North Sea Crossing

Onyva

Onyva

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We have decided to leave sunny La Rochelle mid April for the Baltic. Has anyone crossed from Harwich to Kristiansand in May before (500M - 3 nights)? I have done it before but via the Kiel Canal at the same time of year but would prefer to take a more direct route, weather permitting. I'm picking up conflicting data regarding prevailing winds & would love to hear from anyone who has "been there & done it"

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[/ QUOTE ] Here's to big ships; here's to small ships; here's to all the ships on the sea, but the best ships are friendships - here's to you and me
 
That is a horrible route. It can show you the North Sea at its worst if you get bad weather, which is the normal situation on this route. The North Sea is my 'avoid at all cost' sailing area, but you don't always have that luxury. I would always try to minimise my exposure to the North Sea.

I have not actually done it the way you describe but the opposite direction several times. I would never try to do a Harwich to Kristiansand directly, that would be asking for trouble. You have two tactical options:

1. Move up the British eastern seaboard and take off from Newcastle or points north. That would give you a better straight shot for Kristiansand. You can still get a North Sea beating but the distance is shorter.

2. Go for the North Sea canal at Cuxhaven, exiting at Kiel and sail northwards in the more protected waters of the Kattegat. Lots of nice harbours on the way, both on the Swedish and Danish side, making this a very enjoyable cruise. The 'outside; option usually mean being battered around and gulping green water. Not what I would recommend.
 
I have done the trip too but only in the other direction. We were picking up a new Sweden Yacht (to bring to the Solent) which was supposed to be ready end of September but we ended up collecting it in the dark and snow in November. We had 50kns of wind around the top of Denmark. The sea state was simply horrible and we had to deal with ships every direction. A breaking wave broached us. I was warming a big pot of mushroom soup at the time and it went everywhere. Deck fittings were damaged (not by the soup).

Next time I would be sure I could wait for the right weather and I suggest that you make sure you have strong level of crew in case you don’t find it.
 
Watch out for the oil and gas rigs if your going straight across.

I chose to hop round the the edge last year, your equivalent route would be:

Dunkerque,
Breskens,
Ijmuiden
Vlieland
Borkum
Nordenery
Helgoland
Hornum
Hvide Sande
Thyboron
Mandal
Kristiansand

You can miss out as many as comfort and weather permit.

I got stuck in Hvide Sande for a couple of days while waiting for the puffs to die down.
 
We did Ramsgate to Mandahl direct in 2005. You'll have lots of oil rigs for company and if the weather goes bad the North Sea cuts up rougher than most. We had 2 days of F6-7 NW and it was certainly a bit bumpy.

Unless you have a lot of time and are prepared to wait then the route around Holland and the W of Denmark doesn't have much to recommend it. Lots of shallow water and awful lee shores.

If, nay when, we go up to Norway again I'd probably go up the west coast of the UK and hop across from Orkney.
 
I sailed my Nic 32 from Brighton to Stavanger in May 1978. I consider May to be an ideal time to sail to Norway, the weather has usually settled and the nights are short. When I crossed we had a blocking "High" over Scandinavia which gave se winds and 24 hours of calm. Beware of unlit (oil) obstructions and the Norwegians are known to switch off their lighthouses during summer for maintenance. If you are returning later in the year leave by mid August, we left Norway in mid Sept and arrived in Brighton mid Nov! (3 weeks in Cuxhaven).

I have sailed to Norway thru the Kiel canal as well, the approaches to the Elbe are not the place to be in any kind of bad weather. Also the overnight stops make it exhausting.

I have been working over the North Sea for far too many years and May seems to be (on average) an excellent month weather wise. Also every other day seems to be a public holiday in Norway.

Don't be surprised if you encounter fog (warm moist air over a cold sea) so radar is essential.
 
Erm, we crossed in May.

The MetOffice, bless them, gave us a 5 day personal forecast with nothing more than 15 knots. In the event the wind got up to 25-30 knot after 36 hours and stayed there.

I'd agree with the need for radar we crept round from Mandahl to Egersund in 100m viz and followed that up with 50miles from Rorvik going N with 25m viz.
 
Going back to the Baltic last year, my route was Ramsgate-Den Helder [parallel to the shipping lanes], then Nordeney, Romo in Demnark, Hvide Sand, Esbjerg and through the Limfiord, all single handed apart from Ramsgate > Nordeney.

The Danish Jutland coast is not scenic and very exposed, but you can do it in day sails [or longer, if you like]. The harbours are all on a lee shore.

The argument for going through the Kiel Canal is that you have sheltered waters in the Baltic, but you also have the fun of the approaches to the Elbe. There is no one 'easy' route.
 
the thread on pbo seems to have petered out so i`ll repost this here in case -
crossed from firth of forth to skagen from 16th - 22nd may 2008. winds mainly northerly / north easterly, force 4- 7.
there was an extensive polar high sitting away up east of iceland during the period which was dominating the weather systems in the north sea. quite cold as i remember
 
The only thing I add to this is that during April the north sea is often very calm but cold - all you need is a stubborn high pressure over it. But for me the main issue would be Fog - lots of it that can burn off by lunch time but sometimes wont. Followed by the tides, the flows on the eastern side can be "interesting" so it pays to plan.

Have a good trip
 
I would take the Elbe river approach anyday if that means I could avoid the lee shores of Jutland.

The approach is really not difficult; you just have to ensure that you stay just outside of the traffic separation zones. The approach is very well marked and you just stay the 'wrong side' of the channel markers if you are a small yacht. No problems. There is a radio notification requirement when approaching the entrance to the North Sea Canal but it is very easy. When I did it last time they even gave me priority entrance into the locks as they figured it was easy to fit a yacht in. I have had nothing but great service from the controllers at the canal office. Add to this that they charge 18 euros for a 39 ft yacht, which makes this one of the best value passages on this planet imho.
 
Last September, coming back through the Nordostseekanal, I was told off by a German yachtsman in the Brunsbuttel lock for calling and annoying the the canal lock keepers with radio notification. It seems the German yachtsmen are told specifically not to bother the lock keepers on VHF. They get a set of instructions (he showed me) in German about the correct procedures. I explained that Reeds etc., tell us that we have to notify.

Certainly, I got some grumpy responses from the lock keepers along the lines "we can see you are there, wait for the lights to change". I was monitoring the channels and I was the only yacht to notify, none of the German yachts did, nor the Swedes or Danes present. They just waited patiently for the lights to change.

Another anomaly is that the traffic lights on the canal's passing places are not observed by German yachtsmen. "They only apply to large ships", was the answer I was given when I asked.
 
These are the rules for pleasure boats on the Kiel canal. You will find that most signals displayed are not mentioned in the leaflet, because they are only relevant for larger vessels.
In September, when lots of boats return from the Baltic, you won't have to call the locks, I tend to do so only when we are the only boat around.
By the way, the much more interesting route to the Baltic would be through the river Eider, IMHO. Would take you a day longer, though.

Michael
 
Great! Thanks Michael. An English version of what I was shown in German. And no mention of making radio contact. Whereas REEDS says: "R/T Request Kiel Kanal 1 on Ch 13 for a locking allocation 15 minutes before arrival, see 9.15.13" (which says about the same) The lights are described in detail in REEDS with no mention that they do not apply to small vessels.

In September there were only two of us entering at Holtenau and four leaving Brunsbuttel. I've been through the canal six times now and have usually had to wait a long time for the locks (2.5 hours was the longest). I have a draught problem with the River Eider.
 
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In September, when lots of boats return from the Baltic, you won't have to call the locks, I tend to do so only when we are the only boat around.

[/ QUOTE ]I think that is the most correct summation of the 'radio call-up requirement'. My experience is that in high season when you have many yachts turning up; you just take your place in the que and get processed through. No need to do any radio call up. However, if you arrive out of season and you are the only yacht in a line of ten large commercial ships; the canal authority do not want to deal with a small yacht in the middle of that line. If you call them on VHF they will bring you out of that line and put you through at the first opportunity. It is just easier and safer for them (and for you). If in doubt; always call canal control on VHF. They will respond, although it might be a delay if they do not rate you a priority.
 
Thanks LJ - I've done the Kiel Canal route before and loved it a if we had more time I would probably do it again.....

You say you've done the crossing, but the other way - have you done it at the end of May and do you remember what sort of weather you had?
 
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