If you like accordions, you should be here......!

This weekend is accordion festival in Marstad (they call them 'harmonica' in Danish).
This morning, there were accordion groups and single accordion players all over town. Here is a selection:














Apart from that, the island of Ærø, where Marstal is, hosts a section of the 'Archipelago trail', a walking trail in south Funen. We had done the Søby to Æroskøbing part two years ago, so this morning we took the bus to Æroskøbing to do the section from there to Marstal. It was a 16Km walk through fields, bushes and villages. Very nice!





On the way there were some typical Scandinavian 'honesty stalls' where local produce is sold.





When we got back to the boat, we felt that we had earned a good meal so we indulged in the first 'Cobb' of the season!

Location:Marstal,Denmark

Marstal

The weather has made a serious turn for the better today and it looks like in general it will be quite nice for the foreseeable future with only now and then a bit of wind or a bit of rain.
Today's short trip from Bagenkop to Marstal was Baltic at its best:







Yesterday, in Begenkop, it appeared that the Danes were still hibernating. There was not a single Danish boat in the guest harbour. Only Germans (men only, that's what they do....), one Brit and us.

Today, the nice weather plus the impending weekend has brought out the Danes in droves. It was quiet when we arrived just after 1, now it's quite full.





But there is something else attracting all these people. What?
Read all about it tomorrow!

Location:Marstal,Denmark

Denmark!

Just a very quick and short post to say we are in Denmark.

The lock-Gods were indeed very kind to us once again: as we approached the lock the famous white flashing light came on and in addition the lock master told the 'sportboote' in German as well as in English (!) that we could lock out of the canal now.

Once out in the Kieler Förde (where the water is blue and not brown as it has been for the past week or so) there was a bit of rain but the visibility and the weather forecasts were good enough to encourage us to continue straight to Bagenkop on Langeland in Denmark.

The trip was quite comfortable with a bit of water over the deck but nothing hectic and by 5:20 we were in Bagenkop. Yes, a long day (we left at 8:30 this morning), but worth it.

We will have a lazy morning and then do the 2 hours or so to Marstal where we plan to stay a few days as the wind is expected to pick up after tomorrow.





Here I am changing the German courtesy flag for the Danish one!

Location:Færgevej,Bagenkop,Denmark

In the Kiel canal

Yesterday, we did the first part of the Kiel canal, from Brunsbüttel to Rendsburg. It is 66Km so about 5 to 6 hours motoring. Usually, it is quite busy with commercial traffic, sometimes really big ships. Yesterday however it was very quiet, jus a handful of ships. On arrival at Rendsburg, we filled up with diesel and took a mooring. On the swimming platform of the boat next to us, a happy family occasion had just occurred:





We liked the proud mother and het offspring, there are probably more eggs but she was not moving!

We had a nice 'dinner on shore' with our new friends from the 'Nine Marit' and the 'Sierd Hiddes'. We usually eat out at the 'Riverside' restaurant at Rendsburg, good food at a reasonable price to celebrate the 'one day to the Baltic' mark!

This morning I had a surprise:








You may guess the occasion.....

At 8:30 we parted from the others and went back onto the canal for the final 33Km stretch. Today the traffic makes up for yesterday:









We currently have another 25Km to go to the Holtenau lock, which is often the one with a longish wait. We have done 47 locks so far and the 'lock Gods' have smiled upon us, so who knows. At that time we will also make a final weather assessment and decide if we are going to continue to Bagenkop in Denmark as is the current plan. More later....

Location:Sehestedt,Germany

Start of the Kiel Canal

My apologies for the scant information. Sunday we had a rest day in Bremerhaven with not a lot to report and yesterday we moved up the little river Geeste, the weather proof route between the Weser and Elbe rivers. Only for low motorboats or yachts with the mast flat though, as the lowest bridge is 2.70m. We spent the night at Berdekesa where the Internet signal is not good enough to upload a blogpost.
This morning, we left at 7 to get to the Otterndorf lock in time to catch the incoming tide up the Elbe to Brunsbüttel where the Kiel canal starts.
We have sort of teamed up with two other Dutch motorboats at least until Kiel where our ways will probably part.
The weather was pretty dismal today, the first 4 hours on the Geeste it rained and it was cold. When we got to the lock, the rain fortunately stopped.
By 12 we were through the lock and onto the Elbe, our last bit of tidal water this year! The Elbe is always a bit stressful as there is often a lot of seriously big shipping. Today it was relatively quiet, so that was good. The other 'problem' is that you have to float around on the river (in a prescribed 'waiting area') until you get given permission to enter the lock (a white flashing light on the lock is the magic signal). At times it can take an hour or more in a strongly flowing tide and some wind before all this happens. Our luck today however held and after less than half an hour we were invited into the lock. It's quite a big lock, with floating jetties that are just a few cm above the water line. And someone has to get off the boat to tie up as there are only rings, no bollards. This is when we wear lifejackets.





Just after the lock is the small 'pleasure craft harbour' of Brunsbüttel, where we are tied up now and will spend the night. On to Rendsburg tomorrow, two more days until we are in the Baltic!

Location:Gustav-Meyer-Platz,Brunsbüttel,Germany

Another early morning

The trip yesterday through the Küstenkanal was easy, not the most exiting stuff, 5 hours along a straight route. The canal appears to be full of Dutch boats, a bit like the Germans in Friesland. We had a short wait at the lock at the end and had a chat about our respective travel plans.





We dropped a few metres in the lock and tied up in the quite full harbour of Oldenburg. A relatively nice old university town, but the weather was a bit iffy.
The next stretch is tidal again, first down the river Hunte to Elsfleth and then down the Weser to Bremerhaven. This can be done in a single tide as long as you leave within an hour of high tide. The only 'problem' was that high tide was at 4:30..... But the conditions today looked much better than tomorrow, so we set the alarm clock for 4:30, woke up by ourselves at 4:25 anyway and we're off the mooring at 4:45 and through the railway bridge at 4:55 (fortunately it operates 24/7 and the lady operator was not even surprised when I requested an opening via the VHF).

As always, the morning light was beautiful. It was just getting light as we left, sunrise was only at 5:19.











The heron (and the duck you can just see) were clearly up early too!

With the tide behind us, we were doing up to 9.5 knots and at exactly 9 we were in the lock leading into the marina in Bremerhaven:





This is a nice and comfortable marina with excellent facilities (including Internet) and after all these long days with lots of miles, we are going to have a rest day tomorrow!

Location:Am Neuen Hafen,Bremerhaven,Germany

Onto the Küstenkanal

We had a really nice trip into Germany today.
Off the mooring at 6am to make use of the incoming tide up the rover.
It's nice to leave early, the sky always seems to look prettier and today there was no wind which made it even better:








The current got quite fierce, at some stage we did 10.4 knots and we were certainly not pushing the engine.








By 10am we were already at Papenburg, where the Meyer shipyard builds cruise liners.





The landscape along the river is really very attractive, the fact that it is tidal and that there are lots of little muddy creeks along the shore makes it even better. And there are sheep grazing as well.






Soon after Papenburg you get the first lock, after which the river is no longer tidal. By now we were 'stuck behind a barge, which is not a bad thing as the locks as a rule don't operate for pleasure craft on their own, but you can 'hitch a ride' with commercial traffic. We fitted into this lock (Herbrum) and the next one (Bollingerfähr) with the barge and 4 other pleasure craft. The next lock (Dörpen) is smaller and only two of us could join the barge. Actually, we would have been fourth and having to wait but two of the others (#2 and 3) wanted to travel together so they let us in first.
So all in all it was a very pleasant day with lots of good fortune!
We are now in Surwold, 10 Km up the canal. Tomorrow we will do the remaining 55 Km to Oldenburg.

Rumour has it that there is free WiFi in this very friendly harbour, so I am going to try to upload this post now.