Baltic Little Belt

[Guest]

Hi,

I'm coming up with a cunning plan to move my boat from Ramsgate to Aarhus for next summer and keep her there for 2-3 months. (My company has an office near Aarhus where I could work for that period).

Has anyone any recommendations as to nice marinas, good cruising areas, debates as to a good route to get there (main debate at moment is either Esbjerg then the Lijmfjord or through the Kiel Canal and then North up the Baltic).

Any suggestions or tips greatfully received.

Cheers
Mark

 

[claymore]

No ideas about Marinas but the flights to Aarhus from Stansted can be amazingly cheap - went out for £9 last September and back for £27.

regards
Claymore

 

[vyv_cox]

From the perspective of my limited experience, two weeks this summer, I would say that so far as nice marinas and good cruising areas is concerned you can't go wrong. The west Baltic is a cruising dream, so many places to go, plenty of good marinas and anchorages, good information available for free, good forecast service.

We went and returned via Kiel Canal and I suspect this to be the better way. The west coast of Denmark is somewhat inhospitable in a blow. Going to the Baltic is fairly straightforward up the Elbe but you do need quiet conditions coming back. Once in the Baltic there are plenty of options and good places to visit all the way north, almost regardless of conditions.

 

[Guest]

I can't find anywhere any mention of how much it costs to get through the Kiel canal, everyone just says its "reasonable". Have you got any figures?

I was speaking to a Danish colleague today and they concurred that the west coast is a bit of a nightmare for weather, so I think that as you say, there and back through the canal makes sense....

Mark

 

[Jacket]

I paid £18 the summer before last for the Kiel canal.

I'd definately recomend going this route, as the sailing between Kiel and Arhus is amoung the best I've ever done- well sheltered, scenic, with numerous pretty harbours to visit. I like the area so much that I've left the boat out there for the winter, and have no plans to return it to the UK in the forseable future.

 

[snooks]

Did a days sailing out of Denmark (a small town near Kolding, on the East), not a lot of time I know, it was very pretty, seemed like lots of places to explore, little if any tide, great collection of yachts to look at in sheltered sailing waters

And the final reason to go there's a pretty town called....wait for it....Middlefart, and from Middlefart you could catch the Bad Fart Ferry, I joke not! ;-)

 

[ponapay]

I have had three happy years at Ega (10 miles N of Aarhus).

Very accommodating staff, good access. Its not brilliantly secure but we have never had any problems.

Prices good (compared with UK) and everything is on hand. Don't the local chandler for liferaft repair - it might get lost!

E-mail me for more info if desired.

Ian

 

[qsiv]

I cant help with current info - I was a sprog when we went. We went two summers running (via Norway / Skaggerak and south and returned both times via Kiel Canl - never the Limfjod).

Absolutly loved it from Aero south, the little Islands in both Belts are just exquisite. At a little museum on one of them my old man actually found the original drawings of a sailing schooner he had owned (shipping clay out of Par) before the second world war. He then bumped into 'friends' he had landed into Holland during WW2, and the surveyor who had been busy 'modifying' the barges the Germans wanted to use to invade the UK. He wasnt much of a drinker but a few days passed in an alchoholic haze on renewing these acquaintances!

 

[peterb]

Coming back through the Kiel Canal we paid €16 for a 37 footer in August of this year.

There's a useful "swatchway", well buoyed, leading from the Elbe to the Norder Elbe, which seems to avoid the often publicised heavy seas found when heading west out of the Elbe. It doesn't seem to be written up in the pilots, but I've used it several times when heading from Brunsbuttel to Helgoland. Not so useful when going to the Baltic, but quite good when coming back.

 

[Guest]

Graeme

It's funny you should say that, I had just come to the conclusion that keeping her there for the winter was a good idea.

Whereabouts have you moored her?

Mark

 

[LadyInBed]

I went on a delivery trip from Faversham to Aarhus this September.
Left on the 6th, spent the night of the 10th in Helgoland then via Kiel Canal, West of Aero and Fyn arriving at a nice little marina just North of Aarhus on the 13th.
It looks to be a wonderful cruising area, quite shallow, so lots of well sheltered places to anchor. I heard that the marina in Aarhus has a long waiting list, but the one we went to has space available.

 

[vyv_cox]

I think our fees were 15 Euros each way, Sadler 34.

As regards the Elbe swatchway mentioned elsewhere, this sounds like a good idea. As we approached Cuxhaven on our return journey we were right on the bottom of neaps. Despite this the rate was four knots in a very large river. We rounded the bend a mile or so before the town, bringing the wind, a NW 5 or so, right on the nose. The seas were very heavy for a time and we suffered one of our few failures, the mainsail outhaul shackle broke, perhaps because it was not fully closed. Waves were breaking right over us and a good deal of water even got into the lazarette, a new experience. We were very pleased to get into Cuxhaven marina. I suspect that taking the more northerly route would have avoided these conditions. However, it still leaves the problem of 28 miles along the Elbe approaches and I'm not sure how difficult it might be to navigate this outside the shipping marks. This river deserves a good deal of caution in W or NW winds over F4.

 

[Jacket]

I've left her at Thurobund yachthaven, near Svendborg on Funen. Not the cheapest place around, but they seem competent, it was recomended to me by another British couple I met out there and the boat gets stored indoors. It also has the advantage of being in the centre of probably the best cruising area in Denmark.

When I was looking around for somewhere to leave the boat, prices seemed to range from £150 to £800 for a 24 footer, depending on facilities. Most yacht clubs were happy to offer cheap storage, but the down side is that you're responible for getting the boat in and out of the water, and there's no one to keep an eye on the boat for you. (Still, it all seems expensive compared to the year before, when I paid £80, including antifouling and engine service. But that was in Estonia)

Where ever you go you'll have a great time. Its a lovely area- I'm looking forwards to this coming summer. I've just got to decide whether to head north to Norway, or south to Germany and Poland.

 

[roger]

West coast of Denmark is very nasty in bad weather. It's best avoided.
The usual recommendation on entry to the Elbe is to be at the Elbe Light Float at low water. You need a fast boat to get up against the tide. In the early part of the year there are a lot of NE winds which make life unpleasant. Be prepared to stop for a while say in Holland.
The Kiel Canal is a doddle except that the locks have water level pontoons you have to get down onto to moor. Its not easy if you are short handed. They have surfaced them now with rubber so they are not slippery. Cost for 31' boat in 2001 was 7 quid.
I was manaced by Pilot boats in the Elbe if I got into the channel. It is recommended you stay just outside and in any case commercial ship traffic can be heavy and close to the edge. On the other hand the Scharhorn Bank is very close to the channel edge.
Remember to buy wine in Dunkirk, Belgian beer in Oostend and Asbach Brandy in Kiel before getting into Scandinavia.
Incidentally Kiel has good tea too.
Danish Marinas are cheap and good but watch out for shallows and for fishing nets on poles.
For scenery you will do better if you get to The Bohuslan coast of Sweden - or the East side Skerries -or up into Norway. Even the South east coasts are lovely and the Western fjords are world class.

 

[peterb]

Vyv

The swatchway is well marked. In fact, there are two swatchways. The first dries and is marked with withies, but starts about 6 miles from Brunsbuttel. OK with shallow draft and if you're used to the Frisian watts. The second, well buoyed, has about 7m and starts about 6M NW of Cuxhaven. Worth investigating next time you're there.

 

[stevebirch2002]

Hi MArk

The Vega club held their bi-annual regatta at Arhuis last year and it was fantastic. The marina we used is in a small town called EGA (pronounced eeooo). Great people, great connections to airport, station etc and loads of space in the marina - cheap too. We all had agreat time with over eight Albin Vegas present from all over Europe. If I had my choice of where to keep a yacht then Denmark would be my choice. Have a great time

Steve Birch www.albinvega.com

Albin Vega "Southern Comfort" V1703

 

[Spacewaist]

My five penn'orth, wd be to go via Kiel and return via Lymfjord. The journey there sd be down wind (save the day YOU try it). The various comments about the swatchway are well made. The journey home, from Aarhus, Id go through Lymfjord. Firstly because it is an attactive area to sail in its own right (particularly athe western part) and also because beating our of the Elbe through the shipping lanes at night (as you will have to do) is a chore at best. Better in my view to wait in Lynfjord for a cold from to go through and then zip out of Thorboren (?) into the North Sea to carry the NW wind home. (Can be a bit lively at the west entrance to Lymfjord - be prepared and strapped on)

As a cruising ground, the Little Belt is very secure, cheap and the people very welcoming. We thoroughly enjoyed it. Note that the Baltic moorings commonly are not big enough for large beamy boats over about 3.3 metres beam, so you'll spend more time at anchor in bigger boats.

Keil Canal is quite attractive - theres an attractive anchorage on the starboard side of the canal near Holtenau where you can anchor overnight. Make sure you leave time to see Cuxhaven and Holtenau.

Thereafter north to the Belts. We enjoyed, Faster and Lolland. The channel between them is very attractive and the town of Nykobing an interesting distraction. The island of Ajero is a must - no that there's much to do once you're there.

Sjaelland (?) is quite interesting. Take the time to to Rosskilde (but probably easier to go by public transport from Hundested(?) than to sail down the fjord and back. And remember Helsinor and Copenhagen.

As you go north, I think is gets pretty "samey" unless you go over to Sweden and on to Norway.



A pontification from the Panjandrum of orotund bloviation AD2002

 

[LadyInBed]

Re: Ega Marina

I just found the Marina info and they have a <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.egaa-marina.dk/> Web Site </A>

 

[peterb]

Cruising Association

The Cruising Association has a very active Baltic Section, and has lots of information about facilities. Worth talking to them at the Boat Show.

 

[Guest]

Thanks everyone for the replies. Most helpful.

This internet thing is marvellous isn't it?