying thing about Sunday in Groningen is that you can only get through the many lifting bridges at certain times...in convoy!

So at 11am we steered into the crowd jilling about waiting for the first bridge eastwards. After the novelty wore off everyone kept pace in an orderly queue and it worked pretty well. 

Just before Delfzijl we bundled into a lock and bridge arrangement where the walls of the lock were full of nasty grit which got on the fenders and rubbed on to our sides. Once into the Neptunen marina, the fender covers were whipped off and washed in scalding water (motoring generates much hot  water! ) Such trivial things make up days on board.

We have just spent an hour and a half talking to Val and John about their previous experience in the Baltic. They reinforced all we have heard about how beautiful and friendly it is. 

Best of all, we are back in seawater, moored near chunky tugs and barges, and we can almost feel the boat sigh with relief as the waters of the north sea (or the river Ems anyway) lap around her. 

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Edinburgh and back again

In brief, Nic's 90yo mum had her new heart valve then a hiatus then a pacemaker. We stayed to see her comfortably settled back at home with Nic's brother Felix after a week in hospital - all is well. Rather glad to be away from Travelodge and back on boat in Groningen after lengthy journey y'day. 

Inbetween hospital time we did manage a few outings - Edinburgh Film Festival, and Canongate Kirk on Royal Mile to see sculptures by Josefina de Vasconcellos who was a friend of Lesley's family. Also to the Royal Highland Show to see much horses, cattle and the 2017 national sheep-shearing final (won by the big man Hamish from Skype - 20 sheep in 16 minutes). Can you work out the pics?