On the 29th we were done. Sleeping, cooking and basically healing from the stormy North Sea.
On the 30th we spend some time exploring Borkum. Don’t get me started but compared to Borkum Helgoland was actually modern and lively. Borkum seems like an Island stuck in the seventies when vacation in Germany was still a thing. Only old people, the bus going like every two hours. The harbor 7km (!) away from town. We were NOT impressed. So we planned our departure and then went for some restaurant food – Kristina invited us.
On the 31st Kristina had to leave back towards the mountains. She took the first ferry and we were sad to see her having to leave. We did preparations for a big (maybe) 3-day sail rounding the rest of the islands going to Amsterdam. Wind was perfect – much less intense than the last days.
Episode 23 – 28th of August – Helgoland Borkum – the longest stretch so far. (Overnight sail and the two days at Borkum)
Since Helgoland to Borkum was the longest non-stop we had planned so far, we looked into the weather well. To get south from Helgoland we had northerly that would die during the night setting us off for some motoring until some pretty hefty south easterly would push us towards Borkum. The plan worked but it was a rough sail – since we neither have a wind vane nor an auto-pilot we had to hand steer for the entire trip. Additionally, the sea was pretty confused and high after the storm from the last days. Kristina was very sea sick – almost in a state of apathy and we could not do much about it. Sophie on the other hand – although born Tyrolean – seemed to be just fine with the roller coaster.
We did not get much sleep but quite some water. And when we thought that we finally made it, we were facing tidal current against us plus wind. No chance of making it into Borkum. So we tacked for 4 hours in the early morning until the wind shifted and then finally made it – with a little help from the engine until – after 24 hours – we were there. Fucking exhausted. How do people sail the world nonstop solo? I don’t get it.
No pictures because pitch black night and intense sailing. You would not want to use a cell phone outside the boat. Sorry folks.
Epsiode 22 – 27th of August – Helgoland… what is this shit?
The storm was still kind of present, but at one point you could leave your boat behind without being anxious. So we strolled into the highlands of Helgoland. And boy… the islands is strange. It’s visually impressive buts it’s architecture and visitors are rather stuck in time. We felt a little like being in the 70s. Maybe we were. People were not saying hello, the few locals that had to talk to us (for example from the super market) were doing the oddest jokes… it was surreal. Only the fisherman who sold us some fish and chips was a stand-up man, that was actually helping us out the next day. The most unsettling experience was this guy playing the guitar solo in a special hut (protecting him from the heavy winds) playing sad Beatles songs from the White Album in front of maybe 5 people. I sat down with Sophie and we felt sorry for him. He was doing a good job, but the scenery was so surreal, that we could not believe this man was not questioning his own life. I am getting of track here…. but Helgoland was just a start. The North Sea had some more weird shit up its sleeve.
Episode 21 – 26th of August – Helgoland …. In rough conditions
The night was… horrible. Fender were popping… exploding actually. Every Yacht had people out at night, to watch out, that the yachts are not damaging each other. Looking through the small gap from the harbor into the pre-harbor, it looked like open sea…. That’s how much wave was pushed in from the south into the harbor. Cargo vessels were moved into the yacht harbor to secure them. It was wild and scary. And there was not too much sleep. But then… then Helgoland was there and we started discovering the island of 1km². A strange place.
Episode 20 – 25th of August – Running from the big storm towards Helgoland
It’s pretty rare to have easterly winds in Europe and combined with the tidal current going mostly north-south you cannot simply run westward without fighting against wind and tidal current. So we did what most folks do, we went north to Helgoland, so we can wait for north westerly wind to have it on the beam when you go back down towards mainland Germany. The perfect wind came on the 25th but it was the beginning of a serious gale (7bft gusting into 9bft). We were a little afraid how fast we would do the 30 nautical miles. Leaving at high tide at around 7 we had only 6 hours for the stretch before it would become nasty. We made it with style, doing at least 6 knots at all time. But as any sailor would probably agree: Whenever you think something went real nice, Neptune has a card up his sleeve and will show you just hardcore he can be. At Helgoland you traditionally dock in packs. The Island is tiny and there is no space for a big marina. But the harbor is open to the south… and man… we had southerly wind coming up BIG TIME. It was pushing us into our neighbors 50 feet fibre glass boat like crazy. An unpleasant night was awaiting us. I am actually writing as this takes place. Fucking nerve wrecking. You don’t want to fuck up his nice boat, you are real tired. As we write the weather forecast calls it “the first major storm, actually a summer storm, but it makes you feel like fall”. Yeah it does…
Episode 19 – 23rd – 24th of August – New Crew and technical maintenance day
On 23rd Sophie came from Innsbruck by night train to board beautiful Barfuß. I picked her up at the main station. She said that she wants some adventure. And I have had a feeling that she will get one 😀 We spent the two days waiting for the southerly wind that was promised. Benni installed the shroud tensioner, we picket up a VHF radio and AIS from the DHL station. Unboxed, installed, ate fish, laughed, planned cooked and…. You know… we lived 😀 One picture we have 🙂
Epsiode 18 – 22nd of August – Brunsbüttel to Cuxhaven (no pics)
Holy crap, the northern sea. We go to the lock, get elevated, the lock opens the other way AND WAVES. A LOT OF WAVES. The northern sea is different. And you have pretty serious tidal currents. We talk 3 meters up and down every 6 hours. So you leave the lock towards Cuxhaven when the flood is running out towards North Sea. We were late and afraid that we would not make it, since our old 36PS Volvo engine would never be able to go against the tidal current. We slowed towards Cuxhaven but made it in time, got a nice box and were pretty stoked to sit right around the corner of our next chapter: The North Sea.
Episode 17 – 18th of August – 21th of August resting day at anchor, sailing to Kiel, Getting it on in the NOK and meeting up with Valerie
Well there is really not much to say. We rested and did some stuff on the boat and enjoyed ourselves. Water got warmer. From 16°C here close to Kiel we think it must have been something like 20°C
We woke up, got the anchor up, left under sail towards Kiel. Summer, proper wind and a super chill sail through the Kieler Förde. Going directly to the dock for the Nord-Ostsee-Kanal at Holtenau. Since the NOK is free (I think because of corona) the docking is free too. We visited Kiel, had a proooooper burger and just did mainly sightseeing. Next day was gonna be tight.
Episode 16 – 17th of August- Gedser to Fehmarn and through Todendorf
We were prepared for a rather unspectacular day of cruising. Medium winds (like 15 kt. max) mostly from behind. We crossed wind parks and had almost too much sun. It was the first time we worked with the sextant to do some astro navigation. It worked better than we thought. In the afternoon we crossed the Fehrmanbelt (a tight area that seperates westen from eastern Baltic Sea north of the island of Fehmarn). Wind picked up (from east) and we wanted to hide-anchor at Fehmarns west coast. But we did not take into account that other than Rügen and Hiddensee Fehmarn ist flat like a pan cake. The wind was basically the same and there was no more waves. Since we had the main and the big jib up and running, why not test how fast the boat can go? Oh wow, 8 knots, not even riding down a wave, ok lets maybe stop, it feels like we are pushing the old lady a little. We tried to roll up the jib, but did not properly pay attention that it is in a proper wind shade from the main sail. Applying to much pressure and we fucked her up. It was rolled in only on its lower side and we couldn’t get it to unfurl. So lets try to reef the main. Did not work either, because the half open jib would not let us turn into the wind properly. Yeah yeah yeah…. “woooohoooo lets try to go super fast”…. classic karma police.
Continue reading “Episode 16 – 17th of August- Gedser to Fehmarn and through Todendorf”Episode 15 – 16th of August – New Crew – Hiddensee towards Gedser (DK)
The boat was ready, Kristina was there and the wind was fine. Off we were towards Gedser Denmark. The perfect stop on our way to Kiel, since Denmark stretches quite far south there.
The course? NW, wind slightly from behind the beam
First slow, than prettyyy fast. Arriving just in time for sunset. Entering the box like bosses, check-in at the machine. There we were, having a superb sunset and planning for the next day. If sailing was always that easy.
