Return to Holland and a Canal Cruise

From the ugly look of the weather we certainly made the correct decision to take the inland route from Lauwersoog to Harlingen. Six weeks earlier our new Dutch friends Ad and Werner had mentioned something about this “Upmast” route through the top of Holland, and John thought he remembered them saying that they lived there somewhere. So we called them and made rendezvous for dinner in Leeuwarden, where Werner keeps his office.  Off we set on a damp grey morning for a cruise through the Friesian country side, through Dokkum and to Leeuwarden, where we found a spot to tie up in the city at the park marina.

 

On the way to Leeuwarden

 

 

Sheep gather along the canal to greet us

 

 

Parked in the Park!

 

Leeuwarden is a beautiful, interesting and clean city.  We were charmed by the canals, its varied old architecture and the friendliness of its citizens. At the Walrus restaurant with Ad and Werner we had entertaining conversations – they, like all Dutch, speak excellent English - and the dinner was outstanding.

 

Flowered Bridges

 

 

 Ad and Werner

We had been through a half dozen lifting bridges to get to Leeuwarden: now we set off for Harlingen, the port on the Waddenzee. The monotony of another bleak day motoring along the canal/river was broken up by many lifting bridges.

 

Art under the bridge

 

 

Hope it stays up!

 

While waiting for the penultimate bridge to open, we took the opportunity to chat with Axel and Marion on Rascal, the sailboat ahead of us, and asked them where they were going to stop in Harlingen: they told us to go through the lock into the Waddenzee, then make a sharp U turn to port and go into the town dock: “No problem,” they said: “We are going there so just follow us.”  And so we did. And what luck! The Noorderpoort harbour in Harlingen is a canal running through the old wide city street lined with Fifteenth and Sixteenth century buildings – old trading “warehouses”.  Once again we had an unexpected treat, tying up to the side of the canal among the old Dutch barges and the new modern yachts. Then we discovered that yet again we had arrived in a charming small city when they were having their annual festival!  We were fascinated by over 100 sailing barges of all sizes that were moored in the canals.  Entertainment, interesting food and friendly people made this three day festival a fun experience for us. 

 Noorderpoort Harbour in Harlingen

 

 

 

We dined at Restaurant Noorderpoort..just across the canal...outstanding!

 

 

 

South Harbour

 

 

 

Eels fresh from the smoker!

 

 

 One of the many classic old houses

 

 

 The "old" yacht is actually brand new

 

 

 Fishing boats dressed for the festival

 

 

 A dozen buggies compete to spear the rings!

 

 

 Hordes enjoying the festival

 

 

 This lion is guarding the lock gates

 

 

 Hundreds of sailing barges

 

 

 Quaint bridges cross the canal

 

 

The Friday evening crowd arrives...note the cream colored yacht in the distance

...another Island Packet 420 like Adventuress

After enjoying Harlingen (even though the skies were mainly overcast with some rain), we sailed across the Waddenzee to Den Helder, which is located next to the North Sea, a perfect take off spot to cross to England.  Den Helder is the home of the Dutch Navy and we stayed in the Navy marina which has superb facilities.  To our delight we were invited by a Dutch neighbor, Hubert, a retired officer, to dine with him and his partner at the officers’ club.  And again everything at the club was first class.

 A very nice marina at the naval base

 

 



A few Dutch Navy boats

 

Thank you Netherlands! You received us with open, friendly hospitality.  We loved your sailing culture and your orientation towards the sea.  We loved the food, the clean, beautiful towns and cities, and we will definitely return.

On Sunday/Monday we crossed the North Sea 136nm from Den Helder to the Deben River. We had a lumpy seaway when the North wind was opposing the North flowing ebb; but we were able to sail most of the way. We timed our arrival just right, one hour before high water. We are now anchored in the Deben River, awaiting high tide at Woodbridge, three miles north of us, so that we can enter Tide Mill Marina and start the process of putting Adventuress to bed for the winter.

It has been a fantastic adventure this summer.  We fly home to the USA to Florida for the winter and will return to England and Adventuress next May.

Our very best to you,

John and Nancy 

Heading West via Germany

Sailing to the Baltic, many Brits start through Holland, and keep going East through the 52 mile “Kiel Canal” that goes from Brunsbuttel on the river Elbe through Germany to the Baltic at Kiel. We did it differently, sailing more or less due North from the Dutch Friesian Islands directly across the North Sea to Norway. Now, coming down to the Southern Baltic, we made the usual choice of taking the canal, rather than sailing 500nm back north around Jutland and back down in the North Sea.

The Kiel Canal, properly called the Nord-Ostsee Kanal, is for major ships, with locks only at each end. The locks of course are huge, about 1200 feet long and 180 feet wide. Fog delayed our entrance at Kiel by four hours, so when we were given the all clear to enter the Holtenau lock, a stampede of 36 yachts jostled for position to enter – reminding us of the ski lines in Europe!  The sound of racing engines and roaring bow thrusters filled the air!

 Yachts waiting to enter the canal

 

 As we entered the canal we noticed this catamaran

flying the Stars and Stripes...the first American flag since we left Bermuda!

 

 

 Yachts in the lock along with large freighters

 

 36 yachts in the lock!

 

 

John climbs down the ladder after paying the toll

 

 

Then when we left the lock we were lined up along the canal doing 6.5 knots under motor with just a dozen yards between us. 

Adventuress survived without a scratch but we were relieved when the traffic thinned out several miles later.

 

We considered stopping at Rendsburg, the German city about a third of the way along, but reckoned we could go further in spite of the fog delay, and found a mooring a mile up a side canal (The Gieselau, which leads to the Eider River and eventually the North Sea at Eiderdamm.)

Next day we left the Kiel Canal through the yacht lock at Brunsbuttel, threading our way through four ships waiting to go through the ships’ lock. Swiftly on a SSE 15 knot wind we sailed out on the ebbing River Elbe, recording 11.3 knots over the ground.

Raymarine Chart plotter at the helm

We arrived the convenient Cruxhaven Marina, spent the night and then next day motored in calm winds over to Helgoland, where we stopped for 140 gallons of tax free diesel! Then we came to Holland via a stop in the German Friesian island of Norderney.

 Strong winds are forecast for the North Sea making a direct westerly passage from  Germany to Holland unwise   So we will make our way through the “Upmast Route” inland via Dokkum and Leeuwarden to Harlingen.  This is not hard duty……Holland is beautiful and the people are wonderful.   Here are a few pictures of Germany’s Kiel Canal:

 

 A ferry attached by cables to the bridge

 

 

German countryside 

 

 

 Freighter traffic helps ease the boredom

 

 

Leaving the Kiel Canal!!! Yeah!!!

Best to all,

John and Nancy
Lauwersoog, Holland

August 25, 2015

 

Kiel, Germany

It's 9:00am, August 20, and we are at the British Kiel Yacht Club waiting for the fog to lift.  We will motor the 50 miles across Germany to the North Sea and begin our journey back to England.

Adventuress in fog

 

Our very best,

John and Nancy

Not Just Sailing and Scenery…..

.….but also meeting fun people!

But first, the sailing:

Sometimes we get a wind forecast that is too good to be true!  So as we went to bed on the eve of our departure from Norway we were quite skeptical about the perfect  20+ knots South West winds forecast for our crossing from Lyngor to Skagen, Denmark.  But at dawn there they were! Healthy South Westerlies to speed us on our way!  Adventuress did not disappoint us as she averaged 8+ knots in fairly flat water on an 80 degree beam reach. What a sail!



Once again, we pass a Norwegian square rigger

After the rugged coastline of Norway it was quite a change to see the flat coastline and endless beaches of Denmark.

 Denmark coastline



We arrived early, at 3:30pm at Skagen marina, but still had to raft up.

 Skagen Marina

 This harbor is a useful stopping point but not the friendliest, so we left early the next morning and sailed to Laesso Island, where we went to the Eastern harbor at Osterby.  The harbor was very crowded; but to our surprise, a friendly Norwegian couple beckoned to us to raft along side of them. 

Sissel and Einar in Norway

Now life took a weird turn: we introduced ourselves to “Sissel and Einar” and then discovered after just one minute of conversation that their best friends were ……Shannon and Ornulf, our new Norwegian  friends in Flekkefjord!

By the end of the day, a Swedish boat and a German boat had joined our raft.  Only two of the 150 boats in the harbour were Danish:  most were Swedish due to the proximity to Sweden. 

Laesso Island has two harbours, a central town and miles of dunes:

 Endless Dunes

Sissel and Einar Alme were great fun……introducing us to a Norwegian cheese called Gamalost, served on Knekke  -what JFK calls ‘cardboard bread’ - with lots of butter, and decent swigs of Aquavit.  (Do not ask what JFK called the cheese!)

Gamalost Cheese

In Laesso we had also met a funny and charming Danish couple, Birte and Henning, and we sailed along with them to the next island, Anholt.  This tiny island stunned us with its beauty.  Next to the marina, just 25 yards from our berth, was a magnificent beach.  We spent four nights on this largely uninhabited island, exploring on our bikes and having a fun time with Birte and Henning.

Birte and Henning

 Adventuress in her berth on Anholt

 John takes a dip in 65 degree ocean

(in the Danish tradition)

 Beach next to marina

 Riding bikes through the countryside

 John, Birte and Henning leaving the grocery store
Only purchase what you can carry on the bike

 Danish lobster

A gift from Hemming - an inverted cone to be displayed when

motor sailing

Our next island stop was Samso where we anchored and enjoyed a walk in the beautiful countryside.

 At Samso

 When the sun is shining, Denmark has beautiful skies

Fields of heather

We took shelter from a rainy blast at Endelave, snugly anchored in the corner. From there we went to Vejlefjord, and anchored behind a little spit while it blew like stink. There JFK had an unusual role as reluctant rescuer for a crazy beginner Kite surfer, who had decided to try and learn kite-surfing in 28 knots of wind!

Crazy kite surfers row back to Adventuress

JFK is motioning the "crazy" sign!

So here we are:   it’s Tuesday August 18 and we are anchored along the beautiful farmland of the Island of Kegnaes.  Tomorrow we will be in Germany at the mouth of the Kiel Canal.  Even though the weather has been rainy and overcast for the last week we have enjoyed visiting Vejle, the home stomping grounds of our dear friend Helge Thomsen from Berks County, PA: then Als in a very secure anchorage at Dyvig in the Stegsvig: and next along the town dock of the interesting town of Sonderborg.  We left the busy dock of Sonderborg and went just south to anchor in the Horuphave, staged to sail down to Holtenau and enter the Kiel Canal. 

The people of Denmark have been very welcoming and the country is beautiful.  We hope to return to this wonderful country someday.

Our very best to you,

John and Nancy Knight