Cruising ground recommendations

[johnalison]

I’m sorry if I’ve missed it but I haven’t seen how long you’ve got. If you are anything like me, you won’t want to have to worry about the business of getting home in time to be back at work, which makes the Baltic a bit far for a short cruise. When we went there it usually took two days to get to the Elbe and a day or two to get through the canal, but it often took an eternity to get home if the weather was being silly. I did manage to get round Fyn and back as far as Norderney in three weeks in a Sadler 29 once, where I left the boat for a month. It then took a difficult two further weeks to get home, having to go through Holland to avoid the storms outside.

The Baltic is a fabulous place for pottering about or extensive sailing but you either need time to enjoy it, such as the three months or more that we usually, or be prepared to leave the boat there. Leaving the boat abroad because of bad weather is one of the hazards of Continental sailing, and I’m rather proud of the fact that we only had to do it once, in Ostend, but with modern forecasting it is easier to take steps to avoid this.

 

[John_Silver]

Re shelter in the Frisian Islands:
Harbours are on the Waddenzee side. So, well sheltered. Used to make for Oudeschild, on Texel, or Terschelling. Post Brexit, a clear in at Den Helder may now be required.
Stargazer is back in Chatham for the winter now. Out on F, if you want a chat. The smaller of the 2 Rassy’s.

 

[Boathook]

For the Solent you could include down to Weymouth depending upon the weather. Poole harbour has Brownsea island with walks and a kids play area or even the town Quay for supplies.
Swanage is meant to be nice but I'm never sure where a dinghy can be left so never visited.

 

[Babylon]

Swanage is meant to be nice but I'm never sure where a dinghy can be left so never visited.

The sailing club to the south-east just inside the pier - make a small contribution to their honesty box - but only when I've stopped on a mooring buoy - sandy bottom.

 

[dunedin]

• Kiel Canal and Denmark @dunedin: I would love to cruise the Baltics also. No tide appeals. What kind of itinerary have you completed before that way?

We came from Scotland - via Norway and Sweden - rather than the Kiel Canal, but Denmark was a nice cruising ground and more easily accessible by you via the Canal

Our track was this - including an over winter at Fehmarn in Germany

 

[MagicalArmchair]

Thank you all for your responses.

I think Holland sounds like a good bet next year for a proper adventure. One challenge we have is no holding tanks, guessing to head into the inland waterways this is a quite appropriate requirement?

From Bresken where would you recommend to head to next?

 

[DanTribe]

I'm surprised that Bavaria 40 doesn't have a holding tank as standard. Lack of one would be quite restricting, especially with several youngsters.
Getting one fitted shouldn't be too difficult. We managed with a Portapotti for a while, but that's not ideal.

 

[Plum]

Thank you all for your responses.

I think Holland sounds like a good bet next year for a proper adventure. One challenge we have is no holding tanks, guessing to head into the inland waterways this is a quite appropriate requirement?

From Bresken where would you recommend to head to next?

Good shoreside facilities are available in the inland waterways but a simple solution to no holding tank No room for a holding tank? Use a bedpan liner - Practical Boat Owner

 

[MagicalArmchair]

Well, it is fit out season very nearly, so I can add two holding tanks to the list of jobs, one for each of the heads. I might replace the 1.5inch outlets with 2inch outlets and seacocks at the same time, so something like the below twice. There are two cupboards I have my eye on that I could put a tank in. Frankly the boat needs it anyway and its a dark job I have been putting off .

@Plum yup we have those already if caught out in a marina, they are pretty grim though to use daily and dispose of .

Any tips on where to head to after Bresken?


https://www.tek-tanks.com/sanitation-systems/holding-tank-plumbing-and-layouts/

 

[DanTribe]

Where to go after Breskens?
Rather depends what you are looking for.
Middelburg is good, city centre marina. good atmosphere.
Kids will love Veersemeer. North end near the dam has a holiday atmosphere, Good beach, bars , greasy spoon, windsurf school, fixed water ski tow, flyboarding!, several free mooring points [steigers].
Grevelingen is similiar but has a few more cosy harbours. You have to buy a permit, about 24 Euros / week.
Loads of cities to explore. Our favourites are Dordrecht, Haarlem and Enkhuizen. Spoilt for choice.

 

[DanTribe]

Where to go after Breskens?
Rather depends what you are looking for.
Middelburg is good, city centre marina. good atmosphere.
Kids will love Veersemeer. North end near the dam has a holiday atmosphere, Good beach, bars , greasy spoon, windsurf school, fixed water ski tow, flyboarding!, several free mooring points [steigers].
Grevelingen is similiar but has a few more cosy harbours. You have to buy a permit, about 24 Euros / week.
Loads of cities to explore. Our favourites are Dordrecht, Haarlem and Enkhuizen. Spoilt for choice.

 

[Tranona]

They work well. I installed similar, without the diverter valve in my 37 but had a custom made 40L tank because of space limitations. Not really necessary to go to 2". Important thing is to leave the tanks empty and outlets open when not in use. don't think the breather filters are essential. Try with plain large sized ones - 1" minimum and see if you have odour problems. Leaving empty helps with this too.

 

[MagicalArmchair]

Where to go after Breskens?
Rather depends what you are looking for.
Middelburg is good, city centre marina. good atmosphere.
Kids will love Veersemeer. North end near the dam has a holiday atmosphere, Good beach, bars , greasy spoon, windsurf school, fixed water ski tow, flyboarding!, several free mooring points [steigers].
Grevelingen is similiar but has a few more cosy harbours. You have to buy a permit, about 24 Euros / week.
Loads of cities to explore. Our favourites are Dordrecht, Haarlem and Enkhuizen. Spoilt for choice.

We are not big city people. We prefer nature, walking, bike riding and of course, digging in any form of muddy ditch (Pin Mill!) or Beach features very heavily on our holiday preferred destinations (see below, and no, they were not allowed back on board until they all had been hosed off ). So head in at Vlissingen, up the canal and you are there?

They work well. I installed similar, without the diverter valve in my 37 but had a custom made 40L tank because of space limitations. Not really necessary to go to 2". Important thing is to leave the tanks empty and outlets open when not in use. don't think the breather filters are essential. Try with plain large sized ones - 1" minimum and see if you have odour problems. Leaving empty helps with this too.

Thanks, I'll price something up with TekTanks and remortgage the dog, and yes, I will be scrupulous to leave the tanks empty and flush them with fresh water. I can't imagine the horror of having to unblock such a system if it goes to hell .

 

[RivalRedwing]

One lateral thought for you, we moved from the Medway to the Orwell a few years ago (with two youngsters) so that all the pleasures of Essex and Suffolk could be readily had in weekend trips after a 1.5 hour drive to the boat (ok, A12 permitting, but it invariably is if travelling before 9.00). then you have a greater number of local playgrounds as well as the option for longer distance trips.

 

[johnalison]

Thank you all for your responses.

I think Holland sounds like a good bet next year for a proper adventure. One challenge we have is no holding tanks, guessing to head into the inland waterways this is a quite appropriate requirement?

From Bresken where would you recommend to head to next?

From Breskens the choice depends on the weather. One possibility would be to stay at sea and head north, perhaps stopping at Scheveningen and Ijmuiden and then you have a choice of carrying on to Ben Helder or the Frisians such as Texel or Vlieland, both accessible with deep draft. You could then return via the Ijselmeer and as much of inland Holland as time allows. Alternatively, from Breskens you could explore southern Holland either via Flushing or Hansweert. A day or two spent in Antwerp is also worth doing. As said, shore facilities can make a holding tank unnecessary, but it would be worth fitting one for the future.

 

[Plum]

Well, it is fit out season very nearly, so I can add two holding tanks to the list of jobs, one for each of the heads. I might replace the 1.5inch outlets with 2inch outlets and seacocks at the same time, so something like the below twice. There are two cupboards I have my eye on that I could put a tank in. Frankly the boat needs it anyway and its a dark job I have been putting off .

@Plum yup we have those already if caught out in a marina, they are pretty grim though to use daily and dispose of .

Any tips on where to head to after Bresken?
View attachment 184267

https://www.tek-tanks.com/sanitation-systems/holding-tank-plumbing-and-layouts/

Agree on going into the Netherlands waterways at Vlissingen and first stop at Middelburg. Wemeldinge is nice in that it has a nice beach for the kids. See below. Get the app/webapp from Gratis Waterkaart in je website - Waterkaart Live for all the NL waterways and take bicycles!!

 

[RupertW]

Well, it is fit out season very nearly, so I can add two holding tanks to the list of jobs, one for each of the heads. I might replace the 1.5inch outlets with 2inch outlets and seacocks at the same time, so something like the below twice. There are two cupboards I have my eye on that I could put a tank in. Frankly the boat needs it anyway and its a dark job I have been putting off .

@Plum yup we have those already if caught out in a marina, they are pretty grim though to use daily and dispose of .

Any tips on where to head to after Bresken?
View attachment 184267

https://www.tek-tanks.com/sanitation-systems/holding-tank-plumbing-and-layouts/

Personally I’d avoid the diverter valve and send everything through the holding tank to keep it flushing through the entire time, especially if you have two heads like we do - we leave one heads open mostly for non-solids (we use Greek style bins to avoid anything going in that hasn’t been eaten), and the other one with holding tank shut.

The advantage of the diverter valve is more flexibility of use, the disadvantage is a dry and clogging holding tank, extra lever which could lead to user error, and worst of all another thing to take apart if you ever get a clog.

 

[vyv_cox]

Personally I’d avoid the diverter valve and send everything through the holding tank to keep it flushing through the entire time, especially if you have two heads like we do - we leave one heads open mostly for non-solids (we use Greek style bins to avoid anything going in that hasn’t been eaten), and the other one with holding tank shut.

The advantage of the diverter valve is more flexibility of use, the disadvantage is a dry and clogging holding tank, extra lever which could lead to user error, and worst of all another thing to take apart if you ever get a clog.

The problem with that is (obviously ) the tank fills more quickly. Our 55 litre non-diverted is tank fills in two days with two people, even with a Jabsco Lite that has very low flush volume. For a liveaboard, two days in an anchorage is not very long.

 

[RupertW]

The problem with that is (obviously ) the tank fills more quickly. Our 55 litre non-diverted is tank fills in two days with two people, even with a Jabsco Lite that has very low flush volume. For a liveaboard, two days in an anchorage is not very long.

That’s why it’s best with two heads as I think the OP has, one can be open the entire time. I just don’t like the extra complexity, but would consider it with one heads.

 

[vyv_cox]

That’s why it’s best with two heads as I think the OP has, one can be open the entire time. I just don’t like the extra complexity, but would consider it with one heads.

I suspect that two heads in a Sadler 34 would impinge heavily on living space.