Passage Report: 83
Sweden to England
Weather dawns fine. Sahula departs Sweden, sailing into the notorious Kattegat towards Denmark's Laeso Island. Shallow waters create short, steep seas before the Northerly.
Strong winds welcome Laeso. Sahula struggles to berth alongside.
"Yes, we saw you!"
To south, a black line heralds rain, wind to the north, a clear sky. Skipper opts to leave following a weather report for a clear day. Sahula enjoys a fast sail to Grena, north Jutland, Denmark. Morning: seaspray flails Sahula, berthed alongside the harbour wall. A day in port.
Yankee (headsail), mainsail drawing, Sahula sails south to Arhus, Denmarks second largest city. Fleets race offshore. Skipper visits the art centre. The gallery houses, inter alia, a superb collection of Danish modern art.
Into the Lille Baelt (gulf), past low lying islands, amid shallow waters, Sahula enters the Snaevringen, a well marked channel, crossed by high bridges to Fyn island.
There is no greater peace than an evening anchorage joining birdlife off a wetland (Faeno Sund).
Increasingly, German yachts are prevalent. Many battles were fought for German or Danish dominion over the Schleswig region ending with a referendum to determine the border.
Strong winds, intermittent rain does not deter the fleets. Crews bask in red "sailing armour" - Skipper wonders from behind cockpit covers, dry and relatively warm.
Sahula joins them heading south into Als Sund, a narrow, tree lined, channel between Als island and Jutland. Locals sail through; Sahula sails down, motors cautiously.
Weekend sailors crowd Sonderborg harbour. Sahula manoeuvers into the last space on the inner town wharf. Boats are three abreast.
Sonderborg Castle (museum) dominates, regaling the military and aristocratic past. It is the site of a "...major battle in the Prusso-Danish war of 1864.
Young German sailors seek advice on cruising to the Carribbean:
"Go, ... go... You have the boat, go..."
Their local advice takes Sahula to an anchorage inside Die Schlei (fjord).
Goodbye Denmark, hello Germany.
Joining a fleet in strong winds, protected seas, Sahula sails to Kiel fjord to revisit the British Kiel Yacht Club. The Club is also base for British army marine training.
Sahula enters a "box" berth assisted by army personnel. "Box" berths are difficult for a solo sailor as they require crew forward for a line ashore and aft to "lasso" the two stern poles.
In recognition of Sahula's stay, the base flagpole flies the Australian flag.
Skipper rests, visiting Kiel town to reconnect by German sim card to online facilities. Marina wifi is invariably unusable.
In the morning, Sahula, dwarfed by large ships, is raised by the Kiel Canal "sluis" (lock). A short passage to the Flemhuder See (lake) to anchor.
In Rendsberg, historic town along the Kiel Canal, a gallery features the "North German Realists" group (2012). Dark, turbulent skies over windswept Baltic shores "...gives drama...("...they don't "see" the colour?")...they sell well..."
Skipper notes the darkness, past and present, inherent in Scandinavian and north European fine art. It's a long way to the colours of Van Gogh and French Impressionists.
Sahula rests while Skipper visits a cruising friend in Hamburg (Indonesian rally).
Hamburg, largely destroyed in WWII, is bustling with modernity. Skipper and friend visit the surviving, old harbour warehouses and canals.
The modern harbour is a massive container terminal. Huge ships deposit containers for transhipment to Baltic ports.
"Hamburg people love their harbour..."
City pride is encapsulted in the new, ultra-modern, harbourside, Philharmonic Centre, controversially, costing over 500 million Euros.
Brunsbuttel provides a stop before the final canal lock spills Sahula to the Elbe River and Cuxhaven marina.
Critical to an Elbe passage is running with the tide and avoiding a NW'ly.
Sahula departs Cuxhaven marina for Borkum Island at the entrance to the Ems River. A light SW'ly provides mild seas. Strong SE'lies are forecast for evening. Tanya and full sail speeds Sahula, arriving off the Ems River entrance in the pitch dark. Strong winds, adverse tide roughens the river against Sahula. It is a long night to the Borkum marina, arriving 0400.
Strong winds pin Sahula to the wharf. A rest day.
Skipper awaits Australian crew in Groningen. Sahula is moored in the historic town centre (17 euros). The city is the regional centre for Friesland. It has Hollands largest university student population outside Amsterdam. Massed bicyclists add to lifes hazards.
Skipper attends two concerts by the Northern Holland orchestra and another by Pokey Lafarge and The South City Three (Mississippi "hoo down" folk). Eclectic tastes?
Groningen's ultra modern art "museum" (built in the canal) houses superb collections.
Adventurous spirit is alive and well in three Norwegians.
"We had no sailing experience. A year ago, after university, we decided to take a year off and sail to the Carribbean and back."
"Three of us bought the boat (fiberglass, 32 foot sloop).
"We have two digital chart GPS systems, a generator in reserve, sat phone, AIS, HF and VHF radios...our parents were concerned... did a basic sailing course..."
"We put the outboard (some 40hp) on... the inboard diesel (27 hp) is old..."
"Advice was to go 100 km offshore and head south..."
"A mast stay broke in a storm so we returned (Trondheim) to have the rig checked...then we went south..."
"...we took on water (a lot in a storm), the deck - hull join separated, bowspit fell off and outboard bracket failed..."
Confident, youthful, "blooded"...Skipper wished them well - "Good sailing, you're in the elite..."
Groningen's seven bridges lift with "kontroller" cycling between. The city gives way to the emerald green, historic windmills, huge farmhouses and "painted" cows, of country Holland.
1.5m...Tanya full revs, Sahula "ploughs" the canal - thoughts of "what if...Delziel and North Sea..." relief at 1.7m. Many canals vary between 1.7 - 2.3m. The Guide notes 2m draft in all canals. A lock is in "freeflow" (open both ends) out of the canal. The shore water mark was lower than usual – perhaps canal cleansing.
The "mast stande" route diverts from the major commercial canals into those, narrow, winding with many bridges. It is slow progress through flat, scenic, windmill country. Bridges open between 0900 to 1900 with lunch and dinner breaks. Train bridges take longer. Canal "masters" bicycle between bridges or operate by remote control (camera). Any toll (2-6.50 euro) is collected at the lock gate by depositing into a wooden clog lowered from a fishing rod.
Various shallow lakes (with dredged channels) link the canals.
Flocks of geese arrow high above, swans, ducks...feed. Nostrils are assailed by rural life.
Sahula berths in historic, Dokkum's town centre (10 euro).
Locals query Sahula's voyage; "You sailed from Australia you're a hero!"
Sahula anchors alongside a remote lake wharf. Crew and skipper toast the rare, red, sunset, silhouetting windmills.
Lemmer, port on the Ijsselmeer, has replaced a fishing industry with numerous marinas. Sahula berths in the "olde" town centre. Crew departs for Amsterdam.
Sahula sails to Enkhuizen and Hoorn passing through the lock between Ijsselmeer and Markermeer (2.5-3m depth). Both ports exude history as ports of the Dutch East India Company.
Locks are a challenge to the solo sailor. Before entry fenders and lines are rigged, port and starboard. Skipper keeps Sahula steady by a central "spring" (rope) and working Tanya (engine).
A strong NE'ly whips a short sea. Sahula, yankee flying, races from Hoorn to Amsterdam. Sixhaven marina provides a welcome rest (20 euro - including all facilities, close to city ferry).
Amsterdam city centre, alive with tourists on a sunny day – retains, behind the carnival melee, placid, peaceful, autumn yellowed, canal streets.
Sahula awaits in Amsterdam for a weather window for the crossing to England and Ipswich.
Skipper enjoys the company of Amsterdam friends.
A NE’ly determines Sahula’s departure. Friends "crew" Sahula.
"Sahula to…(name of large ship), you have seen the yacht ahead of you?"
"Yes, it is not a problem." Ship changed course.
A benefit of an AIS receiver (Ships over 300 tonnes register details) is receiving, inter alia, a ships name.
A fast passage (commenced under full sail reduced to two reefed main and furled headsail then furled headsail) brings Sahula off Harwich in 20 hours. Ijmuiden to Harwich is a clear, overnight, run (123 nm) over short, rough (2-4m) "North" (shallow – 7, 10, 20, 30m) seas.
North Sea passages are rarely without strong winds. Atlantic weather systems, sweep, rapidly past – combined with sandbanks, shipping, transit lanes, wind farms, oil, gas rigs.
Harwich Port Authority radio welcomes Sahula.
In early dawn, Sahula motors up the Orwell River to Ipswich Haven marina. The circle of the "Norway – Arctic Circle - Lofoten Islands" cruise is closed. Sahula will winter in Ipswich until the 2013 cruise (either to Sweden, Finland or the French canals to the Med, Canaries islands to South America).
Skipper thanks the many cruisers in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Holland for their friendship and hospitality - without which no sailing adventure is complete.
It is a privilege to enjoy such beautiful places.
Best,
David
sv Sahula
29th October, 2012
Ipswich, England.
