Wednesday 12 August 2009 at 09:17 am
Onrust presented on a larger map
After some morning rain, we had perfect conditions: sun and clouds and a northwest 4 to 5. The Onrust rushed with 6 knots back to her home harbour. We originally planned to stop in Edam, but we were there quite early and with rain forecasted for the next day, we decided to sail on to Naarden, where the Onrust will have her home for the coming years again. We arrived at 5pm and here ended our long journey. We have a few days to organise ourselves in Utrecht again and Monday we both start working again!
Wednesday 12 August 2009 at 09:15 am
One of those days that the wind forecast is completely wrong: we expected a northwest 3 to take us easily on the tide back to Kornwerderzand to enter the sluices to the IJsselmeer. However, we got opposition from a southeasterly wind and therefore changed our plans and made for the sluices in Den Oever. The first hour we had to go to the west on the engine against the 2 knots tide and after that we tagged lazily against the wind, while the upcoming tide transported us to the sluices. An hour before high water, the wind stopped completely and we had to turn on the engine again to be in Den Oever before the tide would turn against us.
The afternoon on the IJsselmeer brought much more wind, but still from the southeast. We tagged till Staveren and entered the harbour at 5pm.
Wednesday 12 August 2009 at 08:48 am
Bruin called that he would like to join us for a few days more. We appointed in Oude Schild on Texel today. We left Harlingen just before the gate would be closed again and with the current to Kornwerderzand with loads of yachts. It is nice to see how many yachts (and also more small ones) are sailing in Holland. It seems that here you see more smaller boats and families enjoying sailing. In Germany, but also Sweden and Finland the yachts are on average bigger and the average age of the crew higher (majority pensionados). We had a nice trip together with 10 other yachts and made a race. We did not do badly and finished in the middle with all boats being longer than we are. Bruin was already waiting on the quay, without a big suitcase today.
Wednesday 12 August 2009 at 08:48 am
Today we did a relaxing small trip to Harlingen with the upcoming tide. When we arrived at Harlingen the floodgate appeared closed. It is spring tide and around high tide they close to gate to prevent the quays from flooding. We waited with many boats till 1 hour after high tide and then entered altogether. We found a nice place in between to other small boats. That evening we had a great dinner in one of our favourite restaurants the Gastronoom.
Wednesday 12 August 2009 at 08:40 am
We did a familiar trip from Ameland to Terschelling over the Wad, along the Blauwe Balg and the Oosterom. This time we had no problems with grounding. It appeared that the boys were in the Oosterom were moved to the north to follow the new gully. 2.1 meter was the minimum depth we measured.
As ever there were many seals at the Blauwe Balg.
We arrived early in Terschelling and had no difficulty in finding a good place. There were many boats, but it was surely not full. We learned that when the Brandaris announces that terschelling is full, they mean the municipal harbour. When the marina is full this would be separately announced, nice to know!
Wednesday 12 August 2009 at 08:40 am
We stayed one day more on Ameland to relax and to bike and hike on the island. That evening we had spaghetti on board with the whole family.
Wednesday 12 August 2009 at 08:38 am
We called Annet at the camping of Ameland and the family came over to greet us. Nice to have Annet, Jesse and Mara as a welcome committee. We went to the beach and had a nice swim in the sea, where we last night sailed by. Anna (friend of Mara) arrived later and we had a nice Barbeque with mackerel caught by the boss of the fish shop that morning.
Wednesday 12 August 2009 at 08:37 am
We indeed managed to leave Cuxhafen in the middle of the night (2.45 am) in full darkness. When we left the harbour entrance we found two big vessels just passing by. In complete darkness this is quite a frightening experience. The first part we have to use our engine. The wind is against us, although still quite strong (4 Beaufort). There is a saying in German: ‘Mit 5 bis 5’. This means as much that with wind force 5 and more from westerly directions you can make it till the green Elbe boy number 5, but not beyond. At that point the Elbe mouth is still narrow. At Elbe boy number 1 the mouth widens quickly and with that the current reduces considerably and the wave heights reduce as well. We arrive at boy 5 in clear morning light. The wind has reduced to wind force 3 and indeed at that point the waves are highest (about 1 meter). At boy 1 the waves were gone, the current suddenly disappeared. We had safely crossed the German Bight in very good conditions!
The wind reduced further and unfortunately we had to use our engine further. Finally only when we were north of Wangerooge (the first German Wadden Island) we could start sailing. With a nice southeasterly 3 we had a relaxed trip to Norderney. At 4.30 pm we were at the Dovetief to enter Norderney. The wind was really perfect, nice weather and the temptation started to continue further west (to Ameland even?? Where we would meet Annet and children??). We made calculations and it appeared that indeed we would nicely arrive at low tide at Ameland’s outer boy at 6 am the next morning. This was the moment to get more experience in sailing through the night. Nice weather and good timing with currents and tide. We decided indeed to continue and left Norderney on our port.
We had a beautiful evening. When we crossed the Ems at Borkum the sky turned dark, although not really massif, also the wind increased to force 5. It looked somewhat threatening and we considered entering Borkum. The entrance between the islands of Borkum and Rottermerplaat (the mouth of the River Eems) was against the wind and later the current would also turn against us. We calculated we would arrive in Borkum at midnight. Not very tempting to enter in the darkness. We reviewed the clouds in a small book we have with sky patterns and expected weather conditions. We considered that these clouds just showed the warm humid air, which could bring some rain, but the weather would not change. Meteorological predictions without any knowledge… We decided to continue. We took away the main sail and only on the genua we had a comfortable speed of 5 knots we sailed into the night.
The full moon came and with all boys lightened we progressed quickly into the Netherlands. We passed some other yachts, just only top lights were visible. There were many fishing boats busy and it is difficult to manoeuvre between them. The lighthouse of Schiermonnikoog came into sight quickly. Also we could receive Shiermonnikoog traffic again and later also the Brandaris (light house at Terschelling). At about 4 am in the morning the Brandaris announced that the harbours of Ameland, Terschelling and Vlieland were full. Man, ‘welcome back to Holland!’ We considered even continuing to Harlingen, but we both felt we would need some sleep. If Ameland would be full we would anchor in the neighbourhood, although there are not really good anchor spots there. Actually we slept little, both maybe 2 hours altogether and that is not enough. We arrived at the outer boy of Ameland too early. It was still dark and the boys of the entrance into the West Gat are without lights. We waited for one hour to have good light to see the boys. When we had a network connection with the mobile phone we called the harbour master of Ameland. Indeed he was full now, but at our ETA of 10 am he would most probably have some room for us. When we mentioned we came from the sea, he was convinced: ‘Please come over!’. At 10 am indeed we moored in a full marina of Ameland. Back home again! And well in time! Just making this one long leg gives us the opportunity to do the last miles of this trip in a relaxing way.
Monday 10 August 2009 at 08:34 am
In the afternoon we left Brunsbüttel to go through the sluice. Unfortunately there is not a good signalisation system on when the sluice will take yachts. It means that we were turning in circles before the sluice with 30 other boats for half an hour before it opened for us with all kind of undesired meetings with large vessels, dredging boats and ferries. It must be possible to set a signal in the yachts harbour, so everybody can leave at the same time and immediately enter the sluice basin.
We left the Kieler Kanal and entered the mouth of the Elbe River, part of the famous German Bight. The German Bight is famous for its high currents and fierce winds and very often a situation with currents against the wind and thus high (braking waves). We entered the Elbe at high tide and together with the flow of the Elbe River this causes a current of 4 knots maximum. The wind was west 5, so we had to tack against the wind but with the current. The waves were not high. Together with 3 other yachts (the other 20 used their engines) we sailed towards Cuxhafen tacking amongst the sea vessels, interesting experience. Our maximum speed over the ground was 9.8 knots, with 6 through the water. A record! Just in front of Cuxhafen we were forced to take the other side of the River due to two large vessels that crossed our course. This caused us to miss the harbour entrance!! With 4 knots current we were washed towards the sea and that was not what we wanted (yet)! We turned around after the vessels passed and with the wind in the back and against the current we fought our way back inside. The entrance of Cuxhafen is known for its strong side current, so you should enter with your maximum speed not to be thrown on the harbour pier. With full sail and full engine (and full nerves!!) we entered the harbour safely. Tsjew.. we never felt so relieved after entering the harbour safely.
Cuxhafen is a marina, where all yachts gather to wait for a good moment to cross the German Bight and we joined that community. Actually already the next day looked good with a wind starting ‘changing 3-4, shifting to SE. Perfect. We made our calculations for entering Norderney the next day in the afternoon with incoming tide, which meant leaving at 3 am (in full darkness). The times of High and Low Tide were not very fortunate, so we had no other choice than to start in the dark on the Elbe. Hopefully with little wind and than later having a very good wind to do this long distance. We had a good dinner in the local yacht club (always surprising to see the low prices in restaurants in Germany) and went to bed early.
Monday 03 August 2009 at 11:01 am
While cleaning the boat from the outside and inside we motored through the Kieler Kanal. A German neighbour told us that they call the Kieler Kanal the ‘Holländische Rennbahn’. Indeed he was right. There are mainly Dutch yachts, doing the Kanal with high speed to be soon on the Baltic or soon back home. We were part of this ‘Rennbahn’ today, but the slowest competitor, with our 5 hp engine.
The yacht harbour of Brunsbüttel is really a place to spend a night. It is situated next to the sluice and the big vessels are literally passing your yacht at a few metres. A great spot to have a beer and dinner watching the vessels moor in the sluice.
Monday 03 August 2009 at 11:00 am
With a nice southeasterly wind 2-4 we could easily sail to Kiel. Kiel is really the sailing centre of Germany. Great to be among (and do a little match with) all these sailing boats, from classical 15 meter long yachts to 5 meter speeding catamarans. And again (!!) we saw a schweinswal(D), morzeswin (PL), tuimelaar ?(NL). He (she?) announced himself behind the boat with three coughs as to draw our attention and then dived under the boat. The water is really clear here, so we could follow him/her under our boat.
When we approached Kiel-Holtenau at the entrance of the Kieler Kanal the sluice was temptingly open and we decided not to stop in Holtenau, but immediately enter the sluice and do the first leg of the Kanal. Yachts are not allowed to be motoring on the Kanal after 8pm (later we saw some announcement it was 9pm??). We stopped at the first occasion along the Kanal at the Flemruder See, where you can anchor. We were of course not the only one: 6 other yachts were there, half German, half Dutch.
Monday 03 August 2009 at 10:57 am
The wind has somewhat decreased and the wind warning for 7 to 8 are cancelled. We leave Kühlungsborn with two riffs and our genua II (actually the front sail we have used the most these months). We set out for Orth on the western side of Fehnmarn, as we have not been there two months ago on our way eastward. However the wind turned more west and in the Fehnmarn sund a strong westerly current developed. We decided to enter Burgstaaken again, where we already spent two days on our way east. Two months ago the harbour was more or less desolated. Now it was crowded and hard to find a place. Nice to see the lively atmosphere.
Thursday 30 July 2009 at 7:26 pm
No foul weather this night, but the predictions still include a warning for 8 Beaufort during thunder storms, so we stay today in Kühkungsborn to rest, wash, bunker, read, eat and make some small repairs and improvements to the Onrust.
Thursday 30 July 2009 at 7:25 pm
A good weather forecast of southeast 4 -5 Beaufort made us start very early: 5am, a record for us and we think we were the first ones leaving the harbour. We hoped again to reach Kiel the next day, but the wind performed much less than promised. Furthermore, new forecasts predicted thunder storms with stormy winds in the night, so we decide to go to Kühlungsborn on the south coast. After motoring for a few ours, the wind turned northeast 16 knots and brought us with the main sail and the genaker with record speeds of continuously 7 knots to the harbour.
Thursday 30 July 2009 at 7:24 pm
The wind again turned to the west and with 22 knots exceeded the forecast widely. Therefore, we made a short leg tagging against the wind to Vitte. We visited this harbour before in May on our way to the east. Now in high season, all boxes in the harbour were taken, and we moored at the poles behind other boats. This seems to be the only harbour, where this way of mooring is allowed. We planned to leave early next day anyway, so we were not in the way of anybody.
Thursday 30 July 2009 at 7:19 pm
A good weather forecast made us hope to be able to sail through the night and maybe even reach Kiel in 36 hours from Bornholm. However, the night promised too much wind, so we decided to stop in Rügen, in the small harbour of Lohme at the foot of a cliff. This made for a relaxed day sailing on the southern wind of 4 Beaufort.
Thursday 30 July 2009 at 7:17 pm
No sailing today, since only a very early start could have brought us anywhere from Bornholm and the strong westerly made this quite unattractive. We visited Hammerhus (the largest medieval fort in Scandinavia) and two of the famous round fortified churches.
Thursday 30 July 2009 at 7:15 pm
Finally a good weather forecast for the long (60 miles) sea crossing to Bornholm: a Danish island north of Poland. We started out very early (5.30am) on the southerly 5 Beaufort. Halfway, the wind changed more to the west and increased to 24 knots (6 Beaufort), causing a bumpy ride for us. We had aimed at Hammerhavn, the small harbour on the northwest of Bornhom under the shadow of the ruins of Hammerhus, However, the strong southwesterly caused us to go more east, in the direction of Christiansøø, two small fortified islands and the most eastern outpost of the Danish Kingdom. We decided to pass these islands and continued to Svaneke on the southeastern edge of Bronholm: a small picturesque harbour in a touristy town with enough fine restaurants after this long day on the sea.
Thursday 30 July 2009 at 7:14 pm
Again a hard soutwesterly against our course. Our plan was to continue to Utklipan: two tiny islets close to each other some 12 miles south of the coast embracing a small harbour. However, in the afternoon the wind increased to 25 knots with large waves, so we decided to go west into the protected water of the Karlskrona Archipelago. Again beautiful sailing between the islands. With two reefs in the main sail we reached the old naval town of Karlskrona, where we sailed between the impressive fortifications to the big guest harbour.
Thursday 30 July 2009 at 7:13 pm
The morning was slightly foggy, but enough wind to sail, so we set out quite early again. Unfortunately, the wind was again against us, so we crossed the Kalmarsund south. The sund broadens to the south, so our legs became wider and wider and the speed increased with the wind. We reached our target, the picturesque village of Kristianopel quite early. Here the swell coming in from the east on the southeastern wind south of Öland got bigger and made quite impressive breakers on the rocks in front of the little harbour. These rocks protected us quite nicely and in the harbour it was quiet.
Thursday 30 July 2009 at 7:12 pm
We had a long and wonderful day of sailing. We left Oskarshamn at 8.30 am with a half wind course. At the beautiful lighthouse Dämma (no a luxurious hotel… interesting) we had to turn more against the southwestern wind and again it was tacking to come closer to home… In a gust the wind increased to 28 knots and we decreased our sail and continued easily. Later we went back too our original sail size ( full main sail and second genua). The forecast was that the wind would shift to southeast. Finally it did, when we actually already decided to stop at Stora Rör on Öland at 6.30 pm. With the shift suddenly the narrow opening of the Karlsund bridge was in reach and we decided to continue to Kalmar. We had some beautiful sailing hours and took berth in Kalmar at 8.30 pm. It is interesting to see that we were nearly alone at sea these last hours. Of course the weather was not really nice ( a little drizzle), but good wind and the middle of the holiday season… Anyway, we are surprised hw little the Swedish are really sailing. The tacking through the Kalmarsund we did maybe with 5 yachts, the rest (20?) did it by engine.
Thursday 30 July 2009 at 7:11 pm
The wind forecast was quite strong with West 10-14 meters/second (wind force 6). However we would sail under the coast and with maybe only a fock this would be OK. Indeed the start was OK, but after we passed Furö island the wind increased to windforce 8 (35 knots) in gusts and that is just a bit too much! We were in front of Oskarshamn and made the decision not to continue, but to enter that harbour. Of course that was not so easy against the wind. Even under the protection of the shore the wind force was 7 to 8 and we were glad to enter the Badholmen guest harbour.
Sunday 26 July 2009 at 10:29 am
We awoke with a nice sunshine! We had breakfast with eggs and bacon all together (7 people) on board. The self discharge of water from the rear comes in in stead of that it is going out. Luckily everybody is used to this phenomenon. We did a small sailing trip to a small nature harbour close by (Tväggesholmen). Actually there was only one good possibility for mooring at the rock. Wiesje and Marnix wanted to swing anchor. Ems and Margriet wanted to try to moor at the rock. Thanks to our great guidebook, we found the only rock suitable for mooring with a depth of 1.5 meter, perfect! Great place, with sheep on the island and even a flat grassy area for the tent of the family…. We had a wonderful day together, with swimming (despite the little scary jellyfishes), paddling in the rubber boat of the kids and hiking on the island. At the picture with the Onrust you can clearly see our cleaning work, when she was in the slings at Oxelösund (the stripes underneath the slings are still yellowish). Only two small rain showers forced us to go inside the cabin for a moment (cosy with 7 people!). At about 4 pm a tick black cloud was coming with some thunder in it. We left our nice place and were just back in time in Figeholm gast hamn. Luikje and Ruurd and kids went up more North to Blankeholm to stay there for some days. We decided to stay in Figeholm for another night.
Sunday 26 July 2009 at 10:23 am
In the morning there was no wind and a thick fog. We decided to wait for the wind to come and the fog to disappear. Indeed at about 11 am suddenly our view increased and the wind increased to force 4 from the west. We had a fast trip to Figeholm, unfortunately the last two hours in the rain. On our way we called to Luikje and Ruurd and the kids. They are having their holiday with car and tent in Sweden and in Figeholm our routes crossed each other. 15minutes after we berthed, they also arrived. We had dinner together in the local pizzeria. The harbour master came to say that it was OK that the family Buitenhuis put up their tent on the grass in the gast hamn. Still in the rain we put up their tent. Camping with this weather is no fun! Then actually a cabin of a boat is better as your home.
Sunday 26 July 2009 at 10:21 am
We set out for a long trip today and indeed we did a lot of miles today. However at about 4 pm the sky turned black and a thunderstorm developed. We took shelter in the little harbour of Idö. Very nice island with a good restaurant and good shelter. Indeed the thunder storm came over us and brought also a lot of wind and buckets of rain.
Sunday 26 July 2009 at 10:18 am
After one night sleep in a real stable bed, we put the Onrust back into the water. And she was really completely dry. We also think that she is much faster now without the rotating old log at the keel. We had a wonderful trip to again another nature harbour. The weather was great, only still this southwesterly wind, which makes us tacking all the time. This time we had a little competition with our sister, the marieholm IF and we won (because of the dismantlement of the log?). The nature harbour was beautiful with a very steep rock, where we could lay in the lea.
Sunday 21 June 2009 at 8:36 pm
An early start for a long day trip of more than 60 miles. We left Ventspils 6am and quickly changed to larger sails, because there was not much wind outrside the harbour. Finally we went nicely on the spinaker with a speed of 4.5 knots on a wind of 8 knots. Once through the Street of Irbes and further inside the Gulf of Riga, the wind left us and we had to continue on the engine. 9pm we arrived at the nice and welcoming harbour of Kuressaare, where the harbour master directed us to the buoy next to Vrijdheid, a dutch/german yacht we are meeting regularly since entering Poland. The shipper of the Paddington IV, an english yacht we are seeing since Liepaja (or was it already Stralsund) was so friendly to take some pictures of us entering the harbour.
Kuressaare is again a harbour with free internet, so this should be our record in uploading on the blog after arrival.