This is "Onbekommerd"!

Monday, June 30, 2014

Faaborg

The trip from Lyø to Faaborg took only an hour. On arrival we treated ourselves to smoked mackerel and potato salad in the 'Røgeri', a small stall where fish is smoked and sold and which you find in many Danish harbours.

From the water you can clearly see the bell tower (which was covered in scaffolding when we were here two years ago):








The bell tower was part of what was first a monastery and later the St Nicolai church in the 16th century. The King (we don't know which one) ordered the church to be pulled down, but allowed the bell tower to stand, which it does to these days.

Faaborg is a pretty Funen town with quite a few characteristic wooden framed houses, of which these are probably the nicest:








The weather continues to be very pleasant although quite cool.
We'll probably move to Avernakø, again just an hour away, tomorrow.


Location:Kildetoften,Faaborg-Midtfyn,Denmark

Sunday, June 29, 2014

Lyø extended

We had a short 'palaver' (the Dutch word for a captains meeting) this morning. This is not a very formal occasion: as we are moored in adjacent berths, we look at each other and say "what shall we do today" (well, in Dutch of course!):





The decision was to stay an extra day. The weather was good and the island scenic and needing further exploration.

This is one of the old farms as seen from the boat:





Our walk first took us to the church with the circular graveyard:





The design of these churches is typical for these Danish islands, we know that we'll come across many more in the next few weeks.

From there, we walked to the 3500 year old burial mound.





If you hit the top stone with a small rock, it sounds like a bell, hence the name 'Klokkesten'.

After visiting this feature, we continued along the shore from where you have nice views over the surrounding water and the islands in the distance:





This evening, during and after drinks on 'Jildou', we followed the Netherlands - Mexico football match via a live feed. Of course we were thrilled to see the Netherlands win in the end!

Faaborg tomorrow.

Location:Molevej,Faaborg-Midtfyn,Denmark

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Lyø

After pulling up the anchor at 9, we reached Lyø before 1pm. Lyø is the most western island of the archipelago south of Funen. We have not been here before. Whilst being quite a typical small Danish island, it has an interesting history and is also very scenic. There are burial mounds dating back to 3500BC (we are going to see them tomorrow and will post a picture).
In 1223 king Valdemar was hunting here and was taken prisoner by a German Count von Schwerin (we have not established yet why the German Count and the Danish King were on this small island at the same time....). And the current population (which by our observation is quite small) descends from 24 families that were banned here after they revolted against their squire in 1540. I find this somewhat worrying with respect to the quality of the gene pool, but that's the story.
This evening we took a walk towards the East and spotted many birds as well as two deer. All very nice! Tomorrow, apart from going to see the burial mounds, we'll visit the church and the graveyard there ('Denmark loveliest graveyard', the brochure announces).
Hopefully, tomorrow's blogpost will have some pictures of all of that. Around midday we plan to go to Faaborg, just an hour away from here.


Location:Lyø Havn,Faaborg-Midtfyn,Denmark

Friday, June 27, 2014

At anchor - Dyvig

We had a relatively quiet day today. The four of us borrowed bicycles from the hotel where the yacht harbour is and cycled to Nordborg and around the lake there. Very scenic at times and good fun!






When we got back to the boats, we left the jetty and anchored a few hundred metres away. It appears that more boats anchor in this bay then tie up in the harbour at the hotel. There is also a marina which is quite full of local boats and it does not look as if many visitors go there.

This is taken from our anchorage:





The plan is to go to Lyø tomorrow, a small island just before you get to Faaborg which is on Funen.

Location:E Govl,Sonderborg,Denmark

Thursday, June 26, 2014

Dyvig

Dyvig is a little bay on the Danish island of Als that we enjoy coming back to. In our 2012 blogpost it was called the 'smukkigste bugt' (most beautiful bay) in Denmark, if this is really true we don't know but it rates highly!

We had a nice wind-free crossing from Schleimünde to Sönderborg. En route we changed the courtesy flag:





As you can see, I had to hold it due to lack of wind!

In Sönderborg we bought data for the iPads and as was the case the last few years we have excellent connectivity.

Soon after leaving Sönderborg, a rainstorm threatened:








But not a lot of rain came our way and soon we got to Dyvig:





With Jildou behind us:



We'll stay here for two nights, currently tied up on the jetty but we may well anchor in the bay tomorrow.

More then!

Schleimünde

Quite some time has passed since the last 'proper' blogpost. Apologies for that, at first there was not a lot to report and then we had no serviceable Internet. As I write this, we have no Internet at all, but that is due to the remoteness of our location (more later) and I hope to post this tomorrow from our first Denmark stop, in Sønderborg.

After the last post, we spent two more days in Rendsburg, waiting for the wind to drop. Normally, we would have proceeded to Laboe, near Kiel but due to 'Kieler Woche' there were no moorings available there, plus we were waiting for some spares for our hydraulic steering cylinder to arrive from Holland, so Rendsburg it was. We once went back to the 'ship greeting station' at the canal (see earlier post) in order to see the 42000 tonne cruise liner 'Europa 2' pass. This is about the biggest ship that can pass through the canal, it just fits underneath the 40m bridge:





On Tuesday morning we finally left. We were lucky with the locks at Kiel-Holtenau, only a 15 minute wait or so and we were allowed in. When the lock doors start to open, you are finally in the Baltic!





Getting out of the Kieler Förde plus the firs few miles outside was hard work due to the heavy traffic as well as the regatta courses for the many classes that race here this week. We did not spot the 420 class, where our friends Asenathi and Roger from Cape Town are competing.

After that is became more relaxed and a few hours later we tied up in Kappeln for the 'shopping for beer and wine before Denmark' expedition (alcoholic drinks are very expensive in Scandinavia, so everyone stocks up in the last German port, of which 'Praetorius' in Kappeln makes good use!

This afternoon, we left Kappeln and went back to the mouth of the Schlei, Schleimünde. This is a tiny harbour on an isthmus which is separated from the accessible mainland by a nature reserve. The result is that can only access it by boat. Some passenger ships come during the day, but after about 5pm it's just pleasure craft. It's a uniquely quiet experience.
As the weather is great, we could fire up the Cobb:





And the view towards the Baltic is very nice:





As in most places in the Baltic, the water is very clear, this picture shows what one can see underwater:





I really hope this will all post ok tomorrow when we set up our Danish Internet. We'll make a short stop in Sönderborg to organise all of that and then continue to Dyvig, a quite remote bay on the island of Als. I'm not sure what the connection will be from there, so if there is another gap in the blogposts, you know the reason!

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Baltic 24/6/14

Today we seem to have virtually no Internet connection.
So suffice it to say we are in Kappeln, the last German harbour before we move to Denmark which will probably be in 2 days time as we have a few things to sort out first.
More soon, we hope!

Location:Kappeln

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Midsummer?

Today, 21 June, is the summer solstice. In these regions, it is referred to as 'Midsummer'. During the night, the wind and rain were lashing the boat and - for the first time in weeks - I have put on a pullover this morning! So it's all relative, I guess.





Rumour has it that during Kieler Woche, which starts today, this is 'traditional weather'. We, in the meantime, are still in Rendsburg. There are several reasons for this: although the first few hours from here, through the canal, are protected, once out of the Holtenau locks you are first in the Kieler Förde and after that in the Kieler Bucht which is unprotected. And with berths around Kiel in very short supply this week, chances are that we would have to carry on beyond Kiel. Also, we are awaiting the arrival of an envelope containing a few rubber o-rings with which to fix a small oil leak in our steering cylinder. The leak is not as bad as to stop us carrying on (just a drop or two when turning the rudder from full starboard to full port, we have just topped up the hydraulic oil for the first time), but it will certainly not get better and probably get worse so it would be good to have the spares available. The envelope is on its way and will hopefully arrive on Monday.

But we are comfortable here, so it's no problem.

Yesterday, we walked to the famous 'hanging ferry' ( see previous blogposts). We have passed it several times on the canal now, so we thought it might be interesting to see it from the other side. We actually took the trip to the other side (and back). It's an interesting contraption, which - in addition to pedestrians, motorbikes and bicycles - takes 4 passenger cars, a total of 7.5 tonnes.
Next to the ferry bridge is the "Ships Welcome Point". A voice on a PA system announces every ship (not yachts, just big ships), explains how big it is, where it comes from and where it is going and how much canal dues it has to pay (for a biggish ship about €5000, it seems. We pay €12). Then the national anthem of the country where the ship is registered is played and the German flag is 'dipped' to half mast as a salute. Usually a ship's officer emerges to wave, but the return greeting (dipping the ship's flag) does not seem to happen a lot.
I think remembering that some 40000 ships pass the canal annually (it is claimed to be the world's busiest artificial waterway) of which the yachts are only a small proportion, so there must be a lot of 'welcoming' taking place here (although I doubt it happens at night too).

Location:Schwarzer Stieg,Rendsburg,Germany

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Special photo blogpost

Whist we are in Rendsburg waiting for the wind to drop a bit, here are some pictures of Onbekommerd 'at sea'. Those are sort of rare, you can't take these shots yourself. So thanks to Jaap en Feikje on 'Jildou' for doing that for us!

In the Wilhelmshaven lock. In big locks we wear our life jackets. You often need to get out on the low and sometimes slippery floating jetty to tie on.





On the Weser (with apologies for the fender which fell out during a 'roll' and we don't go out on deck in a breeze if we don't have to....)




On the Elbe:




In the Brunsbüttel lock. Fortunately they let us out before the big ones start their propellers:




In front of the 'hanging ferry' over the Kiel canal near Rendsburg.



Location:Timm-Kröger-Straße,Rendsburg,Germany

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Bremerhaven to Rendsburg

Now that we have sort of decent Internet connection again (having 5GB of data is useless if there is no coverage), we can tell about the last few days.

When we left Bremerhaven, the tide was very low and we had to navigate the river Geeste through the mud banks:





But soon, after the 'Tidensperrwerk' (tidal lock), the river (and later the canal) became quite pleasant although somewhat shallow and therefore not easy to navigate.

We overnighted in Berdekesa and went on to Otterndorf where you get onto the river Elbe. This is always a challenge, it is the river which leads to Hamburg and is navigated by big ships which pass you (or come towards you) at a speed of 16 to 20 knots. They pull huge waves and in fact the only two times we have had 'green water' on deck (meaning that the bow is covered in water) have been on the Elbe. No problem, as long as you steer into the waves.
We are still with Jildou, here is a picture (but not during a wild wave!)





With the tide behind us, the 9 miles from Otterndorf to Brunsbüttel were covered in just over an hour. We were very luck with the lock into the Kiel Canal, sometimes you have to wait, floating around in the river for an hour or more, but this time we could go straight into the lock. No, not the pleasure craft lock, the big lock which you share with some ships of up to 40000 tonnes (we are 10....).
After the lock we tied up in the yacht basin which is literally meters away from the locks. Here you can see both chambers, one locking 'out', the other one 'in'.




The process goes on all night and you hear the churning of propellers during your sleep. But it's a unique experience which we enjoy. Also you get the feeling that you are almost in the Baltic, only 100km of canal and one set of locks to go! Everyone here is either on its way to or coming from Kiel.

This morning we left at 9 for the first canal stretch (we do it in two days). The canal was relatively busy with big ships so no time to get bored. After 60 KM you get to the famous railway bridge with the hanging ferry:



A few kilometres later you turn off to Rendsburg, which is a good place to break the journey (not many people do the canal in one day and there are few alternatives).

So here we are, we have watched the Netherlands beat Australia in the football World Cup (not very convincingly, I'm afraid). And we have eaten ashore in the excellent restaurant at the yacht club.

Tomorrow, the weather forecast does not look too great, so we might well stay another day.

Location:Am Obereiderhafen,Rendsburg,Germany

Brunsbüttel 17/6/14

We have got exceptionally bad Internet coverage, so suffice it to report that we have had a good trip to Brunsbüttel at the start of the Kiel canal. Two more days to the Baltic. Hopefully more plus pictures tomorrow from Rendsburg.

Location:Brunsbüttel

Sunday, June 15, 2014

Bremerhaven

We had an 11am lock slot booked for this morning, but again a big commercial 'set' caused some delay:





Once they were out of the lock, our group of four plus another Dutch motor yacht got locked out into the Jade. Once out, the wind was a bit stronger than anticipated and we had to do about an hour and a half into the tide. By the time we got into the Kaiserbalje, we were 20 minuted behind schedule but then the current started to work in our advantage. We crossed the 'Hohe Weg', the shallow part between Weser and Jade using the Kaiserbalje and the Mittelpriel and by the time we got to the Weser we were almost on schedule. That was good, because now we had wind as well as tide pushing us up the river past the container berths. By now the wind was around 5Bft (say 18 knots), so Wim and Zwiertje who steer from the upstairs deck got a bit wind blown:






Closer to Bremerhaven, there was a bit more traffic, this tug was waiting for its 'load':





Finally, about 6 hours after leaving our berth in Wilhelmshaven, we tied up in Bremerhaven. The drinks on board 'Avontuur', Johan and Mieke's boat were deserved and appreciated!

As Mar Mar is too high to go through the Geeste (2.85 m vs a 2.70 m bridge), we are going to split up here. "Mar Mar" and "Avontuur" are going up the Weser and from there the long way through the canals, probably to Lübeck whilst "Jildou" with Jaap en Feikje and "Onbekommerd" will take the Geeste, Elbe and Kiel Canal. The plan is to meet somewhere either in a Denmark or Northern Germany in a few weeks time again!

Location:Schleusenstraße,Bremerhaven,Germany

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Dutch football!

We are still in Wilhelmshaven, the wind 'outside' is just a bit stronger than we like, so we'll continue to Bremerhaven tomorrow, when the predicted conditions look good. Earlier, we considered to go to Cuxhaven from here, either via Wangerooge or direct, but the continuing Northerly winds make that an unattractive option with lots of rolling of the boats.

Last night, we of course watched the Netherlands - Spain game in the FIFA World Cup and were delighted with the 5-1 victory of our team! We watched it, as the opening match the day before, on the Mar Mar which can hold all 8 of us and has excellent hospitality, thank you, Wim and Zwiertje! For each Dutch goal Wim sounded the air horn.

No pictures tonight, the plan is to organise a locking around 11am and we should be in Bremerhaven by 5pm.

Location:Südstrand,Wilhelmshaven,Germany

Friday, June 13, 2014

Wilhelmshaven - through the Ems - Jade canal

I am a bit late with this blogpost, having watched the opening match of the Football World Cup last night on board the Mar Mar, one of our flotilla boats. We don't usually get to bed at midnight!

We spent the whole day doing the stretch from Aurich to Wilhelmshaven. It's about 25 miles, but the 4.5 knot speed limit, 4 locks and 16 bridges that have to open make the progress a bit slow.
But it's a very nice experience. And the service one gets from the lock- and bridge keepers is fantastic! Once you are 'in the system', you get 'passed on' from bridge to bridge / lock. Either the bridge keeper comes with you on his bicycle or in his car or he 'phones the keeper of the next 'set' so that the bridge or lock is normally ready for you when you arrive.
And they are all very friendly and helpful, which seems to be the case with most people here in 'Ostfriesland'!

Some of the bridges are still manually operated:





They would do all of this even for one boat, but there were 4 of us:





We had a bit of a scare when one of the bridges would not open, but half an hour's wait solved the problem.





And the railway bridge which caused the concerns in Emden a few days ago also lifted to our relief:





So we are in Wilhelmshaven now. We'll take a day's rest (the wind is a bit too strong to go 'out in the open' anyway) and make a decision on when to leave and how to get to the Elbe later on.

Location:Südstrand,Wilhelmshaven,Germany

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Aurich

As you may have seen from the previous post, the problems in the canal have been solved.
So our '4 boat flotilla' continued its merry way this morning and are now in Aurich, a town with good facilities for boats and also good possibilities to do some provisioning.
And we managed to lay our hands on a good SIM card for one of the iPads which means that - using the personal hotspot feature - we have Internet on all our devices.
We also did the washing (good washing machines and dryers here), so we had a busy afternoon. Too busy to get interesting pictures......

Tomorrow we'll continue to Wilhelmshaven, from there the weather (which - by the way - is great at the moment) will start playing a role again.

Location:Tannenbergstraße,Aurich,Germany

One of those days..... Emden 10/6/14

Today was one of those days that nothing goes as planned. Bit frustrating but no real hassle.

Last night's fireworks were really great, we estimate the cost at about the GDP of Zimbabwe, no 'bezuinigingen' - cutbacks - at Wagenborg, the sponsor of the fireworks.

We had planned to leave at 8, but a very dark could threatened to dump lots of rain, accompanied by strong winds upon us, so we waited a bit and left at 8:40. In itself not a problem, but the first occurrence in a string of delays. The tide nicely carried us up the river Ems to Emden. About 20 minutes out I called the lock on the VHF and asked when we could expect a lockage. Good news, in 30 minutes the current lockage 'out' would be finished and we could come 'in'. Just tie up on the waiting jetty....
A few minutes later, I could hear a ship further out to sea "this is BOA SUB C, we want to lock 'in' and enter the lock reversing". BOA SUB C is a big cable layer. It needs to turn around (very slowly), reverse into the lock (very slowly), once it has tied up, we - the pleasure craft, by now 8 in total - can enter and tie up behind the BOA SUB C. Then the BOA SUB C reverses out of the lock (very slowly) and we can get out as well. So we are going to miss the 11:40 opening of the railway bridge.

Here are some pictures:




Tied on to the waiting jetty.




BOA SUB C arrives.




Behind BOA SUB C in the lock.


Eventually, we get to the railway bridge around 12. The next opening - according to all information on the Internet and the books - is at 13:30. So we find a place to tie up (no waiting jetties here...) and have lunch. 13:30 comes and goes, so I 'phone the Emden bridge department and ask when the bridge will open. In 10 minutes, they say. And yes, 10 minutes later the lights indicate that something will happen. We untie the boat and the road bridges on either side of the railway bridge open. But no movement in the railway bridge itself. Then my phone rings: the bridge department tells me that the railway bridge is broken. Only option is to take a detour through two locks. So now we are still in Emden, tied up near the Kesselschleuse (a very interesting lock with a round chamber and 4 doors). The O2 shop has run out of prepaid SIM cards for iPads, so I am going to have to save this post for later.

Late news: the rumour from the boat tied up in front of us is that something in the Ems - Jade canal past Aurich is out of order and the canal is closed. That would mean an entire change of plans!

Even later: fortunately the problem (a motor at one of the bridges for which no spare was available) has been resolved and the canal is open all the way!

Location:Kesselschleuse, Emden

Monday, June 9, 2014

Delfzijl - Pinksterfeest

We did about 15 miles to Delfzijl today. A relatively boring stretch along a straight canal, but the bridges operated promptly and the lock at the end was opening as we arrived so it all was painless and 3 hours after leaving Groningen we were tied up in the tidal yacht club harbour of Delfzijl, the last town before leaving The Netherlands.

This weekend, including today, Monday, is 'Pinksteren', Pentecost or Whitsunday (and Whit Monday) in English. This brings the 'Pinksterfeesten' to Delfzijl:






The harbour is an essential part of this event, but there also is a 'kermis' (fun fair) and a big stage with pop music:











And at 11 tonight, it will all be ended with fireworks (can't be earlier as it's light until 10:30).

Good fun!

Tomorrow, the plan is to leave relatively early (8 am) and take the incoming tide to Emden. From there onto the Ems - Jade canal in two days to Wilhelmshaven (this is all in Germany). We have decided to take this slightly faster route instead of the Wadden islands route as we are relatively keen to get to the Baltic.

In Germany we - at this stage - don't have 3G Internet capability so we rely on wifi which is not uniformly available. We'll try to get a 3G solution at our overnight stop (Aurich) tomorrow, but if that does not work the next blog post may well come from Wilhelmshaven.

Location:Oude Schans,Delfzijl,The Netherlands

Saturday, June 7, 2014

Groningen

When we woke up at our place in the wild on the Reitdiep, it was glorious weather and we could see how pretty that little river really is. This is the view behind the boat:





After a leisurely breakfast, we went on to Groningen. The idea was to take the quicker route around the city but when we got to the second low bridge it had just gone out of action. We waited about an hour and a half in the hope the problem would be resolved quickly. By that time, quite a few big commercial boats were also waiting and as these would be getting priority at the lock just after the bridge, we decided that the route through the city would be better after all. We had never done this before and it was quite nice. Before you get to the city itself it's quite rural. How about this solution to cutting the verges of the river:





Those are a LOT of sheep in a small area with a lot of tall grass. They must have starved the poor sheep overnight, as they were going wild!

As you get nearer the city the surroundings change and it gets more built up:





Later on you go almost through the centre, but by then we were too busy with many lifting bridges and not much room to manoeuvre to get any nice pictures.

This morning we bought a completely collapsible picknic table and two chairs. Now we have a 'patio' for our Cobb! Pictures to follow when we first use the whole setup.

Two of the three boats that are going to join us to the Baltic have now also arrived here, the last one is due tomorrow. We'll then decide on the plan for the trip through Germany and report back on the blog.

Finally: some very young visitors at lunchtime!





Location:Oosterkade,Groningen,The Netherlands

Thursday, June 5, 2014

Reitdiep

We left Zoutkamp and did a short two hour stretch along the Reitdiep before tying up at a few poles along this stream for the afternoon and night. We don't really want to get to Groningen before tomorrow and it's only a few more hours away. So here we are, almost literally in the middle of nowhere. It's after 7pm which means that neither the bridge a mile behind us or the one two miles ahead will be operated which means a: we are 'stuck' and b: there will be no shipping during the night, both of which suit us fine!
To get back to Zoutkamp: this used to be a thriving fishing town before the Lauwerszee was closed off and became Lauwersmeer. But there still are fishing boats in the harbour:





And fisherman's houses along the river:





The coming days will see the Zoutkamp festival, complete with 'kermis' (fun fair) and numerous other attractions which were being set up as we left this relatively attractive setting.

Location:Winsum,The Netherlands

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Zoutkamp

We left Schiermonnikoog at 1 pm as planned. A nice easy trip to Lauwersoog, then through the lock and over the Lauwersmeer to Zoutkamp. We stopped at a yacht harbour to buy a new gas bottle and because of that delay we got caught in a big rain storm when we were busy tying up!
One of our 'mates' from our last flotilla also happens to be here.
Otherwise not much to report. The Internet connection is very slow (GPRS), so no pictures tonight (not that there is all that much to show, apart from a duck catching a nice big eel right in front of us here in the harbour).
Tomorrow we'll do a short stretch up the Reitdiep towards Groningen. We don't really want to get there before Friday so we'll stop 'in the wild' on the banks of the river before Groningen. Assuming we have an adequate Internet connection, we'll report again tomorrow night.

Location:Reitdiepskade,Zoutkamp,The Netherlands

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Still Schiermonnikoog

We are still on Schiermonnikoog, but the other 5 of our flotilla have left.
Last night we had a farewell session with some drinks and a nice sunset:








And once the tide allowed, around 2pm, the boats left the harbour:




















We then had a cycle / walk on the island. Tomorrow early afternoon we'll also leave to go through the lock at Lauwersoog. In the days thereafter we'll make our way to Groningen where we'll assemble a small (4 boat) flotilla to start the trip to the Baltic.


Late addition:

As we went for a quick walk to the end of the jetty, we noticed this group of school kids on the wad. There always are some school classes on the island, clearly for a school trip. And what better experience for them than a walk on the wad ('wadlopen' in Dutch) at low tide.... And near sunset too!





Location:Schiermonnikoog,The Netherlands