From the Netherlands through the Wattenmeer to the Baltic

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catfisher

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In March 2007 I took my boat from the IJsselmeer to Baltic Germany, following this route:

Standing Mast Route - Delfzijl - Norderney - Langeoog - Wangerooge - Hooksiel - Nord-Ostsee-Kanal (Kiel Canal) - Kappeln

I have recently completed my log on the Cruising Association's website. To reach it direct, please click on:

http://myca.org.uk/node/1172

If you are planning a voyage along this challenging route - particularly out of season - you will discover a wealth of helpful tips. I only wish I had known before the voyage what I know now!

Your comments and corrections are most welcome.
Bob
 
Many thanks for an interesting log. I've not done the watt passages, except Delfzyl-Norderney, but most of what you report agrees with our experience (5 times). It's the little things, like where to get diesel that can be so helpful.
In spite of your scare with the "Gotland", the Kiel canal can be quite a relaxing experience and the passage can be comfortably broken at Rendsberg if desired. I agree the Elbe is not a good place in a gale, though the Cuxhaven-Brunsbuttel section should be manageable in a boat of 30' or so.

PS I've just tried the site again and it seems to be down.
 
Your post is very interesting to me as I hope to do something similar myself. I've tried clicking on the link but I think there must be something wrong because your log fails to load - my computer just hangs in the loading phase indefinitely. Perhaps you could have a look at this? Thanks.
 
Thanks, I really enjoyed it.

I wondered why you didn't go the outside route, though - the prevailing winds are SW, so you'd be running most of the way, and the tides tend to be helpful too.

We did it from Harwich through the Kiel Canal 4 years ago, admitedly at the end rather than beginning of March, (with another Bob Harris as crew!). We went outside the Frisian islands, darting in between the islands to spend the nights in the harbours. (Den Helder, Terschelling, Borkum, Wangerooge, somewhere on the Kiel canal, Rendsburg). I guess we were luckier than you were with the weather, but it turned out to be a much less "challenging" experience than you had!
 
I'm going Ramsgate/Kiel next month, and I don't have much choice about going outside - I draw 1.8m!

Nicholas Hill
 
Thank you. EVerything is in the lap of the weather gods.

Gven the traffic on the North sea, I've also installed AIS. I hope it lives up to its reputation!
 
Thanks for your kind comments, makes all that writing worthwhile.

I did find the Kiel Canal relaxing and fun - but I obviously dropped my guard.

Re outside route vs inside route:

With a shoal draft boat that dries upright, going through the shallows was irresistible! Although it was a challenge, to have missed it would have been a big personal mistake. Good summer weather and no time pressure would have made all the difference.

36 hours offshore in the German Bight in this 9m yacht with just two crew, in March? Not for me a softie like me, thanks. Also, as you've probably gathered, my boat hates head seas. Even with westerlies forecast, the timeframe was too long to assume that we would never have to fight to windward.

AliM, I amazed that you managed to pass outside all the islands yet still found a harbour each night. Was the weather particularly settled? For instance, the seegat out from Wangerooge looks like a nightmare in anything but a flat calm. Also, supposing you had to leave each island at HW to get the depth in the seegat, didn't that mean that you had to fight the ebb all the way along the island shore and into the next seegat? I'd be really interested in how you managed.

Bob
 
It was an interesting article [but do you really need CEVNI for the Kiel Canal? And do they check?]. I'm in the lucky position that I can wait for reasonable weather - anything but northeasterlies!
 
Re CEVNI for the Kiel Canal, my research told me that it was indeed necessary. If it is, and if they do check, it's an awfully long way round!

Re the northeasterlies into the Elbe, I think our main problem was being in the least suitable of boats for that purpose, ie short, 1970's design, low bridgedeck. A seaworthy hull with an extra 10 feet probably wouldn't have noticed.
 
I'd have to look up the details, but yes, it was not too demanding. The weather was settled, but certainly not completely calm - F4 W-ish most of the time as I recall. We draw 1.2m. Most days we sailed 12 hours, so coped with foul and fair tides outside the islands, but made sure the tides were fair in and out of the seegats. Wangerooge was a bit of a challenge, and we bumped the bottom a couple of times on the way out, which was at dawn. Actually the way back (that August/September) was a lot worse, and that was when we took the canal route through the Netherlands that you describe (although we emerged at Harlingen to sail home).

We were incredibly green - we'd literally only done 3 sea passages in our lives before setting out, although our crew were quite experienced. Obviously we were undeservedly lucky! We loved sailing in the Baltic - we'll be back.
 
AliM, thanks for that. I didn't think it would be simple!

Buried deep in my tome is a paragraph about personal travel insurance:

"Insurance for yachtsmen is more complicated. A few years ago I took out travel insurance through Norwich Union, noting that sailing was included amongst their list of 'dangerous' activities. A couple of seasons later I read the small print and noted words to the effect that "if the main purpose of your holiday is to undertake this dangerous activity, you are not covered." In other words, a day spent sailing in the middle of a beach holiday is fine, but not a sailing holiday in total. Searching for an alternative, my conclusion was that the RYA's travel insurance is the only one in which I have any confidence for sailing. Many of us may be sailing uninsured."

Has anyone else encountered this problem?
 
Travel Insurance

We sail in the Baltic - mostly Sweden for 2-3 months each year. Getting insurance for us at my age 71 is both difficult and very expensive. We have essentially given up. We have found both the Swedish and Finnish health services and the Swedish Dental service extremely good and also the Norwegian Health Service. You usually get dealt with very quickly and reasonably cheaply. Temporary filling Sweden £40.
Ear wash out Finland 9 euros.
Norway carted off to hospital by ambulance 60 miles - met by consultant at 0330 hrs. OK he was in his pyjamas so black mark there. You dont get that in the UK. Cost - nothing.
Frankly I doubt whether the insurance is worth while but others may differ.
One last point which I make as often as possible.
Get yourself inoculated against Tick born encephalitis (TBE). It's endemic in most of the Baltic and indeed much of Europe.
If you catch the disease you have a 1 in 8 chance of ending up with brain or neurological injury. That could spoil your whole day.
 
Hi
We have a fairly substantial motorsailer and are thinking of undertaking some of that trip this summer and wondered if you would be prepared to answer a few questions - mainly about 'mast-up' access in the section from the Ijsselmeer to Delfzijl.
I have sent you a PM.
D
 
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