Biscay to the Baltic

After spending the 2005 sailing season on the French Biscay coast with its Mediterranean climate (at least in the summer) we were curious to move on to explore the Baltic.
Many sailors have preconceived notions about the Baltic as being cold and inhospitable so they gravitate to the South and become fixated on the Mediterranean. The consequence is that, at the height of the season, it is crowded and coastal villages that are sleepy and unspoiled for 8 months of the year become tourist zoos for the summer months.

Locmiquélic, Brittany

 So, we had made up our minds to travel North in 2006 to the ‘Lands of the Midnight Sun’.
The full ship's log and route can be seen by following this link to Google Earth (you have to have the free software installed on your device), Locmiquélic to Haarlem Apr 7 - Jul 16 2006 and Haarlem to Aarhus 1 Sept'06 - 26 Sept'06 (Depending on your browser, you may find that these two links just download a file that you then have to open) Make sure that you have the ‘temporary places’ box ticked when the Google Earth file opens. Clicking on the yellow push pins will open log entries.

The Overall Route From Locmiquélic, Brittany to Århus, Denmark

Our Destination - Århus Denmark

As soon as my winter work for the ‘oil patch’ was over we travelled back to England on March 18 to pick up our car from where it had been left for the winter. Then drove to Locmiquélic, on the estuary of the Blavat River leading to Lorient, where Enterprise awaited us at her mooring.
All was well, except for a letter pinned to the mast asking us to call Customs in Vannes. The French Customs also act as a sort of taxation police, they dress like police and travel around looking for any tax infringements as well as customs duties. So, our hearts sank when we saw the letter but decided to worry about that later.

 It was glorious weather and very quiet, for we were far too early for the sailing season. Finally, ship shape and provisioned, we cast off on the 7 April for our trip to the Baltic.
Across from Locmiquelic are the old U-boat pens. We had visited the ones at Bordeaux in the previous year and seen the ones at Brest. We would visit the ones at St. Nazaire and at LaRochelle/Pallice in the coming years. These are massive structures with roofs 2 metres thick; virtually impervious to the tons of bombs that were rained down on them. Like many of the bunkers built by the Nazis with forced labour, the designs were ingenious and indestructible: which makes it a problem to get rid of them. Cities have tried hard to repurpose them but they always have a massive foreboding air about them.

Departure from Locmiquélic

Paul Gauguin, Moulin à Pont-Aven (1894) on the Odet River

But nothing could dampen our spirits on that April morning as we sailed on down past the old fort of La Citadelle in Port-Louis. We were the only sailing boat out and the weather was perfect. We were making our way to Benodet at the mouth of the Odet River. Now this is a place that we would avoid in the summer because its beauty draws tourists and sailors by the thousands but now we had it all to ourselves, except for the hundreds of boats sat at their winter moorings. We felt that we were seeing South Brittany as it would have been before Paul Gaugin made it famous and the railways brought the tourists. It was magical.

The next day we continued west around the headland of Penmarc’h to our next stop at Audierne. Penmarc’h is a formidable headland with scattered rocks way out to sea. We have passed it several times and it is always rough as currents clash here but we have usually been accompanied by porpoises playing around our bow and this time was no exception.

The Headland of Penmarc’h

Audierne, which is up a river and can only be reached at high tide, is a convenient place to wait for the right moment to tackle the next stage, the ill-reputed Raz de Sein. Once again, we were the only sailboat to enter the port and all was locked up on the pontoons. Therefore, we strolled through town with the locals and explored the shops at our leisure. We even questioned why we were heading to the Baltic; however, in life you have to keep on moving to see around the next corner.

Audierne at High Tide

The Tidal Access to Audierne

Locmiquélic to Morlaix

Raz de Sein, like all places with a bad reputation, is not so bad if you get the weather and timing right, then you wonder why the place got its reputation. That is how it was for us the next day when we turned North and shot through the gap doing 9 knots; but one month afterwards the President of Michelin Tire together with his companion was drowned right there, while fishing. The Raz de Sein is described in much more detail in our 2011 blog when we were coming the other way.

The Fearsome Raz du Sein

 We had passed through on the last of the north going current so soon had to fight the current across the Baie de Douarnez, which was anticipated, but with the wind piping up to Force 3 against the tide it became a long, uncomfortable slog in a confused sea. The town of Douarnez has an interesting history as the birthplace of the sardine canning industry. When Napoléon was at his apogee, he needed a method of preserving food to feed his huge army, so a competition was launched to find such a method. It was won by Nicolas Appert in 1810 with a preserving method using sealed glass jars. For the sardine fishing fleet in Douarnez, fishing in these waters, this was a godsend for getting their product to new markets and sardine canning factories were established. Ten years later, with developments in tin plating and the invention of the can opener, the glass jars were dispensed with and canned sardines, as we know them today, were born. Today the industry is no more in Douarnez, having moved to more lucrative fishing grounds.
At Camaret we were the only yacht in the marina, it felt very odd.

 The next day we had a bit of a challenge for we had to sail through the Chenal du Four. Like the Raz du Sein it is all about weather and timing, but it is long, so if you get it right at the southern end, the tide is turning in a place where the currents split, and that always makes for a turbulent sea. The forecast was for the weather to deteriorate but not until after we should be through.

Our Passage Through the Southern End of the Chenal du Four

The Lighthouse Le Four

Well, it did not go quite as smoothly as that for the wind started building against us and slowing us down when we were about one third through, so that by the time that we were off the Le Four lighthouse the sea was very turbulent with over 2 metre wave height. The scene was gothic with jagged rocks, somehow made more ominous by the lighthouse, white water all around and foam being whipped off the waves by the wind. There was no danger as long as one kept a cool head but it would be easy to be intimidated and panic. Once around the corner and approaching Aber Wrac’h the sea moderated and we negotiated our way into the tricky entrance and picked up a mooring buoy where we waited out the approaching gale for a day before sailing on to Morlaix.

We had two urgent things to do once we had arrived in Morlaix; one was to meet our son and granddaughter in Paris but for that we needed our car which was back in Locmiquélic. So, the other thing was to get back to Locmiquelic.
Now all through our cruising life on Enterprise we operated on the basis of having a car available to explore the countryside and cities away from the coast. First, we would usually use it to get to the last place we had left the boat and then sail away and leave it, sometimes for months, until we reached a place where it would be useful, then we travelled back to pick it up. However, it is often easier said than done because to get from one fishing village to another by public land transport is often very convoluted. This is particularly so in France for the main transportation links all radiate from Paris like a giant octopus and trying to cross from one leg to another is always difficult and sometimes impossible. On several occasions it was quicker to go into Paris and out again even though it was hundreds of kilometres longer. So, it took us a whole day with two train rides, two bus rides, a ferry ride and a fair amount of walking to get back to the car in this case.

It was always worth it to have a car occasionally, for when driving through the countryside we would always find interesting places way off the beaten track. This car journey to Paris took us through Villedieu-les-Poêles, a town built on the manufacture of copper cooking pots, to the Bayeux Tapestry, then to Monet’s garden at Giverney.

The Bayeaux Tapestry

Villedieu-les-Poêles

Givernay

Finally to the elegant town of Chantilly where the upper crust of Parisians went to the races. Arriving at Charles de Gaulle Airport there was a precursor of things to come when part of it was suddenly shut down due to a terrorist scare.

Chantilly Racetrack with the Château in the Background

Chantilly Château

We had spent 3 months in the winter of 1983 in Paris, so we knew our favourite places and made the most of the 3 days that we had. 

Top of the list was the Gobelins tapestry works which is still working in the same way that it did 300 years ago and on some of the same equipment. This is part of the French Government’s effort to keep up the old artisanal skills. They do carpets as well as tapestry and a person can work for 7 years on one carpet. This place is only open for guided tours three times a week and you have to book ahead.

The Gobelins Workshops

A "high-warp" (haute lisse) Loom.

The second priority was to take one of the hundreds of guided walking tours available. We took the one in the Palais de Justice where the French legal system was explained and several court rooms, with trials in progress, were visited. The court room where Marie Antoinette was tried has hardly changed since that time. We could imagine the offices of the famous Maigret right here on the Quai des Orfèvres side of the Palais.

Palais de Justice

It was a lovely interlude before we saw our son and granddaughter off to Barcelona. I took the train back to the Enterprise in Morlaix and June took the ferry to England to visit old friends for a couple of weeks. Waiting for the train at Montparnasse Station I was looking for something to read and bought a magazine with an article about an American senator who was making waves but nobody outside the US had heard of him. I realise now that the article was pre-publicity for his new book that was to cause a sensation in the US in August. ‘The Audacity of Hope’ by Barack Obama.

Back at the boat there was a long list of items to be attended to, including extra handholds around the hood (lessons from experience in heavy weather) and  extra rails at the back of the cockpit for the BBQ and the outboard motor.

Handholds Around the Cockpit

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Extra Rails for BBQ and Outboard

As soon as June returned from England with the car it was also time to tackle that annoying letter from the French Customs that had greeted us when we arrived back to Locmiquélic. Their office was in Vannes, a 3-hour drive away. After much interrogation they said that the boat had been in France for a year and therefore required a 'passport' for tax purposes regardless of whether we were on it or not. Actually, the taxes on the boat for 2005 were zero but they were still going to fine me 300 Euros for not having a 'passport'. They were determined to get money out of us one way or another. Then, because the boat was now outside their District, we would have to go to the office in Brest to get the 'passport'. Finally, I got back to the boat at 21:00 feeling  very much down. A few days later we drove to Brest to visit the Customs Office who were appalled that we had been fined by the Vannes District; they said that a ‘Passport’ was not necessary and they were not going to issue one; we should forget the whole thing and enjoy our cruise. Our first big lesson in French bureaucracy. We benefited from that lesson when we changed our car registration to France from the UK. “There are so many regulations that one has to turn a blind eye to some or nothing would ever get done.” That  was the lesson that we had learned.

The Route from Morlaix to Le Havre

We finally cast off from Morlaix on 26 May heading for Le Havre by way of Port Blanc, St. Peter Port, Cherbourg, St. Vaast, Grandcamp-Maisy, Courseulles and Dives-sur-Mer. This was our next rendezvous for we had agreed to crew for a friend on a cruise from Le Havre to the Scilly Isles and back to Falmouth. We were in the lock for 7:00 and sailed down the river on the rising tide to anchor in the Oyster beds until the tidal streams were right. At 13:00 we weighed anchor to carry on. By 1700 the wind really got up and we gave up the target of the Île-de-Bréhat and ran into Port Blanc (see our first experience in Port Blanc in 2004) but there was a very strong current to beat to get in. It was rough in there which gave us trouble picking up the mooring buoy and we had to launch the dinghy to do so. Finally we got it secured to the stern but before we could work it around to the bow, we swung into a neighbouring boat and smashed our port bow light. We eventually got the mooring line to the bow and things settled down. A very uncomfortable evening tossing about but June managed to cook supper. We both crashed with exhaustion to wait out the storm for a day at the mooring.

On across the Baie de St. Malo to St. Peter Port, Guernsey where we waited to pass through the lock to tie up in the Inner Harbour. This is where all the main events in recent history have occurred; the evacuation, the arrival of the Nazis a few days later in 1940 that preceded the dark years of occupation, then the liberation in 1945.

Sunrise at St. Peter Port Guernsey

There is a brass plaque on the harbour wall commemorating the events. If you have watched the movie The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society you would recognize the harbour. We had visited the harbour several times on different boats but this time we decided to stay over for 3 days to explore the island and buy and install a new bow light. We were a bit disappointed with the island as it has been a bit overdeveloped and seemed to us like one big suburban sprawl.

However, the coast lines are beautiful and on the West coast is the island of Lihou that can be reached by an ancient stone causeway at low tide. It is now a nature reserve and, as we stood on the coast looking out to the broad Atlantic, we recalled a night in 1993 when, during a tough passage from Poole to St. Malo and just 2 nautical miles from where we were standing, the engine failed. After a very uncomfortable struggle we discovered that a plastic bag had blocked the water intake; that brought home to us how polluted the oceans were.

Memories of a 1993 Cruise

The next leg to Cherbourg requires precise timing for the currents are extremely strong such that a sail boat cannot possibly fight them. So, at 08:15 we sailed out into the Little Russell channel, then into the Great Russell before threading the eye of the needle of the Alderney Race, around Cap de La Hague and on to Cherbourg. Our 2004 cruise blog describes this section in detail; this time it all went according to plan.

Barfleur Light - Our Saviour in 2004

Then on to St. Vaast-la-Hougue, passing by the Barfleur lighthouse that had been our life-saving beacon in 2004.  A very hot day. All the pontoons covered in bird shit. We were to learn the small signs of how well a marina is managed before you even tie up at the dock. When you have several marinas to choose from that can be handy but usually there is no choice.
The marina is in a  small fishing port with fishing boats lined up against the harbour wall. The men working on them provide quite a show for strollers. A working town, full of life. We sat near the boat and had a drink in the sun.
But the village has a secret; it is home to one of the finest, epicurian grocery stores in France, La Maison Gosselin. All cruising boats in these waters make a point of calling here to stock up on the finer things of life that only the French can produce. We went there and spent far more than we intended, as everyone does.

 Then it was time for the lock to open and we set off for Grandcamp-Maisy. A most perfect sail. Wind abeam and doing 6 knots. Straight through the lock on our arrival at 1800. Grandcamp-Maisy is located between Utah Beach and Omaha beaches of the D-Day landing on 6 June 1944  and held a real secret, for just outside of town was a huge buried Nazi command complex. Although the surface gun emplacements were known, the vast underground complex was unknown to the Allies and even to the locals. Built in particular secrecy, and under strict security, using forced labor brought in from the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and Poland. After the war the entrance was buried and the place forgotten for 70 years until it was rediscovered in the very year of 2006.

The Maisy Battery Site Under Excavation

The Rediscovery of the Vast Underground Complex at Grandcamp-Maisy

Omaha Beach was the bloodiest of all the landings because although planes dropped 13,000 bombs before the landing: they completely missed their targets; intense naval bombardment still failed to destroy German emplacements at the Maisy Battery and Pointe du Hoc. I had explored these beaches a few years before and when you see these fortifications with their 2 m thick concrete, like the U-boat pens, it is not surprising. The result was that Omaha Beach became a horrific killing zone, with the wounded left to drown in the rising tide.

Juno Centre at Courseulles-sur-Mer

A great sail to Courseulles with the genoa poled out. We got the spinnaker out and rigged but by the time that we were ready to fly it the wind had changed. An excellent day. We had not planned to arrive on the 62 Anniversary of the Canadians landing on these beaches, code named Juno. There were lots of veterans in uniforms around and at the Canadian Museum there were ceremonies and speeches. Then we walked along a beautiful sandy beach; it was hard to put oneself in that moment in 1944.

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Juno Beach Defences

The connected trenches and fortified command post with good views of the beach are still there and show how well prepared the Nazis were. The Allies had decided to invade at low tide even though it made the beach very much wider. It was a trade-off because the beach defences were then visible so could be neutralised for the second wave. Also, the enemy would not expect an invasion at that time. So many people died here to cross that wide beach.

Another lovely summer day and we set out for Dives – Port Normande. A wonderful sail. An interesting approach. It looks as if you are going to sail right up onto the beach and then you suddenly turn to starboard and follow a dredged channel through a gap that opens up and there is a lock to enter into a huge new harbour.

Dives Approach 1

Dives Approach 2

Dives Approach 3

Dives Approach 4

Dives Approach 5

Our Antique Compass

Dives Harbour

We tied up next to a Dutch couple of our vintage and spent time talking to them. They had exactly the same antique compass that we had! The harbour was surrounded with new apartment blocks. Many units were still empty.

 There is so much to see that we decided to stay a second night. It is just like a movie set of a 20/30's movie. The buildings survived the war and are, in their way, fascinating. It was from the harbour of Dives-sur-Mer that William the Conqueror set out on the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. A monumental plaque in the church lists the companions of the Conqueror.

The Medieval Wooden Market Hall

June Exploring Dives

Dives

Locked out of Dives at 1100 and turned for Honfleur. The wind really came up and there was a strong current behind us. Scooted along at 8+ knots. Veered off up the Seine for Honfleur. However, we had not done our homework on the Seine currents and they turned against us before we reached Honfleur such that we were just crawling along and in danger of missing the lock to get in. So, we turned around and sailed back down and crossed over to the other side for Le Havre. We stupidly missed a Cardinal and sailed over a sandbank area. We did touch bottom but did not go aground; that would have been serious on a falling tide. A ridiculous, unnecessary error. There was a cruise ship coming out of Le Havre as we were going in, which is always interesting, like sailing very close to a moving skyscraper.

Our Seine Estuary Error

The next day was fine so we decided to go to Morlaix and bring up the car. We found that it was impossible to go directly and we had to catch a train to Paris, St. Lazarre. Cross the city to Gare Montparnasse and catch a train to Rennes, then a train from Rennes to Morlaix!

 We walked some of the way across Paris which was full of flowers in boxes and cool in the shade of the big old trees. Sat and had lunch before catching a #94 bus to Montparnasse. We arrived in Morlaix at about 20:30. What a day. The car was fine and we immediately set out for Le Havre. Arrived at about 1:00 am. So much for the efficient but very centralised transportation system.

The Centralized Transportation System

We researched where we could leave the car for the next 6 weeks, a skill that we were starting to hone, for standard parkades are far too expensive; marinas are usually OK since they are used to people being away for a 2- or 3-week cruise but sometimes they have events scheduled for their parking lots. We found that places that store holiday trailers in the winter are usually empty and cheap in the summer. However, they are usually out of town and require a long taxi journey to reach them. So, when that is factored in, we opted for an in-city parkade this time. A few days later our friend’s boat arrived and we set off in it to sail to the Scilly Isles; but that is another story. If you are interested in our cruise to the Scilly Isles click on this Google Earth link. (Depending on your browser, you may find that these two links just download a file that you then have to open). Make sure that you have the ‘temporary places’ box ticked when it is open. Clicking on the yellow push pins will open log entries. 

Le Havre After the Bombing of September 1944

We have all heard of the bombing of Dresden but few have heard of the bombing of Le Havre in September 1944 when 5,000 men , women and children were killed by Allied bombs for a very dubious military advantage. Many feel that it was a war crime.
In 1949 I went to Le Havre on a student exchange as part of a programme to rebuild ties between the UK and Europe after the war years of hate propaganda and devastation wrought by the Allies. The old city near the docks was just a wasteland of rubble with a couple of new buildings under construction.

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 I did not realise that the City was the focus of an ambitious new urban planning project by a famous architect Auguste Perret. Today it has become a World Heritage Site for its achievements, both in architecture and planning.

Le Havre Town Hall

Le Havre Rose Coloured Concrete

Le Havre Residential Building

I was sceptical, having images of concrete buildings from the ‘60s that are rust stained and crumbling but Le Havre has been well maintained and is on a different level. It is indeed an impressive city and we felt that we should have spent more time there.

Le Havre Cathederal Tower

Arriving back early in the morning of 2 July by the night ferry from our cruise to the Scilly Isles and Cornwall we cast off and were on our way to Denmark by 11:15. This would be a different sort of challenge to our trip South down the western side of the English Channel in 2004. It is similarly strewn with sandbanks, somewhat more extensive, but there are less conveniently placed ports in the first part of the trip. ‘Convenient’ to a sailor means that the window for tidal access (if there are locks, sills or bars) is such that you can enter and exit to catch the tidal streams in the right direction. If there is not sufficient time between earliest exit and latest arrival then you are stuck with fighting the tidal current until the next port.

The Alabaster Coast

Our first destination was Fécamp, about 7 hours sailing away along what is called the ‘Alabaster Coast’ on account of its high white cliffs. This is a fishing port located in a river valley that cuts through the cliffs and like so many of these ports has had to reinvent itself with the demise of fishing.

The Home of Bénédictine at Fécamp

For us, with or draft of 1.43m, we could enter at all states of the tide (provided that the dredging was up to date). These high white cliffs are a geological extension of the white cliffs of the Jurassic coast and the Isle of Wight on the Southern English coast and that remained after the Atlantic Ocean had broken through. Approaching from the sea the first thing that comes into view is the ancient Benedictine Monastery perched on the cliff top and famous the world over for its liqueur.

Le Tréport was the next port, about 38nm away. We could have gone for Dieppe but that was not quite far enough. Like Fécamp, Tréport is a former fishing port located in a river valley that cuts through the cliffs. However, this port was more problematic as there was a bit of a bar at the entrance and the depth contours on the chart did not match those in the Almanac; it all sounded as if the dredging was not up to date. Okay at high tide but a possible problem at anything less than half tide.

Furthermore, there were lock gates to the marina as the harbour dries at low tide so you have to get both the tidal window and lock gate times right.

The Anchorage at Le Tréport

So, we set off as early as possible to catch the flood tidal current up the coast on a very hot still day so it was engine all the way. By the time that we got to Le Tréport we felt that there was not enough water at the entrance to get in. Consequently, we anchored off shore near the cliffs. Enterprise wallowed all night. June was up several times checking the depth of water. It was not a good place to anchor, off a steep shingle beach without a lot of confidence in the holding ground. Such nights are always very disturbed.
So, it was with relief that we raised the anchor at 06:30 even though the tide would turn against us part way through the day.

It would have been interesting to enter the estuary of the Somme but it is very shallow at low tide and the marina is a long way in. No matter how we crunched the numbers, getting in and out would not work. We had planned to drop anchor when the tide turned and wait out the tide, but at that point there was no suitable place to anchor so we pushed on against the current. The whole day was spent dodging fishing boats that were dragging light trawl nets, we must have hit a time when the conditions were ideal for the fishing fleet.

La Baie de Somme, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot

The Somme Estuary at Low Tide

Canadian Dead After the Dieppe Raid

This coast is so steeped in the history of the 20th century that one could stop at every port and spend days. Yesterday we had passed Dieppe which was the site of the disastrous landing of August 1942.

Painting of a Welsh Attack in The Battle of the Somme - National Gallery of Wales

Then the infamous Somme River with its slaughter of epic proportions in the First World War and its 1 million casualties and then the equally infamous Étaples army base where one of the hushed-up mutinies of the same war occurred.

John Lavery's painting of the Hospital Cemetery at Étaples - 11,658 Dead

All this coast was part of the ‘Atlantic Wall” and heavily fortified by the Nazis. Today many blockhouses have fallen from their cliff top perches and are being slowly swallowed by the sea and sand.

Bunker Reclaimed by the Sea

Boulogne is a tidal port and to reach the marina you must lock in. However, there are tidal pontoons that avoid having to lock in and that is where we went as we wanted to get away early to catch the tidal current going North. We found this location to be a rather depressing place next to an abandoned ferry dock that is rotting away. When the Channel Tunnel was completed there were far too many ferries for the remaining traffic and a brutal shakedown of the industry ensued. Boulogne missed out while Calais remains busy; similar situations exist everywhere we go, where an industry declines and the towns are left stranded. Local tragedies that most of us never see.

The Tidal Pontoons in Boulogne

The pontoons for visitors were at the base of an intimidating dock structure, I always dislike these situations when you are up against the dark underside of a dock with the noise and slosh of the water at low tide. We did not explore the town, which was perhaps a pity because it has a long and interesting history, but it was raining hard and we were to cast off at 04:45 the next morning, July 4, to catch the tidal current. These early starts are always a little intimidating and this was particularly so; we felt like we were the only persons awake as we cast off from that ominous dark underside of the dock and motored passed the rows of silent boats.

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Sailing North from Boulogne the Channel narrows considerably and it is necessary to take an in-shore route to avoid the busy traffic lanes although this means that there are plenty of well marked sandbanks. Just after Cap Gris Nez we sailed past the village of Wissant. This was the Nazi headquarters for lobbing shells across the Channel; a practice that they kept up for nearly 4 years! Dodging lots of fishing boats again today, not surprising as Boulogne has an active fishing fleet.
Motor sailing again. With the current at first but then it turned and the last bit was a battle. Arriving in Calais there are harbour traffic lights that prevent entry if a ferry is leaving, once through those there is a lifting bridge to wait for before reaching the marina. A busy port with ferries coming and going all the time.
This is where Julius Cesar assembled his legions for the invasion of Britania; Calais has been the centre of battles over the centuries. It was conquered by the English in 1346 and remained English until it was retaken by the French in 1558. History repeated itself in 1805 when Napolean assembled his army here for the invasion of England which he later aborted. Then in 1940 the retreating British Forces held out here against the Nazi army and in the the process Calais was totally destroyed. Then after liberation it was bombed by the Allies by mistake! Currently it is in the news as the centre for refugees trying to get to England. The city was rebuilt in  the utilitarian, concrete  style of the 1950's but without the  flair of Le Havre.

In the evening we went to see the semi final of the World Cup; France against Portugal, at the yacht club. The place was jammed with very rowdy people and when France won there was risk of serious damage to the building. The whole town erupted in car horns blowing. The next day my brother and his wife passed through Calais on their way back to England and we toured the city with them. It was a surprise to come accross Yvonne and Charles de Gaulle strolling in a city square but then we were not aware of his connection to Calais. However, in Parc Richlieu we bumped into him again but this time with Churchill!

De Gaulle and Churchill Walk Towards France

Yvonne & Charles De Gaulle

Auguste Rodin - Burghers of Calais

The ‘must see’ item in Calais is of course Rodin’s statue of The Burghers of Calais which impressed us, as all Rodin statues do, with the power of the emotions emitted by the stone or bronze. The city was impressive with its well-kept parks and floral displays.

Traffic at a Moment in Time on AIS

Up promptly to catch the bridge opening at 08:05. Hovered with about 12 other yachts, then we were through and off to Belgium. This section of the Channel is so narrow with so much traffic that a special control procedure is in place. All commercial traffic travelling North must report to the French Traffic Control with origin, destination, details of cargo and number of persons aboard; Travelling South they report into British Traffic Control. It is fascinating to listen in to this and hear all the different cargoes and exotic destinations, it makes all those passing vessels have a real personality. A surprising thing to us was the few people on board some very large vessels.

As we approached the Belgium border the French customs boat came out and hovered on our tail, probably checking up on us through our MMSI number but they did not board us. Then they went off to another yacht that they did board. We had been told that having an MMSI number and transmitting that number via AIS would reduce the hassle from customs police and it seemed to work here and latter in the River Elbe. This was to be a day of sandbars in the Scheldt Estuary.

Traffic Control Lanes in this Area

This is an area that seems to get very little exposure and yet has been the scene of great events. The Estuary is the main route to Antwerp and Rotterdam and branches off here from the traffic lanes continuing North to Hamburg and the Baltic. Just at this junction, less than 4 years earlier at Hinder Junction, a container ship ( the Tricolor) had rammed into the back of a car carrier which sank in 90 minutes taking 2,800 high-end cars down with it.

The Tricolor

As if that was not enough, two days later another cargo vessel (the Nicola)  ran aground on the sunken hull of the car carrier!

The Nicola

 The incident triggered a lot of publicity about the lax standards in commercial shipping and the large number of near misses. There is a tendency to think that because a vessel is large it must be meticulously navigated but after reading the reports on this accident, we always assumed that there was no lookout on these large ships. In fact, the situation gets worse with auto navigation because it breeds an over confidence and yachts are often virtually invisible from the bridges of these large vessels.

The coast today was low but heavily industrialised; we tried to imagine what it was like back in 1940 when it was mainly sand dunes covered with retreating soldiers and lines of desperate people out into the water waiting to be rescued. There are still wrecks along here but they are only visible at low tide.

Thousands Waiting to be Rescued 1940

We were to explore this coast again in later years. We Arrived at Nieuwpoort at 17:00 but then another half hour to get to the visitors pontoons in the Novus Portus Magnus, a gigantic marina with 2,400 yacht berths, and then there are two smaller ones, The Nieuwpoort Yacht Club and the Belgian Air Force Club. Difficult to know what to do so we tied up at a vacant pontoon in the Air Force one and eventually had to move to another spot. There was a brisk cross wind and Enterprise is not easy to manoeuvre in tight spaces. These marinas have been carved out of marshlands and there was no sign of a town nearby.

Novus Portus, Nieuwpoort, Belgium

 We walked to a nearby village and found a poor, cheap grocery store. When we got to the cash desk, they would not take our French credit card (Carte Bleu) so we had to put most of the stuff back. Left with 6 euros in our pocket and a bad taste in our mouth. So, the day's impression of Belgium was rather negative but this is our only stop in the country so it did not matter.

Vlissingen Marina

From Nieuwpoort we continued along the coast threading sandbanks and crossed over against a strong current to the Dutch Province of Zeeland where we locked into the inland navigation system at Vlissingen. It is always a source of amazement at how the world suddenly changes when you pass from open water to an inland, controlled water system. Everything that was so important like tides, currents and weather suddenly is not so important any more and attention turns to bridge opening times and lock times. We stayed the day in Vlissingen to do domestic stuff and 3 full loads of laundry. Nice facilities and our boat is close by them, for a change.

 Sat in the café next door and had coffee. Spoke to a fellow who was born in Southampton like us. After our jobs were done, we walked into the old town of Vlissingen. It was Sunday afternoon and the centre all go with jazz blaring out from a temporary hall on the town green. It was a fete day but many places were closed. We wandered around and found it fascinating. Found an internet place but it was closed on Sundays! Stopped at the Marina bar and had drinks with bitterballen. We rather like them but they only seem to be available in the Netherlands. In the evening I went back to the bar to see the Final of the World Cup. France versus Italy, a very exciting game ending in a penalty shoot out after extra time. Italy won 1 – 0 but there was not the excitement of Calais because we were no longer in France.

Our Route Through Zeeland Vlissengen to Wemeldinge

We left Vlissingen at noon after buying groceries and charts to cover the next region. We did not have any info about the Dutch canal system until we reach Willemstad. We did very well under a baking sun all day. It exhausted me for on the inland waterways, you can't rely on the autohelm and must stand at the wheel all the time. Our route took us through 5 bridges between Vlissingen and the village of Middleburg and that was only 3 nm! No stopping but carried straight on to the Veere Meer and over into another canal and through a couple of sluis until we came out into the tidal Oosterschelde. Perfect timing. Then on to Wemeldinge. Current against us in this tidal water.
Lovely surprise for the marina was great, although quite large. We radioed in for a berth and were allocated F7, a pontoon with smooth easy access with electricity right next to the boat. Very efficient and convenient.

Downtown Wemeldinge

Clouded over but hot and humid. Decided to spend another night here. After our showers we walked into the town of Wemeldigue, quite a long way by a path across the fields. Found a bibliotek for the internet but they were closed on Tuesdays! It is a pleasant, neat, tidy, organised town. In short, very Dutch. The town has well maintained houses organised on two streets and painted pink, green and yellow. The Netherlands never ceases to amaze.

Nowhere else, wherever we go, has this degree of exactness, precision, cleanliness and so on. In the afternoon we went to our bar and used their internet. We spent a good 3 hours sending email and organising our trip to England for my brother-in-law's 75th birthday party. They only charged us 5 euros for all that time; which was cheap compared to other places. Then we walked all around the headland on the dyke. It was very refreshing to have a breeze with the intense sun. Then back through town to buy phone cards and back to the boat and supper.
HOT: HOT Glaring sun all day from 8:00 the next day.  After breakfast it was 9:00 and we left the lonely spot called Welmeldinge. I would return as it was a very hospitable place. Then it was on to Krammersluisen where there was only a short wait before we were out again and on to Volkeraksluizen.

Krammersluizen

The sheer size and complexity of the Dutch water system is one of the wonders of the world. It balances the flow of major rivers aginst the tides and surges of the North Sea while pumping huge areas to maintain watertable levels. When navigating the whole country on it from South to North you lose track of the balancing act of water levels that is taking place.

Historic Willemstadt

Then it was on to Willemstad where we rafted up 3 deep. We took 9.5 hours for 23nm. The marina was packed.  We had a pre-prandial drink and then walked around Willemstad. It was like a page from a history book. Tidy etc. just like Wemeldinge. Any shops were not obvious, several restaurants all busy with tables outside.  We sat out in the main cabin where it was cooler.

Willemstadt Showing Old Fortifications

We left to make the 10:13 bridge opening. It was a bit tricky to get out with all the rafting up. Then up the Hollands Diep before turning to port and into the river system. This took us into the Province of South Holland, a densely populated and more industrial province. The whole system around here is busy with big barges. The River Patrol stopped us and asked us to use the starboard side of the river (where we should have been anyway). Further on, we took a wrong channel, down the Oud Maas and did not realise it for a while before we had to backtrack to the main channel. Then there was a long wait (20 min) for a spoorbrug; Veerkeersbrug. These are always slow as they only open to the train timetable and not traffic demand. This area is very confusing with waterways everywhere.

Finally, we took a humble entrance into Alblassadam with a little marina on the other side of a broken green bridge. Found a corner spot and neighbours helped us in. Another fellow explained how to get to an Albert Hein grocery store - they are everywhere.

Travelled from Alblassadam to Gouda. Neighbours helped us out again as there was a nasty cross wind. Pottered around to get the 10:13 spoorbrug opening. Tied up for a short while to wait for it. Once through another 9 bridges to go until we arrive in Gouda. This canal trip has taken us through all the different views of the Netherlands, industrial areas, recreational zones with their hundreds of dinghies whipping around, quiet rural suburbs and cities. We could have by-passed the recreational zone for there are several alternate routes but  I am glad that we have done it, but would not do it again.

The harbour at Gouda was full so we tied up to a big motor boat with a NZ couple on it. Nice to talk to them and went aboard for coffee. Then we walked around centre ville Gouda. A huge town square with a large church in it. The whole thing was cobbled. Enjoyed looking about us. Stopped for wine and bitterballen. Back to the boat late so supper was late. Buying packets of salad and vegetable salad as they keep better in this hot weather. Have to keep things simple. Everyday exhaustion hits us by bed time for it is so hot.

Downtown Gouda with Cheese Sculpture

Travelled from Gouda to Lisse via Leiden - a heavy day in the heat with 19 bridges to get through. It seems that all our day was about bridges. A number of them were time specific but most of them opened when it suited them. It is the railway ones (spoorbruggen) that seem to cause the trouble.

 So it was one long slog with hot sun all day. Very little breeze. The cabin was 30+. Leiden has a network of canals in the city but there is only one way through for a vessel with a standing mast. We waited for ages at the first bridge until we realised that they waited to accumulate traffic and then opened for traffic in one direction and then the other. This was one time when we got a helpful response from Traffic Control on the VHF.

Central Leiden

The island Koudenhoorn in the Kaag lakes Recreation Area

A fellow called out to us from the bank at a sluis gate. He suggested that we go down the side channel to a small yacht club; he was the havenmeester and opened the sluis gate for us. We were sailing through fields in what felt like no more than a drainage ditch. Since this is the heart of the flower growing district, these fields would have been a mass of colour in the Spring but we were too late for that. He gave us a nice spot on the dock next to electricity for 8.5 Euros. Just ideal for us; we felt like we had been let into a private world.

Early evening when we got through the hassle of the recreational area of the Kaag Lakes (Zweiland, Eijmersppel & Kever) and we waited an hour for bridges 598 & 599, then looked for a nice haven. No luck so we continued to Lisse near to Lisserbrug, that would not open  again until 09:00.

Flower Fields Near Lisse

We got away for the sluis and bridge opening at 09:00. Then 4 more bridges and we were back at Piet's yard, Harlemsche Jachtwerf, around 11:00, where it all began in 2003 when we came to see what we had bought. We met Piet's mother and a couple of other people that we knew from 2004 and they remembered us. Piet came aboard in the afternoon and we chatted. In the evening another guy came by who remembered us. It was all a bit like coming home. Today the cabin got to 35°C, the hottest yet.

Back Where It All Began

Barnacle Removal Time

We both slept well and the cabin began the day at 21°C. Got the power hose going in the morning and I did the deck. June ran around screwing and unscrewing stuff.  Piet wanted to take us out of the water today so we took the boat around to the ramp. She had lots of barnacles etc. over her bottom since she had spent the previous winter in the water. The anodes were well corroded so they are doing their job. He used his tractor to pull us out, then put us under a tree  so that we could get some shade. What a relief. It was another relentless day of 34°C in the cabin.

After lunch (late) I started on cleaning the hull with the heavy sander. I had to wear goggles and mask which I hate because they are so uncomfortable; it was extremely hard work too. I looked like a miner, so thoroughly dirty. June began to paint the port side with the grey undercoat for the antifouling and covered about 2/3 of the side before the paint ran out. We both sat and shared a beer. It went down very well; Red Bavaria 7.9%. It had a pleasant sweetness.

Exhaustion Antidote

A Very Convenient Location

Our son and his partner, Tim and Cathy, arrived at Schiphol today, the 20th July at 15:10. It was a short taxi ride to meet them; one of the handiest things about Piet's yard. They are here to help us celebrate our 50th Wedding Anniversary tomorrow. The anniversary next day was somewhat unusual as we sat in the cockpit, with a good meal, music playing and a cloud of pot smoke over us. The four of us had a great time for the next two weeks, spent 4 days in Sixhaven Marina, Amsterdam and then sailed around North Holland with a North Sea leg from Den Helder to IJmuiden (a rather rough passage down that shallow, shelving shore).

Sixhaven Marina, Amsterdam, Just Across from Central Station

The log of that cruise can be found on the Google Earth File on this link. However, this episode is different story.

After they had left we took the train to Paris and the next morning a train to Le Havre where we picked up the car and took the ferry to England to attend my brother-in-law's 75th birthday party. Then a visit to see the Constable paintings at the Tate Gallery and a Proms Concert at the Albert Hall before travelling back to Haarlem via Harwich and the Hook of Holland. Finally, after having a Wabasto hot water heating system fitted, getting the engine checked out, the VHF programmed for our MMSI number, the ship registration updated and then, loaded with vegetables from nieghbours gardens, we left  for the Baltic at 15:30 on the 1st September. We went down the canal tucked in behind the barge Watergeus and at the second bridge tied up to her as there was a 1½ hour wait. All bridges through Haarlem were closed between 16:00 and 17:40. At last, tied up at Haarlem Yacht Club at 18:50

Our Route Through the N Part of the Canal System

Left for Spaarndam Sluis at 08:00 and then into the North Sea Kanal and so passed through Amsterdam again. Past Sixhaven Marina and on to Orangesluizen which was packed full with 14 of us. Out on the other side and into the Markermeer on our way to Einkhuizen again. As the day wore on the weather began to change on us with a front coming in. So, it progressively got windier and the sea kicked up.  On we went through the Einkhuizen sluis and into the Ijsselmeer, then across to Stavoren. We had visited Stavoren in 2004 (see the blog 'Learning in Tricky Waters')
We went for a walk late afternoon, the sun had come out but the wind was stiff. Watched the boats locking into the canal which we will use tomorrow. Then we walked all around the dijk and into the village. Such an enjoyable walk and we have not done that for ages.

Welcomed by The Lady of Stavoren

From Stavoren there are various possibilities; lock out of the IJsselmeer into the Wadenzee, but for that route you need to be able to sit on the bottom at low tide and you need good weather; go through the canals to Lawersoog, lock out into the Wadenzee and take a shallow winding passage through sandbanks to get outside the islands but the weather must be good for that; finally go all the way up to Delfijzl in the canals and lock out into the River Eems. We decided to go to Lawersoog and then make a decision about Delfzijl.

Woke up to a clear blue sky but some wind, not too hard though. We left at 10:00 on 4th September and began today's sail up through Friesland Province. The wind was very strong in some of the meers on the way.

It was both sunny and cloudy, mostly the latter. On we went through; Sneek, Grou and ended up in Leeuwarden. The Fonesjachtbrug held us up for 1½ hrs so we tied up to the 'sport' pontoon and prepared supper.

The Windy Meers in Friesland

At last we arrived at Leeuwarden Nieuwe Jachthaven. We tied up at the diesel pumps and it appeared that there was nobody else there. Upon exploration we found countless brown sheds for housing boats; floating garages. So, everything was entirely different, without a mast to be seen, except for ours. It was a bit of a walk into town so we spent an extra night to explore a little.

Boat Sheds at Leeuwarden

Statue of Mata Hari in Leeuwarden

Leeuwarden is an interesting town, not only as being the birthplace of Mata Hari, but for the  Elfstedentocht (Eleven Cities Tour) is a long-distance tour skating event on natural ice, almost 200 kilometres (120 mi) long, which is held both as a speed skating competition (with 300 contestants) and a leisure tour (with 16,000 skaters). The tour is held at most once a year, only when the natural ice along the entire course is at least 15 centimetres (6 in) thick; sometimes on consecutive years, other times with gaps that may exceed 20 years. When the ice is suitable, the tour is announced and starts within 48 hours.

Elfstedentocht Staue in Leeuwarden

On to Lauwersoog on the 6th September;  a pleasant day for the most part and delightful scenery all the way. No hassle with all the 14 bridges. We stopped at a picnic pontoon (which are quite frequent) and had lunch. It was delightful. We motored on through several meers which were beginning to get rough with choppy waves. We saw an amazing opening skewed bridge (Slauerhoffbrug) the only one like it in Europe.

Slauerhoffbrug, Leeuwarden

Lauwersmeer National Park

 The canal took us through the Lauwersmeer Park which looked beautiful. The Park, bordering the world heritage site Waddenzee, is one of the Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) of Western Europe. The site is an essential site for bird migration, which occurs twice a year in spring and autumn. Millions of birds travel thousands of kilometres from their nesting sites to their hibernation countries and back.
There were no spare visitor spaces at the marina so we took an unoccupied one and stayed there 2 nights due to the Force 7 wind! A local sailor came aboard for a couple of hours in the evening and we discussed various passages for us to get through the Frisian Islands. It is possible to lock out here into the Waddensee and so take an outside passage around the Friesen Islands but a dangerous passage in this weather. We decided on the inside passage to Delfzijl.

Lauwersmeer Sluis

To Delfzijl on the Eems River. 07:30 -18:30 a mixed day. We had to call up on the VHF about getting the bridge open at Reitdiepbrug. They said "press the button"! It turned out to be on a pile close to the bridge; obviously designed for motor boats for it was very tricky for us to reach the button so close to the bridge. Several bridges like that today. Through Groningen - 14 bridges which were all synchronized and opened as we approached. It was a long day as there is little chance to use the autohelm which means that you are stood at the wheel all the time.
As far as Groningen it was extremely picturesque but after that it became rather boring. Once again, perhaps we should have stopped at Groningen for it looked fascinating with its ultramodern buildings. Several bridges had artwork on the underside that could only be seen when the bridge was open.  At Delfzijl we locked out of the controlled waterways and into the marina at the Eems river level. The German border runs down the centre of the river.

Our Route at Defzijl Where We Exited the Controlled Water System

There were some tricky navigational calculations for today to catch the right tidal streams in the River Eems and then to get through the Gat at Langeroog. Left Delfzijl at 04:00 9th September and it was rather intimidating with a mass of navigation lights as one left the harbour entrance and inserted oneself into the traffic stream at the right place. The channel does a big sweep to the West to get outside the island of Borkum. There is a passage on the inside but you need a flat bottom to dry out at low tide and then float again on the rising tide. Tricky entrance to get in between the islands with strong currents with a small window. Arrived at Langeoog harbour 14:55.

Langeoog Harbour - Sandbanks Everywhere

We went aground at low tide. In fact, the whole harbour dried out due to silting up, equinoxial tides and high pressure. The keel was sucked down into the mud but she stood up quite stable like a stork. We went aground a second time at 06:00 next morning. No harm done Enterprise stood up proudly on her big keel. We bought 4 lovely rolls at the harbour master's office in the morning. This is a tradition in Germany, you order your morning rolls when you check in. Sometimes they are even delivered to the boat!  Good showers at this place.

Langeoog is the final resting place of the famous German singer and composer Lale Andersen who lived here for several years. Never heard of her? However, you certainly have heard of her most famous song Lilli Marleen. There is a memorial to her and her song in the town.

Lale Andersen and her Lilli Marleen

The next day, 10 September at 11:30 we left and arrived at Helgoland at 19:30.  A German island that is duty free and also the kick-off point for the Elbe estuary. The challenge about this leg was not just the usual tidal streams and exit window from Langeoog but the convergence of Traffic Separation Lanes for the Jade and Elbe Rivers. A pleasure boat is not allowed to travel in the traffic lanes except to cross at right angles between traffic, and there is lots of that. The Germans enforce this rather efficiently with patrol boats.

Helgoland with Düne in the Background

Traffic separation Schemes Approaching Helgoland

We  got away as early as possible and so ploughed a furrow in the mud to get out. It was a bumpy ride into the wind. We both feel very tired because of the long hours that we had been sailing and the nature of the sail. Crossed the Jade River entrance and traffic lane then the Elbe lanes and North to Helgoland. It was quite a stressful time. We were finally rafted up and were rather penned in by others rafting up to us. We did not go into town although it has been developed as a casino and duty free destination since its days of being a practice target for bombers.

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Helgoland to Brunsbüttel and into the Kiel Canal today. Up at 05:00 to let our neighbour out and then left at 07:00 - arrived Brunsbüttel 16:05 An early start as it is vital to get the current in the Elbe right. It is so strong that you cannot fight it at the flood/ebb so you have to get to Brunsbüttel well before the full ebb current. We had the 'departure shuffle' when you are not rafted on the outside but have to leave first.

There is an alternative to negotiating the Elbe by sailing North East and negotiating the sandbanks to lock into the Eider River through the Eider Barrage. There are two more locks before connecting to the Kiel Canal at Km 41. Oldenbüttel. It is a very winding route and I have never spoken to anybody who has done it but it would be an interesting challenge.

The Eider River Bypass

The trip was OK to get to the Kiel Kanal,  arduous but altogether reasonable and we did not encounter any of the difficulties we had read about. The South bank of the estuary is the North end of the Waddenzee a huge area of sandbanks that are submerged at high tide. This is 'Riddle of The Sands' territory. Erskine Childers, the author, was a fascinating character who ended up being executed by a firing squad. Approaching Cuxhaven the coast 'hardens' wih dykes holding back the sea. One's eye is always on the clock and the tidal stream for if it looks like you cannot make Brunsbüttel before the full ebb current then Cuxhaven is the last place to stop. We were in good time, went straight on and were very lucky that the lock gates were open and we could go straight into the lock.
There are four locks side by side, the two small original ones (out of service when we arrived) and two huge ones completed in 1914 and built to handle the Kaiser's battle ships. We entered one of these.

The Lock That We Used, With The Gate Open

The procedure for small pleasure vessels is different from the usual i.e. tying up to chains on the walls or bollards at the top; here there are floating, slimy log pontoons that you must tie up to, probably they act as fenders for large ships. A crew member must manage the lines from the pontoon as it floats up. This is not so easy if you have a boat with a high freeboard. Another problem is that the boats fender float because the logs are at water level, so you can get some nasty black marks on a pristine boat. It is the same situation at the other end in the Haultenau locks but there you have to secure  the boat and go to the Kanal office to pay the passage fees.

On exiting the lock there is a small marina adjacent, to the West, which is where we tied up for the night. Very convenient since you are right on top of the lock but there is quite a lot of noise from frieghters passing all night. Pleasure craft cannot operate between sunset and sunrise and there is a speed limit so it is not really possible to transit the Kanal in one day. There are only a few options for stopping over and we took the obvious one at Rendsburg at Km 66. After visiting the small museum on the history of the Kanal; it was started in 1875 and finished 8 years later when Bismarck was in power and and Kaiser Wilhelm on the throne. We set off with enthusiasm for this new experience.

Brunsbüttel Marina

The first excitement was to grind to a halt near the first ferry at Kudeasee. The keel struck something at 4m depth on the depth sounder! We were probably trying to keep too close to the bank. There was a horrible grinding noise and we tilted over. I raced the engine back and forth but could not budge her. So we called VHF2 for help and they promised a tug in around ½ hr. However, the little ferry spotted us stuck and came by, took our rope and pulled us off no trouble.

One of the Ferries That Pulled Us.

We had not found a succinct set of regulations for sailing the Kanal and were muddling through. Then we sailed past a traffic light set up; three rows of lights on top of each other. We did not understand the traffic light system. Did they only apply to large vessels? The traffic lights were Red Red White and we were debating whether to stop since 3 Reds means that yachts must stop and we had been seeing a single Green. We decided to proceed and at that moment the VHF switched itself to channel 16 with an emergency alarm followed by an emergency announcement in German. (We had 'dual watch' on the VHF set to Channel 2 for canal traffic and Channel 16). We did a U turn and went back to where we could see the traffic lights and reflected about the meaning. We proceeded.  However, looking back we saw a rescue helicopter doing something. So there was an emergency but it was elsewhere.
Although we had set off late to do the 66km to Rendsburg and worried about making it in time, we did it by sunset and were tied up in a box about then. Quite a day.

We did not leave for the last leg to Haltenau until 15:20 and it took 20 minutes to get to the Kanal, this turned out to be too late. Unknown to us, at the 86km point the Kanal narrows (the 'Eastern Section') and larger vessels take turns in this stretch. At 84 km there is a widening with mooring piles down both sides and as we went by we passed a yacht hovering outside the piles but we did not realise the significance and continued.

Mooring Piles at Kilometre 84 before the Eastern Section

A couple of kilometres further on, at the narrowest part, we met a large frieghter coming the other way and squeezed close to the bank. What we did not realise is that the ship pushes a bow wave which lifted us up and slid us down and outwards towards the ship. We were so close to the bank that we touched bottom in the trough. The same thing happened as the stern went by but that was not so alarming as the ship had then passed.

When we arrived at the Holtenau Locks it was getting dark, just in time to comply with the regulation of not travelling after dusk. The mass of lights were confusing and we hovered by the old locks that are usually used for small craft. The large locks were full with ocean going vessels. Eventually they left and two more entered. Then the light went white for us. The small locks were not being used and we were being tucked in with these huge vessels! Then we had to wait for two more large vessels to enter. We were the only pleasure craft in the lock.

It was an 'interesting' experience for by this time it was quite dark except for the pools of light from the flood lights which made the shadows even darker. First, tie up to a slippery, slimy, floating wooden pontoon in the shadow of an enormously high concrete wall (10 m) and adjacent to the slab sides of the large ships. Then walk along the pontoon until finding a steel ladder set in the wall and climb the ladder to the top and scrambling over the edge. Then along the dock, over the gates, back to the control tower in the centre and up a steel ladder to the office at the top. There we paid the 18 Euros and finally got back to the boat.

Holtenau Lock, Showing Pontoon, in Daylight

I was a bit shaken by the experience as I don't have the head for heights that I used to have and it all felt claustrophobic. Next time we will make sure that it is daylight!! We exited to a mass of lights in the pitch darkness and crept over to the tiny marina at Holtenau. Now we are in the Baltic. The harbourmaster banged on the hull at 07:00 and gave us a sudden start to the day! Lovely sunny morning. We walked around Holtenau, picturesque on the waterfront; cottages and roses etc., then we walked up to the top and back.

U Boat Memorial

Our phones did not work in Germany, which was a constant problem everytime we crossed a border until we bought new phone cards.  Set sail for Gelting. Out into the Kieler Fohrden in a brisk wind, passing the impressive UBoat Memorial on the starboard and, as if to underline the significance, a submarine past us on its way out for exercises.  Sailing into Flensburg Bucht we tried to put into Wackerballig Marina which consists of a configuration of piles to form boxes which is connected to the shore by a long walkway. The only available boxes had to be entered facing the strong wind.

Wackerballig Marina, Very Tight Alleys in a High Wind

We made a mess of trying to get into the box. The trouble is that you can get the stern lines on the piles but then have to drive forward strongly at the risk of hitting the dock hard but even then you can't get over the bow to secure it before the bow blows off and you end up diagonally in the box, or worse if the adjacent box is empty. After a couple of tries we gave up and backed out with great difficulty and left the marina. The alleyways were tight so we could not turn round in such a strong wind. We continued and put in at Gelting.  Hard to get in between the piles (as usual) but made it.

After great showers at Gelting we set sail for Flensburg on  15 September. Again a fine, sunny sail, brisk and enjoyable, there were lots of sail boats out, some racing. The border between Denmark and Germany runs down the centre of Flensburg Bucht so we were crossing from one country to the other all day. Put in at Flensburg at 15:30.

Squeezed ourselves into a boxin the marina, luckily somebody took our bow line. We worked on the top sides sanding and painting as they had been scuffed a bit. A messy business working from the dinghy. Then the Harbourmaster said that we had to move to a different box, before the paint was dry! The first box that we had to move to was too narrow so the topsides got scuffed up again! Found the harbourmaster and paid for 3 nights, 3 laundries, showers and the usual bread rolls in the morning, €72! Walked up to town. Nice showers here but not much time for the jeton.

Flensburg Where We Played Musical Chairs With The Boxes

Flensburg struck us as a very pleasant town and has the dubious honour of having been the capitol of Germany for three weeks from 1 May (the death of Hitler) to  23 May 1945 when the Regime was dissolved. Until 1864 Flensburg was part of the Kingdom of Denmark until lost in a war with the Prussians, there is still a strong Danish presence here.

Tomorrow our friend Ron is joining us for the sail up to Århus and driving our car up from Haarlem to get here.
18 September. Showers and then a walk up to the butcher. Back to the boat and off to Sønderborg . Pleasant enough sail until fog set in and it got a bit tossy. Tied up at the quay wall close to the red brick castle. This was our first experience of Denmark. We walked into town. It all struck us as clean and beautifully maintained. Now we have to change from Euros to Kroner. Denmark like the UK kept their own currency.

Sønderborg Castle Housing the Museum

19 September - In the morning we went to see the castle museum close to the boat. Fascinating and so well displayed. At noon we left for Marstel, about 30nm. Arrived at 18:15 through a very narrow channel entrance. A good sail today but very rolly in a choppy sea.  Went to the pub in town in the evening and chatted to three retired merchant seamen. It seems that Marstal is very popular with the martime community that finally want to drop the anchor. A very pleasant evening.
Engine on and cast off at 13:30 in a SW wind Force 5 from a very wide box with a strong cross wind. Used the new spinnaker line to hold the bow as we backed out. It worked well but the danger is that the long line can easily get caught around the prop when it is released.

Sonderborg to Marstel to Faborg

An interesting day picking the narrow channels and then a flog against the wind until we cut through the Reutille Passage. A challenge but that is why we came this way.  Then a short cut to Fåborg through the Grydelob Passage. The wind moderated to Force 3 and came around to the West. It was a truly beautiful day, Enterprise sailed nearly the entire 30 nm, sea was just right, the sun shone and the land looked warm and comforting. Very sucessful sail. Our first box at Fåborg did not fit and we got wedged in. Changed to a wider box; you would think that we could judge the width by now but it is easier to go for a snug fit than one that is too wide.
21 Sept - Wind SW Force 3 A bit of discussion about the channel markers, where we will cut across Lyo Kug to Assens. Engine on and cast off using the long bow line technique again. Out through the exit channel using the Leading Line, then West past the N Cardinal to Knoldon Point and on to Assens. A superb sail. We rigged up to use the spinnaker but the wind got too strong for it. Again, lots of discussion about the passage. Not many sail boats out but lots of ferries hopping from island to island and a few tall-masted ships.
In the first box that we tried we misjudged the width of the piles again and got stuck at the widest part like a cork in a bottle! Backed out and found another one.

The next day, 22 Sept, we sailed on to Kolding at the head of a fjord. Kolding is quite a big town and the marina is off at the end in an industrial area close to the trains. Quite a walk into town. The next day was a layover day so that I could catch the train to Flensburg at 08:30 to fetch our car from the marina where we left it. It was a long day; first walking from Flensburg Station to the marina,  then setting out to drive ahead to Århus to leave it at Aarhus Yacht Club in the Fiskerihavn, then catching the train from Århus to Kolding and finally walking to the marina. I returned about 17:30 exhausted.
Today it is Kolding to Juelsminde through the narrowest part of the Little Belt. The powerful convergence of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea creates strong currents here. This is where fresh water from the Baltic meets salt water from Kattegat and we could see how the current swirled in all directions. Lovely day for sailing again. We tried the spinnaker. A tricky sail to organise for very light winds for they are changing as the channel winds.

Assens to Kolding to Juelsminde

The Little Belt Looking NE

Juelsminde is a small, pretty and welcoming town with a good marina. In the summer a destination for rural, family holidays, the sort of place that invites you to stay longer but we were so close to our destination and the season was getting late that we felt an urgency to move on.

The last port of call was Tunø, a small, car-less  island that welcomes many visitors in the summer due to its proximity to Århus. When we arrived, at this time of the year, there were the only six yachts at the dock and it felt like our own private island. There was a vegetable stand by the track and we stocked up, put or money in the can, and then walked as far as the village. In the centre of the village is the 14th century church which has the unusual, if not unique, distinction of having the tower functioning as a lighthouse, and in the old days the minister was indeed both lighthouse keeper and minister of the church.
A fitting last stop over on our cruise.

Tunø Looking West

26 September, our last day of sailing this season and it was with mixed feelings that we sailed from Tunø to Århus.
Sandbanks are all around Tunø so it important to not take the direct route but thread the sandbanks. We took the route to the East. Trying the spinnaker again today across Århus Bugt in light winds and mist. We put it up and down twice. As we approached  Århus in the late afternoon high speed ferries crossed our path and commercial traffic increased. We tied up at the Aarhus Yacht Club in the Fiskerihavn. At that time there was a busy container port next door which would give us hours of interest in the days to come.  It was great to have the car close by in the parking lot which enabled us to go downtown and sample the excellent cuisine to celebrate our arrival. The following day we drove to the airport to say goodbye to our crew member who had sailed with us from Flensburg.
We were to spend the next 3 years in the Baltic and get to know the city quite well. It was the start of a love affair with Århus.

For other Cruising blogs see the Archive links in the sidebar at the top of this page.
Other blogs of interest are The Retirement Dream and How to Live Your Dream

Technical Blogs are Nail Biting Experiences #1 Crossing the Bar , The Changing Nature of Sailing and Cruising and Yacht Docking Skills for Northern Europe