This is "Onbekommerd"!

Saturday, September 21, 2013

A few facts and figures to end with

We have had a fantastic 'voyage' on Onbekommerd this year. Varied too!

We started in the early and cold spring in the Netherlands, did a trip to Vlieland and Terschelling. Then we spent two weeks in Friesland and North West Overijssel in convoy with 'Amber'.

After that we started on the main 'adventure' and on 1 June we were in the Baltic. By then the weather had started to improve remarkably after a very cold and wet spring and we made rapid progress North along the danish east coast. We arrived in Gothenburg on 18 June and entered the Göta Canal at Sjötorp on 29 June. On 15 July we left the Canal and on 21 July we arrived in Stockholm, the Northernmost point of the year. From there the 'way back' started, we moved quietly South along the Swedish east coast. On 20 August we left Sweden (in Gislövs Lage) and spent a week in Denmark, arriving back in Laboe, Germany on 28 August. From there the weather started to deteriorate a bit and the way back through Germany took until 11 September when we were back in Delfzijl.

From there we took the shortest route to Franeker, but taking it easy time wise.

Everything is on the blog, you can read back if you want to!

Some figures:

We spent 163 days on board. In this time, we covered 2206 nmiles, which is 4085KM. To do that, the engine ran for 439 hours, using 1731l of diesel.

Our most Western point was Vlieland at 5 degrees, 05.30 minutes East. Most South was on the way to Giethoorn (52d, 41.62m). Northernmost was Stockholm (59d, 20.13m), Easternmost near Dalarö (18d, 29.92m).

Onbekommerd is safely tucked away for the winter now. We'll be back next year, some time in April all going well. Where will we go? No fixed plan yet, more than likely "North" again.

Thank you all for looking at and reading the blog. We get around 1000 hits per month, which we think is quite a lot. We enjoy writing it, hope you enjoy reading.

Friday, September 20, 2013

End of this year's journey

At first we thought Franeker was celebrating our return:





But it appeared the festivities were because of the annual 'agrariese dagen', somewhat freely translated as the 'farmers' days'. It was quite festive with all sorts of traditional events (such as 'ringrijden') in the evening. Unfortunately, after a reasonably dry morning, the heavens opened and we did not see a lot of the fun.

In the evening we had boating friends who live in Franeker for dinner, to help 'eat the leftovers'. As they are the ones who sowed the seed to do the Göta canal (and also introduced us to Fedderwardersiel), we had a lot to talk about!

This morning, we did the last of the tidying up and just after 9, Onbekommerd was waiting at the winter storage:





We are now on the train to Schiphol airport. I'll do one more blogpost with a bit of a 'season's summary' during the weekend.

Location:Hollanderdijk,Leeuwarden,The Netherlands

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Headammen

If you try to find 'Headammen' on a map, you might struggle. It's not really a 'place', it is where a bridge crosses the 'Headamsleat', a canal leading south from Earnewâld (or Eernewoude in Dutch rather than Frisian). So why are we here? Well, its where good friends of ours have a summer cottage. We try to visit them at the start and at the end of our annual Onbekommerd trip, to talk about old times (I have known them for some 40-odd years) and also about our adventures on the water. They own a boat called 'Waterbufvel' and we have in the past done some trips in convoy.
This is what Onbekommerd looks like from their house:






Tomorrow, we'll set off for the last 'leg' of this year's trip, back to Franeker, just under 20 miles.

Location:Smallingerland,The Netherlands

Monday, September 16, 2013

Groningen en Eernewoude

Again no post yesterday, getting slack!

From Appingedam to Groningen is not far, but from Appingedam to anywhere in Friesland (which is where we want to go) is too far for a day, so Groningen is a convenient stop. As it was Sunday, there was not a lot happening but it is always nice when another 'Valkvlet' (a 'maatje' we call them). Enters the harbour. We had some interesting chats yesterday afternoon and this morning about different experiences with our 'ships'.

From Groningen, once you are through the Oostersluis (lock), it is a canal for the next 50 KM. Not boring, as there are quite a few obstacles to negotiate: quite a bit of dredging going on and a bit of commercial traffic too. We negotiated the last lock of the year at Gaarkeuken and entered our 'home province' of Friesland (or more correctly 'Fryslân') a bit later at Stroobos. Without much excitement, we arrived at Eernewoude (Earnewald). The weather is nothing short of 'autumn', with rain- and hail storms, strong winds and low temperatures. Fortunately, Onbekommerd is dry, warm and comfortable inside, but it is no surprise the harbour looks like this:





If you would look the other way, there are a few charter boats with German crews (without the German market, the Dutch charter business would have been finished many years ago!), but that's about it!

We'll be here for two nights, and start to prepare for Friday when we put Onbekommerd to sleep for the winter. Wednesday we'll move a few miles 'down the road' to meet up with good friends. Thursday we'll do the last 18 mile stretch to Franeker.

Location:Wiidswei,Tytsjerksteradiel,The Netherlands

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Damfestival

Sorry, no blogpost yesterday. We decided to stop here in Appingedam for a few days and although it is nice here, we are sure you are not really all that interested in our shopping experiences!
Today however was 'Damsterdag', the main event of which appeared to be the 'papier corso', a procession of floats mainly made mainly out of paper. The theme was 'Disney / Dream Works'. As it had been raining all morning, our expectations for a 'paper based' event were not that high. Fortunately, the rain stopped for about half an hour at just the right moment and we were most pleasantly surprised by quite a few very nice floats, put on mainly by schools in the Delfzijl / Appingedam area. The route was lined by lots of people, it was very pleasant, all in all. We were sorry that we left the camera at home because of our low expectations.
This is clearly a big event here and as I write this, just before 8pm, there are lots of people flocking to the church where the prize giving will be.
Tomorrow, we'll move about 20KM to Groningen. The weather continues to be rainy, in fact there are not many dry spells predicted until Friday when we put Onbekommerd to bed for the winter.

Location:Stadshaven,Appingedam,The Netherlands

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Appingedam and Appie

After we left the yacht harbour in Delfzijl we had rather a unique lock experience. I had called the lock keeper on the VHF to ask to be locked 'inward' and he confirmed that there was a boat just coming out of the 'small lock' (there is also a 'big lock' in Delfzijl) and we could go straight in on arrival.
So we did. Lyn was just getting the back line onto the mooring post, the lock door behind us not even having been closed, when the door in front of us already opened. We had gotten to the lock just at the time when the tide 'outside' the lock was exactly the same as the fixed water level 'inside', i.e. inland. This obviously happens (on tidal water) 4 times every 24 hours for a very short time, but it was a first for us!

It was only a 6 mile trip to Appingedam, which is a small but pretty town, boasting the biggest 'Albert Heyn' supermarket 'in the North' (whatever that may mean). The short for 'Albert Heyn', a supermarket chain, is 'Appie', hence the title of the post.
Although we thoroughly enjoyed our Baltic trip (and plan to go back there next year), its good to be 'home' at this stage too, speaking the language and knowing 'how everything works'.

On our way back to Franeker - where Onbekommerd will experience a well deserved hibernation and some TLC - we'll stop for two days in a few places.
I'll try to post something daily, but hopefully not too much excitement!

Location:Stadshaven,Appingedam,The Netherlands

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

What a day!

We left Aurich not all that early, around 9:30. The plan was to go to Oldersum, spend the night, take the early morning outgoing tide tomorrow to Delfzijl and continue to Appingedam, where there is a nice guest harbour right next to our favourite supermarket, Albert Heyn!
The trip to Oldersum was uneventful, we did have to wait out the lunchbreak at one bridge, but we took the opportunity to have our sandwiches ourselves too.
By 3pm we were tied up at Oldersum. As I am a compulsive planner, I decided to take a walk to the lock in order to negotiate a 7:30 lock time. The lock was deserted....... After some searching I found a 'notice to mariners', stating that the lock was out of order until further notice. Rats! Or some slightly stronger words.... The only option was to go back 9 KM to the Borsumer lock, into the Emden harbour and through the Emden big sea lock. Now the only reason we took the detour to Oldersum was to avoid that Emden lock which is notorious for long waiting times. Two years ago we ourselves waited there for more than 4 hours....
But as there was no alternative way out of Germany, we started the engine and went back. The friendly lock keeper at the Borsumer lock was aware of the 'problems' around the Emden sea lock. He advised us to call them on the VHF and try to negotiate something. If there was not going to be an option in the next hour (6pm was our locking deadline to get to Delfzijl before dark), we were allowed to tie up on the jetty outside 'his' lock. So I called the 'Emden Seeschleuse' on the VHF and very politely asked if there was any chance for a 'sportboot' to be locked 'out to sea' in the next hour. Now normally, 'sportboote' (that's us) can only lock with commercial traffic which is few and far between so we did not expect the reply we got:
"Where are you now?"
"At the Borsumer lock"
"Just come over"
??
We got to the Seeschleuse 20 minutes later and reported we were there.
"You may enter the lock"
They operated massive the lock just for us, which for Emden is completely unheard of.
By 7 we were back in the Netherlands (its the Northern province of Groningen, so definitely not 'Holland'). The starboard side spreader is bare of any courtesy flag for the first time since 26 May. We are 'home'!
But we are also very tired. A good rest and onto Appingedam tomorrow!

Just a quick addition: Why not spend the night in Emden and go to Delfzijl tomorrow morning? Answer: to get to the guest harbour you need to go through the railway bridge. And it is...... broken..... See earlier notes about everything in Germany always working.....

Location:Handelskade West,Delfzijl,The Netherlands

Ems - Jade canal 10/09/2013

We did two thirds, 25 miles, of the Ems - Jade canal today. This canal was dug between 1880 and 1888 to provide a means to transport peat from the East Frisian region. It was also meant to transport coal, ammunition and spare parts from the Ruhr area to the Wilhelmshaven Naval base (the Dortmund - Ems canal being the other part of that route). As the canal is quite small and shallow (officially 1.70m but we have had readings down to 1.50), it is nowadays almost exclusively used for pleasure craft, especially the Wilhelmshaven to Aurich part that we covered today. In fact, this part of the canal closes for the winter next week, on the 16th.

It was a pretty miserable day, weather wise. Almost non stop rain, the East Frisian lock keeper called it 'nice, dust free, East Frisian weather'! Also cold, we had the heater on for most of the day, for the first time since 25 May.
The nice thing about the organisation of this canal is that once you are 'in the system', everything happens sort of by itself. The bridge- or lock keeper either accompanies you (in his little black car) to the next bridge or lock or he 'passes you on' by calling his colleague 'down the road'. The result is that normally the bridge or lock is ready for you as you arrive, with the exception of the two railway bridges which of course need to take the train time tables into consideration.
I say 'normally', because one of the bridges early on in the trip had a technical problem, which held us up for about an hour and a half. Fortunately a bit later a lock keeper was kind enough to operate his two locks during his lunch break which meant that we made it to Aurich before the operation closed for the day.
25 miles in 8 hours is not a lot, but there are 4 locks in it and the speed limit is 8 KM / hr which is about 4.5 knots.
Aurich is a pleasant enough stop. Excellent, brand new facilities and the first night is free! We found the supermarket and afterwards treated ourselves to 'dinner ashore'.
Tomorrow we'll do almost the other third of this canal. Just before Emden we will turn off into the Ems Seiten canal which will bring us to Ottersum. There, depending on time and weather, we will either make a stop to catch the next morning's tide or continue to Delfzijl.

Location:Aurich

Monday, September 9, 2013

Wilhelmshaven 09/09/2013

It was quite a dreary morning, with non-stop light rain. And colder too: I am wearing a pullover for the first time in a few months!
We had to wait for the water to return, this really is a tidal harbour:





As early in the new tide as we could, we left. No wind and the rain stopped too! There was a bit of activity, a fishing boat in addition to us 'yachties':





After 2 hours through the 'prikken' over the shallows, and another hour through the deep water shipping channel we got to the Wilhelmshaven lock. I had spoken to the lockkeeper on the VHF so we knew there would be a short wait. But then the huge lock operated just for us and a diving boat:





We tied up at our by now well known 'Cramer Marina' (with WiFi Internet).
Tomorrow we start the two day trip through the Ems-Jade canal. We should be in Aurich tomorrow, where there is no Internet. The likelyhood is that we'll spend the next night at the Ottersum lock (no Internet either) although there is a small chance we'll de at Delfzijl, tide dependent. In the latter case we should have a 3G connection, otherwise it will be Thursday before the next post!

Aborted attempt 08/09/2013

At 1pm there was enough water to leave, so we cast off. It had just started to drizzle a bit. Off course the same 'rules' apply to everyone, so a total of about 6 boats left. As we got outside, we remarked that there was more wind than in the harbour. And 15 minutes later it was blowing over 20 Knots! The sea was building and the visibility decreasing and as we don't do this to prove we are heroes but to enjoy it, the 'lets go back decision' was easy. Half of the other boats that left with us felt the same. So after less than 3 miles we were all safely tied up again in Fedderwardersiel, in windy and rainy conditions.
Although the storm passed in about an hour, it was by then too late to catch the ingoing current to Wilhelmshaven, so we'll give it another try tomorrow. As tides work, it will mean we'll leave between 30 minutes and an hour later than today but as it's only a 15 mile trip that is no problem.

Feddewardersiel 07/09/2013

We have split the Bremershaven to Wilhelmshaven stretch into two days. On the way out, you may remember, we had planned to do it in one day but we were caught in the fog and 'diverted' to Fedderwardersiel. Splitting it is more relaxing anyway as you don't have to do both the Weser and the Jade against the tide, something that would be necessary if you had to cross the shallows of the Hohe Weg in one go.
So we left the Bremerhaven mooring at 2 and were through the lock by 2:20. Then almost 8 miles down the Weser, initially against the last of the incoming tide. Then along the 'prikken route' to Feddewardersiel, where we got with about an hour to spare before the level in the harbour entrance dropped too low.
This is a REAL tidal harbour: as I write this - about an hour before low tide - there is NO water left in the harbour basin. All boats are on the ground, in the soft mud. Lots of birds walking around, and we like this picture of what seems to be a heron, with the harbour entrance in the background:





Tomorrow after midday, when the water is back, we'll go through the Kaiserbalje to the Jade. There we'll have the tide helping to push us to Wilhelmshaven. With some luck, there will be WiFi Internet there.

Friday, September 6, 2013

Bremerhaven

Today was one of those days that things just worked.
We left Berdekesa at 9, got to the selve-service lock at Lintig half an hour later. Quietly down the Geeste (which seems to be getting rather shallow in places) to the Bremerhaven 'tidal lock' which was just about to open.
We decided not to stop at our 'normal' place, the rather grandly called "City Sporthafen" on the banks of the Geeste (not more than a few jetties that fall dry at high tide) but to go to the "Lloyd Marina" which is accessed through a lock. I called the lock on the VHF when we were 15 minutes away and as we arrived it was open and waiting for us.
It has been nice, sunny and warm all day, but now (20:30) it is getting cloudy and there may be a rainstorm.
For tomorrow, the forecast to go to Fedderwardersiel is excellent, so we'll probably be off around 1pm to make sure we can get into the harbour there on the high tide (the harbour falls dry).

There will be no WiFi there, so I'll 'accumulate' the post for the next day (Wilhelmshaven should have WiFi). One of our followers suggested I date my accumulated posts. That's a good suggestion, so I will!
This is a 'live' post, on 6 September!



Berdekesa

Although you could do the Otterndorf to Bremerhaven stretch (60 KM @ 8 KM/hr) in a day if you wanted / had to, we have so far broken the trip in Berdekesa, almost exactly half way on each of the four occasions we have done it.
This morning we were 'stuck in the mud' in Otterndorf (the harbour is clearly silting up), so we only left around 10:30. Through the little tunnel in the dike and into the lock and then 32 easy k's to Berdekesa. Suddenly the autumn-like weather of the past few days is over and during the trip we change into shorts and T shirts. Nice!
In Berdekesa we take out the bicycles and ride around the lake and to the eel-smoking place. Eel as a snack with pre-dinner wine is a real treat!
Tomorrow off to Bremerhaven, where we hope to find WiFi so we can upload these posts.



Not a very 'productive' day

We have decided that we'll continue to write a blogpost every day, even if we don't have a connection to upload them. Then we can post them when we can and the 'story' still continues.

The plan ( of us and a whole lot of Dutch, German and one Swedish boat(s)) was to go through the Brunsbüttel lock at around 2 to pick up the start of the outgoing tide. Most of the yachts want to go to Cuxhaven or even 'out to sea', to Helgoland, Norderney, Vlieland or even Vlissingen. For us the target was less ambitious: Otterndorf before 5pm so that we could still get through the lock into the Geeste. Otterndorf is only 9 miles from Brunsbüttel, so what can be easier? WRONG. In the past one could count on things working in Germany but this is no longer the case: of the 4 lock chambers in Brunsbüttel, 3 are 'out of order'. Not really surprising, the whole setup looks very poorly maintained. The result is that they have to 'load' the lock with a combination of commercial and pleasure traffic every time which causes serious delays for everyone. So the 2pm lockage only finished at 4 and we got to Otterndorf at 5:30. No problem really, the little lock here is planned to operate at 10am. That means that we won't make it to Bremerhaven tomorrow as it is an 8 hour stretch. But we have enough time and the forecast for the 'Bremerhaven to Wilhelmshaven via Fedderwardersiel' trip a day later is also fine! The only slightly frustrating thing is that we messed around for a day with only 10.5 miles 'on the clock' to show for it.

Here are some pictures taken in the lock:








And the Otterndorf light at sunset:





Location:Otterndorf

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

A different kind of harbour

The canal stretch from Rendsburg yesterday was uneventful. It is 66 KM but not really boring as there is always something happening, passing interesting bridges (42 m high!), seeing big ocean going ships etc. We take 'shifts', steering the boat for 10KM at a time.
As planned we stopped at Brunsbüttel, where the yacht harbour is just inside the lock. When I say 'just', that needs to be taken quite literally: the big ships pass meters away from us. The lock is 330m long and 42m wide and yesterday around 10pm a cruise liner came through which only just fitted in!

These pictures (taken from Onbekommerd), show a slightly smaller one that came through this morning:









After midday we'll go through the lock ourselves (probably the 'small lock', which is half the size although they were using the big lock for yachts yesterday) and go 9 miles with the tide down the Elbe to Otterndorf.

There appears to be a coffe shop with WiFi close by here, where we will now try to send this post.

Location:Brunsbüttel

Monday, September 2, 2013

Rain and wind in Rendsburg

The last two days have been rainy and windy, but we are snug on Onbekommerd. Tomorrow we'll go to Brunsbüttel and on Wednesday the forecast is excellent to go down the Elbe to Otterndorf (only 9 miles) and a bit up the little Geeste towards Bremerhaven. The forecasts for the week also look very good for a continuation via Fedderwardersiel, Wilhelmshaven, Aurich and Ottersum to Delfzijl in the Netherlands.

I have little idea about what Internet connectivity will be the next few days: in Bremerhaven we need to use the WiFi in the public library, but that's not open all day. In Wilhelmshaven there should be WiFi. Otherwise it's unlikely that there will be blogposts until we have 3G again in Delfzijl. So apologies for that.

As mentioned, we can be reached by mobile phone on my Dutch number if required.

Location:Am Obereiderhafen,Rendsburg,Germany

Saturday, August 31, 2013

Stockholm is far away.....

When last night I was packing the pilots (the books telling you about harbours and routings) for the Baltic away, my eye fell on this map:





In the left bottom corner you can just see the Netherlands. Kiel looks quite near to it. Stockholm, the furthest point of this trip is also clearly marked. You can more or less see our trip, from Kiel up the Danish west coast. The island in the Kattegat is Læsø. Then Göteborg and the Trolhätten canal, lake Vänern, the Göta canal, north to Stockholm and down the Swedish east coast via Vastervik, Kalmar, Karlskrona and Simrishamn back to Denmark and then Kiel. Quite an adventure to be sure!

Friday, August 30, 2013

Out of the Baltic

With some sadness we saw the lock doors at Kiel Holtenau close behind us this morning. It means the entry to the Kiel Canal and therefore we have left the Baltic. But the thought that we'll be back here next year makes it easy to carry on!

We were fortunate in that a group of yachts were allowed into the 'small lock' together with a coaster (a smallish sea going vessel). Usually they don't allow yachts when they use the small lock for 'big ships'.
The ensuing trip to Rendsburg, which - from this side - is one third of the way down the canal was as usual: interesting but uneventful. You see a number of big ships either coming towards you or passing you, but as they go relatively slowly there are few waves and its no hassle.
We stopped at the Rendsburg Sailing Club, a harbour known by most Baltic crews. It has good facilities, reasonable WiFi and a nice restaurant where we treated ourselves to a 'meal ashore'.

From here its about 5 hours to Brunsbüttel where we enter the Elbe. To Otterndorf it is only 9 miles from Brunsbüttel, but a tricky stretch it is: the Elbe is a very tidal river and you have to go to Ottendorf on the outgoing tide. But the prevailing Westerly winds will create a very nasty steep chop against that tide if they are more than about 10 knots. So we need relatively light winds for that stretch and at the moment it looks like that will not happen before Tuesday or Wednesday. And as Rendsburg is a much better place than Brunsbüttel to wait for the weather, we might be here for a few days, which is no problem.

If there is no news tomorrow, there might not be a blog post. But before we start moving again, I'll let you know!

Location:Rendsburg

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Side trip to Kiel

Today we took the ferry from Laboe to Kiel. Its a nice one hour trip, during which the boat stops at about 5 different places. It takes you right from our harbour to the centre of Kiel for 4 Euros. Pretty good we thought!
The purpose of the trip was to see what Kiel looks like but also to buy some stuff for the boat. Quite simple stuff, like prop shaft grease.
According to the Pilot (the book that tells you everything about sailing in the Baltic), there is a 'large and well stocked chandlery in the Kiel city centre'. So we asked the Tourist Information and they told us there was a small shop in town and a big one a few KM away. So we first went to the small one. We asked for what we needed, whereupon the owner tried to sell us winch grease. When I explained that this was way to specialised for what we needed, he started a long diatribe which boiled down to telling us that the reason he was so poorly stocked was not him, the shop owner, but us, the customers who buy things through the internet. Well, with that attitude it is no wonder that there is no 'large and well stocked chandlery' in Kiel anymore for the thousands of yachts that arrive here and cannot even buy things through the internet!
So we went to the big shop instead. It was big indeed, but 75% was clothing and the rest mainly expensive bottles of boat cleaning materials. The prop shaft grease was only available in very small (250g) containers of dubious specification. Again the manager was most unhelpful. When we needed something in Denmark a few months ago, everyone went out of their way to help us. Not here: take it or leave it.
Add to that the queue jumping to get on and off the ferry and we wish we were back in Denmark or Sweden again! Just a different people. See my post about the Elbe - Lübeck canal last year. The Germans (and I dont want to generalise but it feels like it) see everything like a competition that they have to win!
Anyway, the ferry ride was nice, we treated ourselves to lunch in Kiel and still enjoyed the day. Our plan is to enter the Kiel Canal tomorrow and get as far as Rendsburg. From memory there is reasonable WiFi there, so there might be a blog past tomorrow again.

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Through a fog bank to Laboe

We have not shown you any sunsets for a while and yesterday in Bagenkop we were treated to a nice one, so here we go:






After getting ourselves and Onbekommerd ready for another 'crossing', we set off around 9:30. The weather was as promised: sunny and no wind to speak of. Ideal!
A bit over an hour later we noticed the horizon disappearing. The visibility decreased and soon we could not see more than 50m! The two yachts that had left the harbour just before us disappeared from view too. Fortunately we were not near any shipping routes. We could see up to 2 miles on the radar (including the yachts mentioned) and on the VHF there were several yachts closer to the shipping lanes asking the big ships to look out for them on the radar. This lasted for over an hour and then the visibility improved slowly. First we could spot the yachts and a bit later a big ship in the shipping route quite far away. We had already changed our course so we would pass West of Kiel lighthouse so we did not have to cross the Kiel - Baltic route at all, only the much quieter Kiel - Flensburg one.

Soon we saw Kiel lighthouse, which is quite a landmark. And to the East of it there was a lot of shipping. By this time it was nice and sunny again:





From the lighthouse it is about 6 miles to Laboe, one of the popular stopping points for yachts coming from or going to the Kiel canal. So that's where we are now, back in Germany and the Danish courtesy flag has been replaced by the German one. Laboe is not a 'guest harbour' at all. Like so many (if not all) German harbours it has no guest places but a system where a green shield indicates that the normal occupant is away and the place available for guests. Now it is out of season and mid-week, so there are very few places available as the owner is 'at home'. I think we have the last one (and we arrived at 2pm).

We'll stay here tomorrow and take the ferry into Kiel itself, which we have never seen. On Friday we'll go into the canal, to Rendsburg which is not quite halfway to Brunsbüttel which is where it connects to the river Elbe.

Location:Laboe

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Last Danish stop

I think I forgot to mention that we were in Spodsbjerg yesterday, the only harbour on the East coast of Langeland.
Today we moved to Bagenkop on the southern tip of the same island.
It was an uneventful but pleasant trip, with still between 1 and 2 knots of current against us which added a bit to the 18 mile voyage.
The harbour was almost empty when we arrives around 2. Now, at almost 8:30 it is full.





With the expected conditions tomorrow, we expect there will be an Armada on its way to Kiel although it should be better for us than for the sailing yachts as the wind is predicted to be between 3 and 6 knots (from the North).

So tomorrow we should be in Laboe, just outside Kiel. Now in Germany we don't have a SIM card for the iPad. It's a very difficult process to get one, with registration of your passport etc. and very expensive too. So we'll rely on WiFi in the harbours. From experience Laboe is ok, as long as the harbourmaster is on duty and you can get an access code from him (if he is not on duty you pay the harbour fees at the beer stall and they don't always have the cards with the access codes. So the long and the short of it is that the regularity of our posts will suffer a bit in the next week or two. For family: we can be reached on my (Dutch) mobile phone number if and when required.

Location:Humblevej,Bagenkop,Denmark

Monday, August 26, 2013

About currents and waves

We were aware the the Smålandsfarvandet, the waters between Sælland and Lolland can get quite 'choppy', even in not too strong winds. Last year, on the way from Omø to Fejø, we experienced 'washing machine conditions' in light winds. So we were not surprised today when, in a 12 knot breeze' it was choppy again shortly after leaving Femø. And as expected, when we emerged into the Langelands Sund, between Lolland and Langeland, and passed the windmill park there, the sea conditions improved enough to make coffee. Perfect!
As we crossed the Langelands Sund, the wind picked up (it was a nice East North Easterly, right behind us) and we felt the current which was going in the opposite direction, in the end at about 2.5 knots. This 'current against wind' condition made the waves steeper and although still from behind it got a bit uncomfortable for the last 10 miles or so. Closer to the harbour, the current dropped and there was no problem once we had located the harbour entrance. We tied up without a problem, which is more than can be said about some of the yachts that came in after us....

Sorry, no pictures today. I have a short video that I took before the waves got steep, but as we only have a slow Internet connection, that is not going to work. I'll try to post it at some future time.

The wind is supposed to drop significantly tomorrow and we plan to go to Bagenkop, the last Danish stop of this year's trip.


Location:Denmark

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Another Femø Day

As mentioned yesterday, we stayed on this island for another day. The weather continues to be really nice, we can't even remember when last we had a cloudy day! It was still windy, but many people left as they have to go to work tomorrow.......
Our neighbours, with the friendly dog, stayed as well:






We took a nice 2 hour walk on the island before lunch.

Tomorrow, the plan is to go to Spodsbjerg, on Langeland. Should be a 4 hour trip.

Location:Femø Havn,Lolland,Denmark

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Full on Femø

As mentioned yesterday, we stayed on Femø today. Quiet day, reading, a bit of work and piano playing (Lyn). Doing some checks on the boat and planning routes. It has been relatively windy with almost no-one leaving and a few boats coming in. So it's full now in this small cozy harbour. Almost all are Danes, probably visiting for the weekend. This is a picture I took a few minutes ago, when the ferry also arrived:





We will again stay here tomorrow.

Location:Femø Havn,Lolland,Denmark

Friday, August 23, 2013

Sunrise to sunset

Before we get to our current location, I would just like to add a bit to yesterday's post by telling about Gåbense. We usually prefer small 'places' to big ones and Gåbense is no exception. The 'rules' in these small harbours are interesting: the harbour master (the boating club member who carried the title for the week) stopped by last night. Handed me an envelope with the request to put the 130 Kroner harbour fee in it and put the envelope in the box at the clubhouse. I was also handed the key to the clubhouse where the toilets and showers were. And the fridge with beer. If I wanted a beer, please put 6 Kroner in the box. When we got to the clubhouse this morning at 7:30 there were already 2 beer drinkers. We just posted the envelope with the money and the keys...

Lyn got up early to catch the sunrise:





The clubhouse at Gåbense:





We then spent 3 hours with a light following wind and a nice current behind us too. We got to Femø before midday. We have been here twice before, last year, and really like the island. The church is very typical for a Danish island:





And the houses are nice too:





The harbour is full on a Friday night. A lot of Danes, they have probably come for the weekend. A few Germans, we are the only Dutchies.

End of the day:





Our plan currently is to take the shortest route to Kiel in Germany via Spodsbjerg and Bagenkop but to 'take it easy'. To start with we'll definitely stay here on Femø tomorrow.

Location:Femø Havn,Lolland,Denmark

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Møn's Klint pictures / Gåbense

I am going to try yesterday's pictures again, although the 3G connection still seems slow.
We want to go to Femø, an island we have been twice last year and which we like, but the Klintholm to Femø trip is 45 miles, a bit too long to our liking. So we have split it by stopping in the tiny harbour of Gåbense. This was the ferry harbour before the bridge between Sælland and Falster was built.
Here are the pictures:






Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Møn's Klint

On our way from Rødvig to Klintholm today, we passed Møn's Klint. This is a chalk cliff, 6 KM long and up to 143m high on the island of Møn. In the 'chalk' time, 75 million years ago, calcium shells from microscopic algae were deposited from the tropical sea that covered what is now Denmark. During the ice ages of the last 100000 years, the glaciers pushed thick flakes of this calcium deposit from the bottom of the Baltic which created the 'Klint' here.

We took a large number of pictures and a video, but unfortunately both the 3G and the WiFi signal here are too poor to post visual material to the blog. We'll try a 'special' tomorrow.



We are now in Klintholm, a very nice and currently quiet harbour just beyond the actual Klint. Quite a few 'swallow boats' (going South for the winter) have come in the last hour. We imagine it will be quite busy here 'in season' as it is perfectly positioned on the way to Sweden as well as towards Copenhagen.



Location:Thyravej,Klintholm Havn,Denmark

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Back in Denmark

At (almost) the crack of dawn we left Gislövs Läge. We like to leave early, the atmosphere is clear and crisp and the light is nice too:





Here it was just before 7, looks a lot darker than it actually was. There was very little wind and almost no waves either. In addition, the traffic was kind to us: we saw a number of ships in the traffic routes but none when we had to cross them.





By mid morning we could easily see the chalk and limestone cliffs of Stevns Klint:





And at midday we tied up in Rödvig, just south of the Klint coast.

One thing we were looking forward to in Rödvig was the ice cream shop. Not as elaborate as the 'Smultronstället' in Söderköping, but still very nice. When we walked to the 'Ishuset', it had gone! There was just a sign to say it had moved to the fishing harbour. And indeed there it was..... But closed from Monday to Thursday after 16 August! Big disappointment, clearly the season is drawing to an end.

Location:Havnepladsen,Rødvig,Denmark

Monday, August 19, 2013

Last stop in Sweden

We were told by a Danish couple (one of the boats we have seen off and on for the past few weeks) that Gislövs Läge was 'a place to park boats' and not recommended. But it is the place from which you get the shortest crossing to Denmark, so we went anyway. Now it's certainly neither the centre of the world, nor 'a gem', but its a friendly club harbour with the facilities you need (including washing machine and tumble drier!).
On our way here, we passed Smygehuk, the Southernmost point of Sweden (we are now about a mile further North).
Tomorrow, the conditions look good to go to Rödvig in Denmark. Not a particularly long 'crossing', it is just under 30 miles in a straight line, but as we cross a 'shipping roundabout' at Falsterborev, we add a bit to cross the shipping lanes at right angles as the rules demand. So we get to 32 miles, about 5 hours.

Sorry, no pictures tonight. Nothing that interesting in Gislövs.

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Rest day in Ystad

This morning we explored Ystad. It has an interesting Danish feel to it, which is not surprising as it was built long before the Treaty of Roskilde and Skåne was therefore still Danish. Typical are the timber framed houses:








Also nice gabled buildings. This is the old 'Latin School':





This reminds one of the monastery. The building still stands and now houses a museum.





The night watchman blows his horn in the direction of the 4 quadrants of the compass every 15 minutes from the tower, between 21:15 and 01:00. He has been doing this for centuries. Apparently this 'scheme' is still 'active' but we have not heard him (yet). This feature on the harbour breakwater however reminds us of it:





At the moment (just after 8 pm), it is blowing 20 knots with intermittent rain. But all forecasts predict a light 6 know north westerly tomorrow, ideal for the leg to our final Swedish port, Gislövs Läge.

Location:Segelgatan,Ystad,Sweden

Saturday, August 17, 2013

"The Cape Horn of the North"

Today we passed Sandhammaren, the SE corner of Skåne. According to 'the books', it is known as the 'Cape Horn of the North', due to the many ships that have been lost there. Today it did not live up to its name, it was all relatively calm:





Also this nice ship that we encountered will have passed it unscathed:





We are now in Ystad and plan to stay here tomorrow. It is predicted to be a bit windy, but even if it is not we like a break before continuing. The atmosphere in the marina is nice, lots of German, plus some Danish and Dutch boats, not that many Swedes. This is clearly 'a stop on the way home'. There are also lots of ferries, to Poland, Germany and the Danish island of Bornholm.
Tomorrow, we'll explore the town itself.

Location:Spanienfararegatan,Ystad,Sweden

Friday, August 16, 2013

Simrishamn

As planned we left Åhus relatively early, before 8. It was overcast and a bit 'hazy' all morning. Enough visibility (even the small Swedish marks were quite easy to find from 2 miles away), but not crystal clear like the past few days. The wind was quite light and the sea a bit choppy but not too bad: a bit of water over the bows every now and then. After just over 4 hours we reached Simrishamn. This is sort of a strategic harbour for us 'Baltic Navigators' as it is either at the end of the beginning of the 'Hanö Bukt', with Karlskrona or Utklippan at the other end. The South coast of Skåne with Denmark beyond, lies in front of us now. One day to Ystad, one day to Gislövs Läge and then probably Rödvig in Denmark although at the moment it seems that Sunday will be a day of (enforced) rest in Ystad. After that, it looks like we have some nice weather with light winds coming our way.

Back to Simrishamn. The most remarkable feature is the St Nikolai church. The first part of it was built in 1161 and it is still standing. The church never burned down and was never ransacked, which is very unusual. It also means that it (or rather part of it) is now more than 850 years old. To put this in perspective, that is well over twice as old as the oldest building in South Africa, the Castle in Cape Town. It was then a small chapel, used by the eel fishermen. Eel is still a big thing around here, the Skåne east coast is known as the eel coast.

Here is an external and an internal shot of the St. Nikolai Kirke:








Location:Strandvägen,Simrishamn,Sweden

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Karlshamn to Åhus

Just after we left Karlshamn this morning, we passed the last 'skär' of this year's trip. We really have enjoyed these little rocky islands, hiding behind them from the waves and looking at the beauty of several 'skärgårds' has been a real pleasure. Now we were out in the open again, and I took a little video to show what it's like on a relatively quiet day 'out at sea'. Just click below, it should connect to a YouTube video:


YouTube Video


We chose Åhus as a destination, just because it was 'the right distance'. We like to do stretches of about 4 hours as it does cover some distance but also gets you to the next place in time to explore and relax. This is no race, after all.
The Åhus approach was not very inviting, a few silos hinted at something industrial. But we knew that the guest harbour was just a few hundred metres up the little river and what a nice surprise: a nice boardwalk next to a small old town. The town dates from the 13th century, at least at that time there was a fort as well as a monastery both of which are now only visible as a few ruins. These days the town is known for the 'eel industry' as well as for 'Absolute Vodka', which is produced in a factory right at the harbour here. They tell us that ALL Absolute Vodka comes from Åhus.

We are now in our last Swedish province, Skãne. These provinces have no political or administrative meaning anymore, but certainly have strong historical and cultural connotations. When I though about that this morning, I remembered a book I read as a boy by a Swedish writer, Selma Lagerlöff, called 'Nils Holgerson's Adventures'. So I 'Googled' the book and it is a Swedish classic, which apparently was written to teach Swedish geography and culture in schools. So famous, that 'Nils' appears on the 20 SEK banknote. Here he is, on the back of his goose:





If you want to know more, the book is available on Kindle and is even free of charge!

Finally, a picture of the eel restaurant across the water from our mooring:





Our plan is to leave early tomorrow for a 4 hour trip to Simrishamn, a harbour on the South East coast of Skåne. From there it's mainly going West until we get to Denmark....

Location:Gamla Skeppsbron,Kristianstad,Sweden

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Karlshamn, not Hällevik

Yesterday, I wrote that we would go to Karlshamn or Hällevik, depending on the conditions. Well, both wind and sea conditions were a bit more than we liked. Going through the skärgård here means you get into the 'open sea' every now and then. As there are (partly) submerged rocks around, you need to keep alert. Sometimes they are marked with a buoy and sometimes you are supposed to spot them yourself (usually the slightly less submerged ones). Here are two examples:

Easy to see.




A bit less easy....



And of course when you have these on both sides, you cannot steer 'on the waves' and anything from the side makes you roll.

Anyway, we decided that Karlshamn was far enough. We went to the club harbour rather than the town harbour, based on 'what the book says'. The book was right (again), the town harbour is next to a parking lot / busy road and the club harbour in between the trees. A friendly harbour master came to check us in and offered us bicycles on loan to go to the town, 2.5 KM down the road.

We notice the season is changing quickly: Lyn reported that the bilges (where we store some of the food) are getting colder. They are 'water cooled'. The harbour master told me that he had to abandon the plan to go swim with his grandson as the water temperature is 14C... That fits together!
Also, the flag comes in before 9pm now as the sun sets earlier than that. A few weeks ago it was still light at 10...

So we continue to move South and West. Tomorrow we hope it will be a place called Åhus. Just over 20 miles, forecast is good.

Location:Karlshamn,Sweden

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Karön

We woke up around 7 to the sounds of activity on the jetty. The wind had dropped during the night and people were getting ready to leave. We looked at the short term forecast, and indeed there was a nice 'gap' for the morning. We had coffee and breakfast and just after 7:30 we were on our way. First nicely sheltered in the Karlskrona skärgård, then through the Hasslöbron (bron= bridge), which is 4m high so we could pass underneath with the mast down whilst the yachts had to wait. Then we got to a bit of open water, but the wind was light and the swell that remained from yesterday's wind was not a problem as it was long. No water on deck in spite of the waves being quite high. Then we got to Ronnebyhamn, where we had a choice between the main marina on the mainland and the jetty on the Karön island opposite. Needless to say that we opted for Karön. We were the first to arrive, then our Danish neighbours from last night (unfortunately their English is only slightly better that our Danish, they are very friendly people!) and finally two other motorboats. So here we are:





The weather currently is a bit unstable with lots of rain showers. But for tomorrow it looks like we can carry on, at least to Karlshamn which is just 17 miles to the west or - if the wind and waves are kind - to Hällevik, to the South West.

Location:Ekenäsvägen,Ronneby,Sweden

Monday, August 12, 2013

A World Heritage City?

We seemed to be quite busy today. Checking the vital statistics of the boat (filters, oil, diesel, coolant) needs to be done from time to time and today was a good opportunity. Lyn did quite a bit of work and I did some trip / route planning for the next week or so.
It was therefore after 4 when we finally got to explore Karlskrona further than the supermarket. That was a big disappointment. It is claimed that this is a World Heritage City, but we found it to be run down, poorly maintained and full of construction sites. We have by now seen quite a few Swedish towns and lets say that Karlskrona is not anywhere near the top of the list.....
In the meantime, the weather gap that was predicted for tomorrow morning seems to be disappearing. So we may well be here a bit longer. That's no problem, the marina is well sheltered and the showers are hot. The atmosphere amongst the (mainly Dutch) 'flotilla' is good. The supermarket is 10 minutes away, the Kindle is full of books and we have plenty to do.
If we do indeed stay here tomorrow, Wednesday seems 'out' as well. After that, the outlook is a bit better. Remember: 'A patient skipper always has good weather'!

In the absence of a nice Karlskrona picture, here is a rare one of both of us on the front deck of Onbekommerd. Courtesy of Gwilym, taken in Kalmar:





Location:Argongatan,Karlskrona,Sweden

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Wind in Karlskrona

As predicted it is quite windy. The result is that not only Onbekommerd but many other vessels have decided to keep to the safety of the harbour. No- one has left today, a few have arrived. So the harbour, which had lots of empty spaces when we arrived yesterday midday, is now full and people are 'rafting up', meaning tying up next to each other.
There are many nationalities, but not a lot of Swedes: they seem to have all retracted in their home ports. The season is practically over, the schools go back in a week's time.
Many boats are on their way 'home', some at leisure (like us), some a bit more driven. You see the same people in the next harbour, or two harbours further and you get to know each other. You chat and exchange experiences, how was your trip, did you take the narrow channel or the easy one and so on. It's quite a nice 'community'.
There is one yacht with an Austrian couple that we have seen off and on since we were still in the Göta canal. The last few days we ended up in the same ports and last night we were invited for a glass of wine on their boat. They - like quite a few others - keep their boat for the winter in a North German winter storage.

No pictures of Karlskrona today. We spent most of the day working and reading on board, just a visit to the supermarket got us off. Swedish supermarkets tend to be open from 8am to 8pm, seven days a week (at least in summer), which is very handy. No 'long term food planning' needed!

But tomorrow we'll still be here (the long term wind forecasts don't look promising at all), so a visit to the town (a World Heritage Town, apparently) is in the offing.

Saturday, August 10, 2013

To Karlskrona

As we woke up today at 7, we could hear boats moving all around us. Clearly everyone was leaving early! We had planned to leave a 8, but as there was no wind we just had a cup of coffee and decided to have breakfast 'en route'. So just before 7:30 we were off. An hour later we passed the windmills:





Then we got to Torhamns Udde, the South Eastern point of mainland Sweden and tucked into a narrow channel that leads into the last skärgård of this year's trip, the Karlskrona skärgård. As always, there are yachts moored in the typical Swedish fashion: nose tied to a spike or ring in a rock and a back anchor:





Each day you will see literally hundreds of yachts anchored this way. We have not done it yet, but hopefully next year the day will come!

By midday and 30 miles later, we were in Karlskrona. As the weather forecast for the next few days predicts quite a lot of wind and we'll soon be out of the skärgård, we will wait here for a few days. Karlskrona is an old maritime city and will surely yield some interesting tidbits for tomorrow's post!

Location:Argongatan,Karlskrona,Sweden