Category: Baltic from the UK (Page 2 of 3)

We crash into the rocks

August 8, 2022 / fiandadrian

We left you on a particularly rolly morning at Bornholm Island. We were still protected from the wind, but the swells were bending round the headland and across the bay. It must have been bad to get us underway at 5:30am.

North of us was a stretch of open water leading to the Swedish coast around Karlskrona. As we approached the coast we passed the small island and harbour of Utklippan. We considered stopping for the night, but over 10 masts in a small surgy harbour put us off.

Utklippan has a large seal colony, a disused lighthouse and a small restaurant.

North of Utklippan is the area where the cold war ‘Whiskey on the Rocks’ incident occurred. One morning in 1981 a fisherman noticed a Soviet whiskey class submarine parked on the rocks where there wasn’t usually one. The soviets claimed it was parked there due to a navigation error. We weren’t sure if we should be proud or concerned that our navigation was more accurate than a nuclear submarine.

The anchorage we had chosen had several boats tied up to the rocks and enough room for us to anchor in deeper water. The next day after all the other boats had gone and no one was watching, we practiced mooring up to the rocks. This involves throwing a spare anchor off the back as you approach the rocks, driving the bow towards the rocks and stopping 10cm before impact so the person on the bow can run along the bowsprit and launch themselves onto the rocks with hammer, peg and a bow line in hand. They quickly hammer a peg in a rock fissure and secure the bow. Then you tug on the stern anchor line, which is hopefully not caught on the propeller, and secure the boat far enough from the rocks that its not touching, but close enough that one can step onto the rock, with BBQ in one hand and esky in the other.

After 3 attempts we were happy with our first rock berth. Most Baltic boats have an overhanging bow to make this a little easier.

The forecast for the next day was for solid travelling winds on the beam. We followed the narrow channel out to the coast and headed north towards Kalmar. There were plenty of other boats with the same plan and we avoided most of the traffic a bit further off the coast.

Away sped along enjoying the gusty conditions.

They’ve built a nice castle to welcome you into Kalmar

We had booked a berth in the marina and a RIB came out to meet us and show us in. It had been gusting over 30 knots on the sail in to Kalmar so it was quite exciting to be led through ever narrowing channels until there was barely a boat length to turn into our berth!

The castle had been here a long time and now housed a museum.

Fi found this new frock but wasn’t convinced it would work on the boat. Wrong colour?

The castle even had some recipes from days gone by. We particularly liked this one and tried unsuccessfully to track down a suitable duck in the moat.

We were now in the land of Volvos and took the opportunity for a quick engine service before moving on up the coast. This area of coast has so many islands that its not hard to find a beautiful place to stop.

We left Kalmar in big red sail weather, but the winds filled in as the day progressed.

The anchorage we had picked was jam packed full with two other boats, so we continued on to look for somewhere quieter. We had been warned it could be busy in July and August.

We found this cool little bay. The depth sounder showed just 1.2m as we entered the bay, so it wasn’t too crowded. Did we say we love our lifting center board?

Next day was another sailing day to the southern end of the Stockholm archipelago. Fi had picked out a secret anchorage with a hidden shallow entrance that we hoped might deter less intrepid sailors.

The entrance to the anchorage is a narrow channel behind the trees.

The anchorage was empty, sheltered and with good holding. We decided to stay a while.

Fi spotted an abundance of wild blueberries growing on the islands.

We managed to stay up late enough to see the sun set.

Some of us braved the refreshing waters.

After a relaxing few days we started the final journey into Stockholm. Unlike the approach to most ports, Stockholm is surrounded by a complex archipelago with many low bridges and narrow channels. We reached the outer islands and discovered our chosen anchorage had 50 boats in it! Fortunately the surrounding bays provided some quieter anchorages.

Only a few miles from Stockholm we found an empty bay for the night.

This channel into Stockholm is a little tight in places

As we got closer to the center the houses got bigger and reminded us of parts of Sydney harbour

The Stockholm skyline appeared around a corner and we motored into our marina

Fi had picked out the marina, and by co-incidence there were rollercoasters right next door!

Good bye Denmark, hello Sweden! Hello Denmark again…

July 22, 2022 / fiandadrian

We broke the inertia and reversed out of our box berth at the dock in Copenhagen.

Our berth in Copenhagen. We were third in from the left, now empty as we motor Away.

It would be a good days sail into our first stop in Sweden, Ystad. It was a fairly uneventful sail, good winds, and we made decent time. We have no idea what the wind strength is at the moment as our wind instruments have failed, but on our last boat, “Addictive” we never had any wind instruments and we simply learned to read the ocean, the sky, and watch other boats. We are quickly getting back into that rhythm now that we have no wind instruments.

I guess Bernie and I were a little tired today.

The chart looks like space invaders. We are the black boat shape in the middle, the others are cargo ships, or other sailing and pleasure craft, or super fast ferries.

This one was kind enough to change their course for us. I did wake up in order to give them a call.

We weren’t sure what to expect arriving in Ystad – which is usual as all these places are a first for us. It is currently Swedish summer holidays, so we were expecting it to be pretty busy, and we were not disappointed. Coming in we overtook another couple of boats who followed us in, down the narrow arm of the visitors dock area. This meant that we couldn’t manoeuvre really at all, and had no choice but to look hopefully at a boat already comfortably alongside the dock enjoying their sundowners, and ask “can we raft up with you?”. They were very obliging and helped us tie up to their boat safely, as the other boats behind us rafted up to the other vessels on the dock too. We learned pretty quickly that this was going to be a quick overnighter for us, and we planned to leave the next day after we had a bit of a walk around town.

Its my blog, so we have pictures of flowers. It always blows my mind how beautiful the flowers are at this time of year. And yes I stop to smell roses.

Pretty interesting buildings here. There were some shops and restaurants in the town square. Ystad is a really lovely place!

We enjoyed the sunset after our walk, bit of dinner and a herbal tea, and we are off to bed.

The next day arrived, and we were awoken from our slumber and comfy bed by a rap on the hull – our neighbours, the boat we rafted up to wanted to leave. Very early. As Away did not fit where they were on the dock (we rafted up to them, but we were also almost rafted up with the boat in front too), it meant that we had to leave too. Up we jumped, threw some clothes on, and we were untying the lines and bow thrusting out, before coffee.

Back to dodging ferries and cargo ships!

We are heading toward Bornholm, an island south of Sweden belonging to Denmark. Bornholm is a pretty interesting place, it is one of the places that Russia would very much like to have in its land ownership books, and in fact Russia “practiced” a takeover of the island, whilst there were delegates present for a function there. So its quite a politicised island, but when we got there, all we found was an empty and calm anchorage, white sandy beaches, and some swimming.

Away looking pretty awesome in the anchorage. We are the only boat here for the first day.

We spent 3 glorious days here, enjoying the water and the walks on the island. Its extremely cute. Bernie enjoyed chasing his bumpers on the beach, and Adrian and I got in for a swim a few times. The water is very cold, but at the beach it was a couple of degrees warmer. The sand is fine and very white, and we basked in the sunshine. This is what its about!

This little town near us had a museums (see the middle building), shops, souvenirs, pubs and icecream. Its name is Snogebæk and we were able to stock up at their supermarket and also purchase the requisite magnet.

I brave the cold cold water for 5 seconds off the back of Away. Took me about an hour to get in.

Again with the stunning sunsets! We’ve been lucky with the weather here.

One morning Adrian and I were struggling to sleep. The boat was side on to the swell, and even with such a heavy boat, we were getting chucked around. It was about 5, and Adrian looked at me and said “should we just get out of here” – Yup! I was over the rolling!

NOW, we are heading toward Sweden again and going to stay there for a while and explore the archipelagos.

Copenhagen

July 20, 2022 / fiandadrian

Arriving in Copenhagen, and as we navigated our way into the marina, we wondered what we had done by choosing this marina… All around there was construction, industry and things were looking a little bleak. Little did we know, this is simply a façade, and we found ourselves in the vibrant and ever changing east side of Copenhagen, with its street food markets, farmers markets, saunas, 5 star restaurants and constant streams of happy people eating, drinking, swimming and sunbaking.

The view as we came in. There is a lot of industry and also construction in the area around the marina – it was hiding the delights of the area.

This is a power station and was our view out the stern for our stay here.

Our first day in the city was really all about getting our bearings. We grabbed the dog lead (and Bernie) and headed off towards the city proper, making our way through the university and then straight into Christiania, a little unintentionally…

Bernie’s ramp has been used a lot since we got here. We discovered he can only get off on the port side.

If you don’t know about Christiania, it is an area in Copenhagen that is officially sectioned off for those who wish to live an alternative lifestyle. It was founded in 1971 by some free thinkers who basically squatted in the area. They declared it “Free” – free from the Danish law. It started with a small group, and there have been various conflicts over its time there, but they are considered independent of the Danish rules and laws. The conflicts are typically due to the large number of drug sellers that line the main street. No one is allowed to take photos here so please enjoy some images from our walk outside Christiania.

The roses are in bloom everywhere we go and smell divine.

We wandered through briefly down the main street aptly called “Pusher Street”, feeling the eyes on us (there are cartels here) and decided we’d have a quick look, then exit and save a longer look for another time. I popped into a lovely shop and found my mandatory Christiania magnet!

After this much excitement we were up for beers and lunch at a local street food market and an afternoon nap!

Opening pedestrian bridge called The Trangrav Bridge. It goes ways and opens for masted vessels to enter the canals.

The following days were spent exploring and doing some boat jobs. We also met our wonderful marina neighbour who offered to take us for a ride around town in his car. He is a local of 25 years and knows the area well. We locked in his unofficial tour for a few days later.

Selfies as we explore. Behind us is the fashionable Nyhavn where you can go for good instagram photos and tourist priced beverages.

We found a wonderful restaurant called Øens Have which boast the largest urban farm in Copenhagen so we enjoyed the Chef’s choice lunch there which was delicious.

I don’t even really like beetroot usually! This was delicious!

The mushrooms are grown next door, and the nasturtium leaf comes from the garden in the restaurant.

Naturally, we saw Copenhagen’s famed little mermaid, albeit from across the water. We considered getting a little closer, but the crowds of peering tourists, people jumping the fence and even people hovering in their boats encouraged us to appreciate her from afar. And we did so, a number of times from another gem street food market called Reffen during the long midsommar evenings.

Part of the Reffen street food market. We came here a few times. They even have an onsite brewery which makes some delicious beer!

The market is right on the water, across from the city and loads of people sunbake and swim right here, as well as have some drinks and food.

We enjoyed both the drinks and the food! The water was a little cold though for us to go for a dip.

A couple of days later, our unofficial tour was here! Our neighbour, Morten, drove us down the coast, passing quaint town after quaint marina after quaint town!

We headed inland and visited Roskilde, where they have the Vikings museum and a rather large cathedral that houses the remains of a number of Danish royals.

The Roskilde Cathedral alter at the centre of the church.

There are a number of areas off the main church that house the bodies of the Danish royals going back centuries and all with the requisite amount of dripping opulence.

This photo is a “behind the scenes” of Bernie’s instagram account @berniethespaniel. We take photos of the back of his head while he’s looking at things. Its hilarous.

Back in the day, the Vikings scuttled a number of vessels such as this one in the harbour to prevent attacks. In more recent history, archaeologists have dug up the vessels and recreated them. You can go sailing in them!

Original parts of the Viking ships, interspersed with a metal frame to keep its integrity.

Some of these vessels were massive and would have been seagoing vessels.

We also visited Rungstead Harbour, a place of opulent delights, and had some icecream before heading back to the marina and our floating homes.

The students had finished school so all day we saw these trucks blaring music with a lot of very very happy students onboard. No one was offended or cranky, everyone waved and were happy for them!

No rest for the wicked I say, I was dead keen to visit Tivoli and so we did the very next day. It was fabulous and I love rollercoasters and these didn’t disappoint. Adrian as ever was my diligent photographer, scary ride researcher and queue checker for the next ride. Its a beautiful theme park with something for everybody.

I should mentioned the Tour de France was also due to start in the coming days and the city was buzzing with preparations for it.

For some reason, I ordered us litre sized beers… Super great idea right before going on rides.

There were a bunch of rides in Tivoli that I went on and Adrian ensured my experience was documented.

I did wait the requisite 30 minutes before going on any stomach churning rides.

Prior to arriving in Copenhagen, I had been at a bit of a loss as to how to celebrate Adrian’s birthday. Not knowing where we would be, and not really being near shops or having a delivery address makes things a little tricky. When I knew we would be in Copenhagen, I got to planning.

Torrential rain makes a good planning day. Especially when Adrian runs off to do a job.

Adrian’s birthday started the day before which was the Wednesday (this will be relevant later) with coffee in bed, and then up for a quick dog walk. Once Bernie was happily panting, we left him to sleep it off in the boat, and we jumped on our bikes into town.

Back past pretty Nyhavn to Copenhagen city.

Breakfast was cinnamon scrolls from Copenhagen’s oldest bakery. These are the “Wednesday” scrolls as they only make them on Wednesdays (hence starting his birthday a day early) and they sell over 4000 each Wednesday. They were as delicious as their manufactured scarcity would suggest and we rode to a nearby park and enjoyed them with coffee under a tree.

Copenhagen’s oldest bakery that only makes these cinnamon scrolls on a Wednesday.

Scroll and a coffee. Fun start to the pre-birthday morning.

Next up was the Rosenborg Castle, originally built by King Christian IV in 1606 as a summer house, it was eventually converted to a large trinkets cabinet in the 18th century, housing all sorts of amazing artefacts and collections owned by the various Danish Royals. The Crown jewels are also located here in all their extravagance. It was a really interesting castle and we’re glad we took the time out to visit.

Lovely building. There were armed guards patrolling the outside.

Another beautiful sunny day so the light here was interesting. You can see the thrones at the back behind the lions. Everything is so ornate.

The ceiling here is amazing. It is all 3D, with some beautiful paintings interspersed.

The gardens outside are also in full bloom.

I had more plans for this birthday! Onwards towards the Round Tower, aptly named, as to get up to the top you need to ascend the spiral ramp going around and around and around. This was the observatory, and also housed a library. The ramp was so that the horses could take up equipment and books to the top of the tower. Beautiful views of Copenhagen!

It goes up and up and up, and around and around and around.

This is the view over towards our marina. The marina is under the right most chimney with the white coming out. This is a plant that burns rubbish for energy. The sloping sides are built to be ski slopes (green ski slopes) and there is a chair lift to take skiers up. There is also the northern hemispheres largest rock climbing wall on it as well. Pretty amazing building.

Random chair – or art? Found this in the round tower somewhere.

One more stop before we went home, to Copenhagen’s oldest patisserie where Adrian chose some cake for his birthday the next day.

Dinner was at a beautiful restaurant called Amass where we had the full menu, inclusive of wines, and at the end I literally tried to tip the staff the same price as the dinner. Basically I tried to pay double the cost – I guess there were a few courses with lovely matching wines and maybe I was a little confused by the machine… Ooooops!

The food was tasty and beautiful so I had to sneak a food shot.

Aaaaand of course we were the last to leave. Had such a good time.

The next day, Adrian’s actual birthday, I had fantastic plans to do some more tourist-ing, but as it turns out, a 10 course menu with basically full glasses of matching wines doesn’t bode well for energy levels the following morning for either of us. So we stayed in bed a little longer than usual, and took it easy that day. We even ended up just eating the cake for dinner, and called it an early night.

Over the coming days, we settled into a nice routine, and felt the familiar pull of the inertia. We were getting comfortable. We had places we liked, we found shortcuts to things (mainly through Christiania) and had discovered the road less travelled in a lot of places. In Christiania, we found some of the most quaint waterside homes far away from the dealers on Pusher street, we also found near us Michelin starred restaurants, farmers markets, quaint bakeries, saunas and more.

My not so friendly swan friends. Front and centre is Dad who would come up begging for food, but if I went to give them some oats, just hissed at me a lot – typical man. Bernie discovered them and barked them off and we didn’t see them much after that.

But our Swedish residency permits had arrived in the mail like a well timed signal.

So we planned to leave finally after 2 weeks. The washing was done, the boat was packed away ready to sail, the magnet board was getting heavier, Bernie enjoyed his few extra doggy walks, and we had a date forecasted with good winds to head to Sweden.

Agerso to Copenhagen

July 13, 2022 / fiandadrian

We left our anchorage at Agerso expecting a comfortable 4 hour straight line trip to Femo. There are so many possible destinations, but in this case we chose Femo because it had a protected anchorage, was a short sail away and was an island. There is something special about pulling up at an island in your own boat.

Our 4 hour trip soon became 2.5 hours as the forecasted light winds spiced up and our speed rarely fell below 8 knots even after we reduced the sails.

Winds over 20 knots just behind the beam and flattish seas make for a howling sail.

Once we got into the lee of the island conditions calmed down. There were no anchored boats indicating the position of the anchorage so we had to select a spot with a sandy bottom and not too deep.

Anchoring step 1: Fi and Bernie head to bow and prepare the anchor. Bernie does a quick wee on the deck whilst everyone is busy doing anchoring things.

Anchoring Step 2: Fi nimbly walks out to the end of the bow and threads the snubber rope through a loop and stretches down to attach it to the chain. We may need to refine this step for rougher anchorages, but at this stage she still smiles about the gymnastics required.

The anchorage provided better shelter from the wind than Agerso and by next day we had light winds and sunshine for a walk around the island.

Good morning. Thats why we love to anchor.

The cows were smiling and why not with all that green grass and sunshine.

There were lots of stalls selling local produce. We tried some delicious apple juice.

Would this be the place we would finally brave the freezing waters and claim our first swim?

Lots of these folks lived in the local trees

This pair looked like they may have been sitting in the woods for too long.

Don’t mess with a chap with a big gun and steel dangly bits

Shortly after this was taken we claimed our first swim. We found a sandy spot clear of jelly fish and after 15 minutes procrastination ducked under the water and met the shoulders under criteria. Bernie swam and ate seaweed and swam and swam.

I decided to dive under the boat and check the bolts holding the center board in. With a suitable number of wet suits on and my weight belt I soon discovered that the right weight for salty water is way too much for brackish Baltic water. After making some adjustments we confirmed that everything was still attached.

The next day we took advantage of favorable winds and headed east and under a bridge that didn’t exist, clenched under 2 bridges that definitely did exist, avoided a bridge that might have tickled the mast, took a short cut through shallow water, crossed a large bay and eventually stopped for the night under some chalk cliffs.

Approaching the first real bridge of the day.

There is a big yellow line where the bridge is on the map, and if you look closely there is a black boat that has just passed under it…

And then if you look out the side of the boat there really don’t seem to be many bridges. Quite disconcerting. However we could see evidence of a bridge being built. Either its way behind schedule, or the map incorporates planned as well as current structures.

Hmmm is that the anchorage at the base of the cliff? I’m not sure how protected that will be. Strange there are not lots of boats marking the anchorage. That looks mad enough for us to give it a go.

We snuggled in close to the cliffs and hoped the forecast was correct and the cliffs would give us protection all night. These spots are almost more magical when they work out, because of the significant risk that they won’t.

We headed into the ‘beach’ and decided we would cook dinner there. The chef and his very obedient helper

Who’d have thought, a gourmet meal on a camp fire!

The next day we again had good winds albeit on the nose to get to Praesto. The wind gradually turned in our favour and we almost made it to the Fjord on a single tack. The Praesto Fjord started as wide channel gradually narrows until barely wide enough for a couple of boats to pass. Finally a small harbour and marina appear. There is a pontoon in the middle of the harbour that could just fit Away and conveniently it had a space for us.

That’s our spot, and possibly the only berth we would fit into.

Golden hour. All the old buildings in this part of the world are painted orange or yellow to look good in the long sun sets and rises.

When the winds returned we headed for open water and our first big city in a while. Copenhagen was a day sail away. We were getting some deliveries to a marina and intended to stay for at least a week whilst preparing for the next leg. The wind died towards the end of the trip so we prepared the light wind sails and as expect the winds increased and we soon reducing sail as Copenhagen came into view.

There are not many of these to avoid. This one popped up and attracted the boat to it.

Clearly the bridge was modeled on a twin masted ship. This bridge goes to Sweden.

Are they ever in sync, or is this deliberate to mine the most wind?

Next time we become Swedish residents, Bernie makes friends with his ramp and we almost join Le Tour de France on our Bromptons.

Denmark – Flensburg to Agerso

June 19, 2022 / fiandadrian

We left you last time leaving Flensburg and heading for Denmark. It didn’t take long to get there. The Flensburg Fjord is the border between Germany and Denmark with the Germans looking after the port markers and the Danish the starboard. A vessel tacking up the fjord should, in theory, swap courtesy flags on each tack. Fortunately no one really cares and a strengthening northerly minimised our need to tack or change flags.

It was the end of a long weekend and the entrance of the fjord resembled a busy round about with yachts heading back to their home ports. With a strong wind and occasional showers we had retired to the lounge and brewed a pot of tea. When other yachts passed close by we jumped up on deck, waved to the bedraggled skippers so they were not unduly worried by the unmanned yacht passing them, and then quickly returned to the warmth below deck.

Within fifteen minutes the forecasted weather change brought sunshine, then no wind and then light winds. We scrambled on deck and set to work raising the big red sail. Thirty minutes later big red was happily propelling us at 4.5 knots in less than 10 knots of wind. Good news as we were closing in on another yacht racing in the same direction.

After an extended tacking duel with the smaller yacht we tucked into the crowded anchorage at the island of Aero. Crowded because there was another yacht anchored. It seems most yachts in the Baltic are not set up to be at anchor. Many do not have dinghies and their anchors often look a little ornamental. As there are so many marinas/harbours so close together we suspect most charter boats and many local sailors move from marina to marina missing the endless anchoring opportunities throughout the area.

Why we like to anchor. The water here is crystal clear too.

The town of Aeroskobing was a short walk away and lived up to its billing as one of the most picturesque towns in Denmark. The story goes that in poorer times they couldn’t afford to update their houses, which later turned out to be a great tourist attraction with, the now well maintained, older houses providing a step back in time.

Aeroskobing

Everyone seemed to be eating locally made ice cream and we didn’t want to miss out

After a couple of days, we decided to head to a town called Svendborg. It was only a short sail across the bay. We had been told there are no tides to worry about in the Baltic, but it did seem like we were being whisked into Svendborg at 2 knots more than our boat speed. The tide also rushes through the harbour which can make docking a little tricky. But on this occasion it allowed us to stop the boat a few meters off the dock and let the tide do the rest.

Don’t worry about tide in the Baltic, they said.

There are some serious boatyards at Svendborg, and some serious graffiti

Svendborg was one of those places where we had unexpected great experiences and it easily exceeded our expectations.

We found an easy to access berth in the main harbour. Lots of old wooden boats to look at and a very modern clean marina.

We found a cafe for lunch and a great little band set up and started playing for us

The next day as we had some lunch at the old dock area and this chap set up his drums and entertained the crowd using everything from electric drills and angle grinders to squeaky chickens and a Viking helmet.

Thats exactly what I was expecting to find in the mens toilet.

And of course German wooden boats arrived on Saturday for a regatta. They started playing saxaphone and keyboard on the dock on a beautiful summers evening.

Away always attracts some attention, but at Svendborg there was a constant stream of people walking along the dock to take a look. They usually want to know if we have sailed from Australia and then a bit about the boat. Some are dreaming of their own trip someday, some own a boat and want to chat boats and some come for look just because its different and has an Australian flag. Even the police popped over for a look using the excuse of checking our passports.

On Sunday morning we slipped out of Svendborg harbour and made good use of the outgoing tide until the wind filled in and headed north around Langeland. We had picked a little anchorage that a local had told us we would have to ourselves. As we took down the sails and prepared to anchor, another aluminum boat arrived and later we were joined by a third boat for the night.

The next day the other boats left and we went to explore Agerso

The flowers were out, the swans were nesting and we saw deer running along the road.

We see swans everywhere in the Baltic and there were many nesting on the island

We are used to avoiding large fishing trawlers in the Channel and North Sea. It seems the Baltic has been so heavily over fished that there are only a few old ‘I’ve been fishing all my life and nobody’s going to stop me’ blokes chasing the last couple of fish. The good news is that there are way fewer fishing pot flags to avoid.

As soon as we got back to the boat the wind increased and the rain started.

The low island provided little protection from the wind. This is why we hate anchoring.

After a couple of nights of bouncing in the gusty winds, we leave Agerso and enjoy our fastest sail to another island with lots of trolls and apple juice, and no wind.

The Kiel Canal and German Baltic Coast

June 11, 2022 / fiandadrian

Out of the Kiel and north along the German coast.

The Kiel Canal is the shortcut through Germany to the Baltic, avoiding a long loop around the north end of Denmark. Its used by large cargo ships, cruise ships and quite a few pleasure craft. The largest ships need to pass each other at special passing points with traffic lights. Smaller craft like us just keep out of the way so we don’t get crushed.

After locking in to the canal after our rather bumpy passage (you may remember from last blog) we headed for the Brunsbuttel marina next to the lock, but quickly assessed it was too full for our liking. The next stopping point was a bunch of poles in a bay that we could just reach by the 9:30pm small boat curfew. We arrived just in time to find a deserted bay and entertained a couple on the beach by trying to secure ourselves to four of the posts for the night.

Not sure how we are supposed to use these poles, but we managed to attach to four of them.

The bay was so peaceful most of the time, and then the occasional cruise liner or cargo ship passed a few meters away. The next day we pushed on to Rendsberg about two thirds along the canal. The famous suspended Rendsberg ferry was operating as we passed under the bridge.

A peaceful spot for the night, and then this happens.

The dangling ferry carries people, bikes and cars.

Rendsberg became home for a few days as strong winds dissuaded us from moving on. We met several other cruisers who were heading for the Baltic and also waiting for better weather.

As soon as the weather improved everyone headed for the Baltic. By the time we got to Kiel we were sharing the lock with about 25 other yachts that squeezed in along side a rather large cargo ship. In the canal its comforting to know that the cargo ships will likely go aground before they reach us in the shallows. In the lock we look at the size of the ships mooring lines and congratulated ourselves on not attempting this part of the trip in 30 knots of wind.

Outside the lock hundreds of yachts, old sailing ships, motor boats and dinghies were enjoying the weekend sun and light winds. The container ships sounded their horns in case the yachts failed to notice a 250m long 80m high ship heading towards them at high speed.

Lots of older vessels. Many doing charters and tourist trips.

Our destination was the Schlei Fjord further north towards the Danish border. The light winds eventually picked up and we were able to sail the final section around the military firing zone and into the Fjord. Friends from Rendsberg were already in the anchorage and pointed out the best dog walking places. It was great to be on anchor again and not crammed into a marina.

The Schlei Fjord was not as dramatic as fjords on the Norwegian coast, but the low rolling hills and thatched cottage villages made a charming landscape. We anchored off a tiny village called Sieseby with a massive church and a Michelin star restaurant. Deer grazed a few meters away at dawn and dusk.

At the end of the fjord is Schleswig where we dazzled the locals by maneuvering the mighty Away into a tiny box berth. Every other boat in the Baltic is 38 feet long (give or take) and Away at 45 feet (plus some middle age overhangs), needs to be persuaded into most of the berths. The ‘box berths’ feature two poles to tie the stern onto and the bow ties to the pontoon. Away sometimes needs to ‘stretch’ the poles a little to fit in. These berths are almost universal in the Baltic and have been designed to provide boaters with maximum comedy when new arrivals appear, especially if there is a cross wind. The bow is too high for Bernie to jump on and off, so he now has a foldable ramp that he uses to wobble precariously onto the dock.

We looked around the old fishing village area of Schleswig and circumnavigated the obscenely large church before heading back to our favourite anchorage back along the fjord. The four openings a day bridge caused a moment of excitement when oncoming vessels didn’t see the red light obscured by the new bridge construction and started to head through the narrow opening towards us.

The anchorage became crowded this time when a small motor cruiser anchored a few hundred meters away. We didn’t go ashore as favourable winds the following day meant an early start. The wind blew us out of the fjord in the company of other yachts and large traditional sailing vessels. As we turned north our expected comfortable beam reach was fast becoming a more uncomfortable close haul. When the boat heels, Bernie gets confused whether to lie in the sun, or on the low side of the boat so he doesn’t slide off and generally decides its best to find Fi and sit on her.

The best place to sit when it get wobbly.

Entering Flensburg Fjord the winds were gusting towards 30 and we decided to anchor out of the wind rather that fight our way to Fensburg and attempt an entertaining berthing maneuver. In this area of the world its simply a matter of finding nice bit of coast out of the wind, wait until the depth sounder shows 2.5 m and drop anchor. We chose a spot next to some protective cliffs with a doggy beach and settled in for a days rest.

Doggy beach time. How many rotting fish can I eat?

Bernie was nominated to go for a swim as the rest of us found the water a little too numbing to be enticed in. The rule in yachting is always to anchor next to the other boat as that must be where the anchorage is. Even if there is 200km of perfectly sheltered safe anchorage, the rule states that you must anchor next to the only yacht in the anchorage. On our second night there were a steady procession of boats leaving Flensburg for the weekend and it wasn’t long before another boat recognised we were the anchorage marker and parked close by.

The next day the winds had died and we motored into Flensburg, our last stop in Germany. Flensburg had been missed when Europe was bombed in the war and featured an attractive old town. We chose a marina further from the center and closer to the supermarket and the Pentecostal heavy rock concert. Fully restocked and with an superfluous appreciation for christian rock we slipped quietly out of Flensburg into a dark drizzely Monday morning and headed for Denmark.

The German Frisian Islands

June 7, 2022 / fiandadrian

Last time we left you at KoffieBoonenPlaat with the tide going out and not much water under the keel. The local seal colony kept popping their heads up and looking at this strange lump of post industrial aluminium elegance perched on a sandbank. As the tide went out we discovered that the boat does indeed rest happily on the bottom as stated in the manual. The swim ladder allows access to the sand below and Bernie needs a bit of a lift to return to ship level after a walk.

Come in for a swim, the water is, umm, invigorating.

Mum, why is my wobbly house not wobbly today?

Lets wait for the next tide before we leave

Another boat was not so fortunate. We spotted it in the channel heading out to sea, but seemingly stopped and being pounded by the waves. Not a good spot to be on a falling tide. We called the coastguard who confirmed a lifeboat was on the way. They tried to pull it to deeper water and then gave up and waited for the tide to return.

We enjoyed the solitude and wildlife so much we decided to stay another day. As the wind was changing direction we used the high tide to turn the boat around. Unfortunately it got stuck half way round and the tidal current built sand on one side and dug out the other. We spent the next 6 hours on a 10 degree tilt, just like going upwind, without moving up wind.

We decided we had dried out enough and headed out to sea. Our previous track could be followed at high tide, but we got quite a surprise when we went aground in the middle of the marked channel. We guessed where the deeper water was and finally made it back to the North Sea and deeper water.

Our next stop was Borkum which we could access at any tide. It was a commercial harbour with lots of pilot boats, service vessels for the offshore wind mines and ferries. We found a spot next to a pilot boat and dashed to bar which was still open at 9:30pm. Having crossed into Germany, I could try my three German words, ‘Zwei bier bitte’. Worked a treat.

Next morning we left with the crews going to service the wind mines and headed to Nordeney our final Frisian Island stopover. On approach we could see lots of strange boxes spread over the beach, which we would later discover were German deckchairs arranged in ‘fields’ that could be booked using an online booking system.

The bikes were assembled for a ride to the main center. The cute Dutch houses were gone, replaced by a seaside concrete blocks catering to mostly German tourists shipped over from the mainland by ferry.

After a couple of nights on Nordeney and good wind in the forecast we headed for Cuxhaven, our last stop before entering the Kiel canal. We timed the tide so that it was almost with us almost all the way and arrived to take the last big boat berth in time for dinner at the marina restaurant. The tides can run quite spicey in the Elbe, so the next day we had time to search the town for a magnet for our magnet board, before taking the tide upriver to the Kiel entrance. There was a good sailing wind which was unfortunately against the tide making for somewhat bouncy conditions up the river as we dodged the container ships (somewhat bouncy = shaking the left over saw dust out of every nook and cranny of this still new boat). The hull of a small yacht could be seen all the way back to the keel as it became airborne over the short waves.

Bernie was not a fan, and cuddled up to Fi. He usually does this though, even when its not rough.

We had to get a deck chair photo before we left Germany.

Once through the bouncy waves, we will head into the Kiel Canal for another inland trip. For an offshore sailing adventure vessel, Away has proven itself to be an excellent canal boat too!

The Inland Seas

May 26, 2022 / fiandadrian

We locked out of Amsterdam and found ourselves in the Markermeer, a vast paddling pool barely deep enough to navigate. The Dutch had built special boats with only a few centimeters draft that can travel safely through these waters. It was wonderful to see these old boats still plying these waterways. For once Away’s magic foldup center board was of no use. The wind was on the nose which is the one time we really need the center board down. We motored enjoying the absence of bridges, locks and massive barges trying run us down at every turn.

Todays destination was Edam, where they make cheese. The town was impossibly picturesque with rows on rows of slightly askew houses and little lift bridges over the canals. The bridges were narrow mostly catering to bicycles and pedestrians, but tiny two seater you-must-be-close-friends cars still found a way to squeeze over them.

Shortly after first light, a coffee, some breakfast and some doggie business the wind blew us across the Markermeer. We traversed the inevitable lock and into the IJsselmeer, another vast pool of shallow water, but this time deep enough to sail. We were enjoying the wind on the beam, catching a group of yachts only under their headsail (did no one tell them its a race?), when we noticed a line of wind approaching. Quickly we reduced the main sail with one reef and then a second as the wind jumped over 20 knots and was soon gusting over 30. We swapped the genoa with the smaller staysail as this was a good chance to try this sail. Away revelled in the stronger winds, the other yachts disappeared behind us as we made a cup of tea and stroopwaffels.

Bernie stressed out by the stronger winds

At the other side of the IJsselmeer, Makkum came into view and we headed for the marina and our first box berth. These berths have two posts at one end and a pontoon at the other. We reversed in between the posts and crashed gently into a small finger wharf that contrived to appear behind the boat. After a small adjustment we were safely ashore, no one had died and the restaurant was open for pizza and beer.

Makkum center offered a 45 minute dog walk and a chance to resupply. None of the guide books warned about the local dog that walked up to Bernie in the street and bit him on the neck (he is fine). The welcome in the local shops and cafe was much more agreeable.

We look over the side of a lock to see the road going underneath us

The next day was race day (again). The marina we were heading for had a note on the web site that 120+ boats were coming in today in the annual Harlingen to West Terschelling race. We changed destinations to nearby Oost Vleiland and planned our route to avoid the race (really). As we arrived at Harlingen the final yacht classes were being started and we soon found ourselves at the tail end of the race. As the wind strengthened Away accelerated and we started picking our way through the fleet. The racers rounded the final mark and headed for the finish at West Terschelling, we turned away to find Bernie a sandy beach and an Oost Vleiland magnet for the magnet board.

Oost Vleiland turned out to have both magnets and vast expanses of Bernie beach. A couple of nights gave us time to plan our trip east. From here we could head out to sea and up the coast, or on the inland side of the islands through the poorly named Wadden Sea. The Wadden Sea is really a giant beach that floods at high tide allowing access for a few hours until the tide recedes and its beach again. It was an easy choice between a relaxing sail up the coast and stressful race against time through rapidly moving poorly charted drying channels.

It wasn’t long after we left Oost Vleiland and headed up our first Wadden Sea channel that we noticed there were sticks across the channel. These sticks are used to show shallow water, so we decided to err on the side of caution and stop. The words in the guide book about following the buoys and channel markers not the charts quickly came to mind. The sand moves so often that the charts are really only a rough guide in this area.

The last part of the trip was the shallowest. With no markers the guide said to leave the channel at a particular marker close to high tide and with a suitable draft the destination should be attainable. As there were no markers or visual references except the occasional breaking water showing a shallow sand bank, Fi navigated from a computer screen showing a recent satellite image whilst I controlled the throttle (forward unless we hit ground, then reverse). Half an hour later we arrived at KoffieBoonenPlaat and unclenched.

Fi steering using the satellite image on her laptop, whilst I control the throttle in the cockpit. Bernie always helping his Mum.

There was no one else around so we choose a spot deep enough that we could float and shallow enough that it would dry out at low tide. Then we waited for the tide to go out and triple checked the tide tables to be sure the next high tide was at least as high as the last one. Fingers crossed…

The Standing Mast Route to Amsterdam

May 20, 2022 / fiandadrian

The country areas of the Netherlands was full of orange cyclists transporting groceries home in large paniers and children to school in even larger child carriers. Leiden however, was full of university students cycling nonchalantly down narrow streets choked with pedestrians, weaving between prams and dog walkers whilst texting their fellow students about the evenings activities. We enjoyed the vibrance of a university town without the tourists of capital cities.

A windmill museum in a windmill gave great views over the city and an insight into the history of these iconic Dutch buildings. Bernie enjoyed a search for food through the crowded market along the canal side. Back on board he sniffed some strange smelling smoke (presumably from a nearby boat) and spent the next hour counting passing bicycles.

The next day bridges opened for us as we left Leiden and headed across the lakes to the twice-a-day opening railway bridge. We were soon in a platoon of boats heading along the canal which made bridge openings easier as the lead boat made the radio calls and bridges were happy to open for a group of boats. At Haarlem we pulled up beside the canal in the city center and found a sunny cafe for a late afternoon beer.

In the morning we watched the bridge master opening a bridge for a passing boat and then overtaking the boat on his bike to open the next bridge as the boat arrived. Our home on the water had become the local water birds’ home too and there was an egg on the sugar scoop in the morning. Bernie was snoozing on the boat when a cat walked across the deck. He loves cats and immediately set off after it barking his head off. We could have stayed longer here, but Amsterdam was only a once-a-day railway bridge opening away.

Wow, big barge approaching

Will it fit through the bridge?

Bridge is open…

I think she has done this before

The canal widened as we approached Amsterdam. The barge traffic and hotel boats were dwarfed by the cargo ships and cruise ships. Add some ferries, tour boats and pleasure craft and it began to feel like Sydney harbour on a summers weekend. Our marina was on the river opposite the town centre. Very convenient with free ferries running continuously, although it was a little tight for a boat of our size. The sound of our bow thruster brought everyone on deck to protect their boats and watch 14 meters of aluminium reverse park into a city sized parking space.

Its always more dangerous to cross the bike path in the Netherlands than the road. In Amsterdam there are so many bikes that it can be almost impossible to cross bike paths at peak hour. At traffic lights cyclists seem to take priority over everyone and everything, even red lights. Cars on the other hand are rare and progress slower than walking pace as they get blocked by the flow of cyclists.

We must be full yachties. We chose the maritime museum over the sex museum, although to be fair the reviews of the sex museum were somewhat limp. At the maritime museum we learned about all the clever boat designs that had allowed the Dutch to discover and pillage far flung parts of the globe.

Amsterdam was two cities in one. On the weekdays the canals carry tourists from the cruise liners past cute cafes and designer shops. On Friday night the police were on duty outside the central station. Well healed cruise boaters were replaced by slightly uncomfortable looking football teams, bucks nighters and weekend getaways. We found the last sunny table in Amsterdam, drank wine, and watched the city go past.

Flying Away and stopping cars and trains. And cheese.

May 6, 2022 / fiandadrian

The next day after our unexpected stop at the lifting bridge near Willemstad, the bridge was fixed and we were able to go through into the lock, under the bridge and make a right turn into Willemstad.

These vessels were waiting on the opposite side overnight too to get through the lock and bridge. They went through first, and we went in after they had exited the lock.

Here we are safely in the lock. Finally!

I had phoned ahead and so the wonderful harbour master was there ready to greet us. She checked our dimensions, and then directed us to our berth. This is one of those places where we wonder how in the world we are going to fit, but teamwork always trumps our fears, and we dock successfully, not damaging other peoples boats, our boat or ourselves.

Looks like a lot of space, but to get out we have to reverse out to another area to turn around. It was tight and shallow. We love our lifting centreboard almost every single day.

First stop, despite the rain, is to take Bernie for a walk and explore around town. Willemstad is another town shaped like a star (you may remember Gravelines was similar) and is designed to be a fortress. There are a number of these types of towns dotted throughout the area. The Germans during the war noted the fortifications, and when the took over the town, they added various bunkers which are still here today. We walked the entire circumference of the town in about an hour.

Looks like a gun emplacement. Behind us is the waterway.

Gorgeous path that goes the whole way around the town. Brilliant for dog walking and exploring.

I wondered why when I went to the shops for supplies everyone was treating me so suspiciously… It was cold!

But we couldn’t stay. The next day we were lifting out Away, and checking anodes and cleaning the bottom. So after the required morning coffee, we reversed out of our spot, turned around, again didn’t hurt anyone or anything, and exited the harbour. They had managed to park a large ‘hotel’ boat in the harbour entrance reducing the channel to a single boat width just for fun. We only had to go across the waterway to another town called Numansdorp where they had a 50 tonne lift ready for us. And up we went!

The ghosts of adventures past – also commonly known as “its too shallow – quick bring up the centreboard!!!”

The team at the yard were excellent, and we had the whole job done in less than an hour, and were tucked up at the marina outside the yard before we even knew it. The following day was “Kings Day” here in the Netherlands, and so rather than go out sailing with crowds, we thought we would spend the day completing some outstanding jobs on Away, and have a nice meal in town for dinner and check out the celebrations. It felt so good to tick off some outstanding tasks (there are ALWAYS jobs to do) and it was nice to have a day of not moving as we had been moving a lot.

BUT – we want to get north soon. Cognisant of the Schengen visa restrictions we have, we do need to keep moving and we would like to continue on the Standing Mast Route through the Dutch canal system.

The following day, we had planned to get as far north as Gouda. We left early (ok maybe at like 9AM), and headed out in to the waterways. Soon, we turn left and the canal starts to pinch in a little. We feel very small with the massive container barges that traverse these waterways everywhere, transporting masses of gravel, gas, petroleum, containers – you name it.

This is an example of the barges we are making friends with. Often there are multiple around, and we need to give way of course. There is a lifting bridge we are heading towards on the right of the picture.

At one point we were four abreast with 3 barges approaching a T junction with a large barge and hotel boat from one direction and a ferry from the other. There is lots of Dutch on the radio and then they all seem to miss each other as they round the blind corner. We keep out of the way and scuttle across beside them.

We also need to convince the authorities that they should lift bridges and stop busy freeways and trainlines for us. We manage to do this successfully, if appearing a bit amateurish at times (my Dutch is not proficient).

We have successfully convinced the people running this railway bridge to lift it up for us.

Yes, someone decided to literally build the “Arc” from the bible. Apparently even with the specifications as mentioned in the bible (insert shrug emoji…). Whatever makes you happy dude.

Oligarchs? I think every one of these must be owned by them.

Eventually, we make it to Gouda, but not without helping some passing Grey Nomads from Florida who had NOT been given correct direction by their charter company on the use of locks, and decided to go and park in front of the closed lock doors, just as a tanker was due to exit. We shouted at them, helped them pull over in the proper waiting area, and told them to simply follow us to their marina in Gouda. The relief from them was palpable. They are pretty brave people to be taking this on with no knowledge…

We have an equine welcome to Gouda, park up in our marina, sort out the Floridians, and cook some dinner. The day started at 8AM with boat prep, and finished at about 6PM. I forgot to count how many bridges and locks, but we were in bed early, exhausted and realising we would have to do it all again tomorrow, if we were to get to Leiden – a university town just south of Amsterdam, and definitely off the beaten track for 20m tall, lumps of slick aluminium – so naturally we were going to go.

The next day, we would exit the marina and run straight into a massive railway bridge that would have to open for us. It would only open at 10:27 exactly, so we had a little sleep in and took Bernie for a walk into the Gouda township.

Gouda is beautiful. Typical Dutch canals, bikes and cute architecture.

I wonder how many cars like, just fall in. There is no gutter to stop you or anything.

I buy 6kgs of cheese, and soon enough, 10AM is here, and we are leaving the dock, ready for our first bridge opening. This would be a trip of 5 hours and 17 lifting bridges. Glad we slept well!

This is Jannette. We followed this vessel for ages. They called up the bridges for us and told them that there was a crazy yacht with Australian’s on it who needed bridges opened to over 20m. Thank you Jannette!

Jannette’s backside that we stared at most of the day. The canals here were very narrow and so we were all escorted by the man in the dingy.

Adrian happy to have navigated through another bridge.

These bridges usually only open to 12m, but because we were here, they had to open it to 24 so we could get through. Note the yacht in front of us have their mast removed.

Eventually, after about 15 bridges, we were close to Leiden. We could almost taste the beer. Calling up the town marina, they told us just to come in to slip 10. Slip 10 is a 4.5m (ok maybe 5m) wide slip apparently. Away is 4.4m wide. Crikey.

Again, teamwork prevailed and with some help from our new neighbours, we were in, without hurting anyone, without hurting ourselves, and only touching the separating post with our aluminium rub rail, which is precisely what it is designed for. Winning.

You can see the post in the water to the right of our logo here. It is touching the metal rub rail just above the top of the black wrap. We are happy we chose the rub rail for Away. We only just fit in here.

Given the past few days as documented here, we have decided that some relax time is in order. It is a high stress trip on these canals for us, as all day we are essentially doing close quarter manoeuvring in waterways that our boat isn’t specifically designed for, plus trying to get massive infrastructure out of our way so we can enjoy our lives. So we will have some chill time now, and soon get this show back on the road – or on the canal as the case may be.