Route: Kiel-Brunsbüttel-Helgoland-Norderney-Borkum-Den Helder-Ijmuiden-Sheveningen
Date: 04-18.06.2022
Miles / hours: 408Mm/85h
4-06-2022 Saturday Kiel Canal
We get up at 6am, take a breakfast and sail to the canal entrance.
We arrive at the waiting area at 7:40 am. There are already a few yachts waiting for locking. A large ship enters the canal, and we after it. We waited 30 minutes in total. When we pass the lock’s gates, a bell rings informing that the gates are just beginning closing. We moor to a low floating pier. Lockage takes about 15 minutes, and as soon as the gate on the opposite side begins to open, loudspeakers inform that the yachts are to set out immediately. The gates start to move. After leaving the lock, we approach the canal toll machine, unfortunately it only accepts cash (even though it has a card terminal). The canal is 58.5 km long and there are signs every 0.5 km.
All bridges are 40 m high, so we have a large height reserve. Large ships, mainly tankers, pass by us. We sail along the “forest” and there are many ducks and swans swimming on the water. Sometimes a ferry runs across the canal, but the strangest thing is the “ferry” suspended under the railway bridge.
We arrive at Brunsbüttel at 18:10. The marina is full, so stay longside to another boat. One of the yachts does not agree, so we moor at the next one. A moment later, to the yacht which did not agree, 4 yachts are moored, and they are bigger than ours. In the evening a man come to collect the marina fee. After checking the ticket for the Canal, we pay 10 € / day with everything (electricity, showers, toilets, water).
We stay for 2 days. Electricity fuse have a limit of 4A per socket, but we can manage it. In the evening we get the shower, the toilets are closed, but there is a toilet in each shower. There are 3 independent shower sets, each with a separate entrance (code).
5-06-2022 Sunday Brunsbüttel
The weather is fine in the morning. Yachts which want to cross the lock are leaving in the morning, so when we wake up there are a lot of free places in marina. Customs officers visit us, check documents (ID cards) and ask what color of we have (the correct answer is yellow). We move to the place by the pier. We are 50 cm margin, but the yacht is behind us will leave after lunch. I finish sticking with Sikaflex the spreaddeck on the left side. We do it with two people – Tomek squeezes the glue out of the gun and I spread it. It goes smoothly and it seems that everything is less dirty. Then we go sightseeing the city.
Brunsbüttel is not big but very charming, it even has its own shopping center (closed on Sunday). Coming back, we enter the old port behind the lock. The water is low and the yachts are standing in silt, not in water. We didn’t find toilets either, but there’s no pub there, which for some peoples is a plus. We go back to the marina and make a trip to the lock. For afternoon snack, we go to a nearby ice café for an ice-cream cup with fruit. The menu includes ice cream pizza and many other interesting items. One cup costs € 6.50. In the evening, a catamaran moors to us, but they are warned that they will leave the next day at 5 am
6-06-2022 Monday to Helgoland
We get up 4:45, Our neighbors get up and really at 5 am they were gone. We manage to leave at 6 after breakfast and coffee. Yachts and small ships use the old lock – much smaller than the new one.
We swim to the waiting area and after 10 minutes we enter the lock. The all lock is only for us. Cool. We wave goodbye to the lock master and sail out to the North Sea. At the lock’s exit there is a board with the direction and strength of the current (2.2kn on the starboard side)
Initially, we sail on the engine, and as soon as we can, we set sails. The North Sea welcomes us with 6B winds and big waves. We are sailing on a reefed rib and a reefed mainsail. The boat speed is 12kn. We sail outside the fairway, but close to the buoys, because it’s still shallow.
There are regattas around Helgoland and the port is full. Fortunately, a lot of yachts leave marina. We stay longside to boat from Switzerland and go for a short walk around the marina. The marina office is open from 8 to 12.
7-06-2022 Tuesday of Helgoland
At night wind was higher than 40kn, and in the middle of the night, Tom went out to fix the fenders, The line from one fender frays and in the morning a neighbor brings us a fender asking if it is ours. In the morning I go to pay for the marina. The man in the office somehow knews by the name of the yacht when we arrived the previous day.
Toilets, showers and electricity are charged extra. Electricity 1 € / 1kWh – vending machine only accepts 1 € coins, toilets and showers open 8am – 4.30pm (toilet 1 €, shower 0.5 € / minute).
In the afternoon the wind weakens and the sun comes out, so we go on a trip around the island.
The route is 3 km long and leads along a lovely path along the cliffs. At the end of the island there is a nesting ground for birds. The gentlemen of the seagulls bring food to the ladies who incubate the eggs. They are completely not afraid of people. Of course, there are a lot of photographers all around. We return to the yacht, stopping for an iced coffee on the way. We clean the yacht and invite our neighbors from the Swiss yacht for a coffee.
She is Japanese and he is Swiss. They both speak English and are going to the Baltic Sea, maybe they will visit Poland. We gave them a booklet with descriptions of Polish marinas.
In the evening, our neighbor from the outside, when he moves to another place, hits our windmill and breaks our propeller. He promises to pay for it from his insurance. It is a pity, a windmill without a single propeller does not work. Sadness.
8-06-2022 Wednesday to Norderney
Two more yachts moor to us at night. We wake up them at 7 in the morning and they let us pass. They complain a bit that we woke them so late, but they slept longer.
We sail towards the Frisian Islands. First it blows exactly from the direction we want to sail, when it change direction a little we hoist the sails. The weather is rainy, it rains every now and then, so Franek (our autopilot) has a lot to do, we look through the window and correct the course with buttons. At the end of the day, the wind is going out, so we start the engine. At 5 p.m. we sail to Norderney in the rain. We berthing the stern to the pontoon and the bow to huge mooring piles.
It is very difficult to moor these mooring piles. Mooring piles are 4 meters high, so the rope cannot be thrown from above, and they are so thick that they cannot be embarased. There is a que to the marina office. We get a toilet and shower card (deposit 10 €) Water, toilets and showers included. Electricity costs € 0.5 per 0.7kWh, and the vending machine on the bollard only accepts € 0.5 coins.
9-06-2022 Thursday Norderney
It’s a bit cloudy in the morning, but it’s not raining so we decide to visit the city. On the island there is the Germany’s largest thalassotherapy center – Badehaus Norderney. It’s something like our Ciechocinek, only in German. Everywhere there are guest houses and patients. We bought ice cream with fruit and return to the yacht. We make dinner – of course we eat it later :-).
On our return we meet a jumping rabbit. In the afternoon, a small seal arrives at the marina, it is an attraction for photographers.
10-06-2022 Friday to Borkum
We leave at 8 am on high water with lots of other yachts. At the beginning we go on the engine, but then the wind turns a little bit, so we put hoist genoa on and in the 4B wind we sail 7kn. Excelent. We sail between the islands towards the port. All the time on sails, it’s a pity to hovering, but finally we lover the genoa, turn on the engine and enter the port at 3pm. We moor alongside to the pontoon.
Tires hang along the pontoon, so there will probably that we have to clean our board, despite of using our fenders. Hafenmajster collects fees between 5pm and 6pm in the local pub. Electricity is included in the fee for the marina. Borkum is not big town but it is good a stop on the way. There are 2 large windmills near the marina.
11-12-06-2022 Saturday, Sunday to Den Helder
We leave Borkum in the morning. In the port, Tomek hides fenders and lines to not to get wet after going on sea. We sail a bit along the fairway and hoist sails after an hour. Of course, it blows from the direction we want to go. The wind is variable in strength, so we often change from a rib to a genoa and vice versa. On the genoa we coul sail sharp to the wind, but we have a greater heel and thus a greater drift. Making a run as we sail with the genoa requires folding it – it does not pass between the stays, and thus there is a greater loss in speed. It all depends on the conditions. The jib is more comfortable, but slower and a bit fuller.
We tack between the land and the fairway – it returns every hour.
When we sail upstream and the subsequent tacks do not move us forward, we turn on the engine. We turn it off when we go with the flow. At night, Tomek does not make such a combination, and as a result he swims for 4 hours 20 NM, but in the right direction he swims less than 5 Nm.
We pass more drilling platforms (working). We enter the bay in front of Den Helder with a few other yachts. The entrance to the port is narrow, so I have doubts whether we can fit in, but the marina is large – it’s a naval marina. A fairly strong side wind is blowing, but the Hafenmajster shows us the place and picks up our mooring lines. A very nice man. He gives me a Den Helder plan with interesting places to visit. After cleaning the yacht, we go for a short walk around the city.
June 13, 2022 Monday Den Helder
The price of the marina includes electricity, water, showers and even a washing machine and dryer. You can also rent a bike for € 1 / hour. In the morning I wash the deck from salt and Tomek fastens the bimini belts. Then we go to the maritime museum (€ 12 per person) and visit the submarine, the minesweeper and the enemy ramming ship from the 18th century.
Then we visit a sailing shop – the man is just opening it, because he came for a while. The ane no propellers for the windmill, but he gives us contact to the store in Sheveningen, where we will be in 2 days. We buy door hooks – the magnetic locks do not hold very well on waves. Then we go sightseeing the city. It’s not big (at least the center). The streets are starburst, and are crisscrossed by canals – in other words, the Netherlands. Characteristic Dutch houses with large windows along the streets. We go for a kebab on the way. The kebab is very tasty. We go back to the yacht. To return to the marina, you have to go through the gate – we have to phone to the person on duty via the intercom and says the name of the yacht, and he opens the gate (the army area). After returning yacht, of course, coffee, and then a little work for the yacht – Tomek hangs up the shelf, and I wash the fenders and do the laundry in a Dutch washing machine (Google translator helps a lot).
14-06-2022 Tuesday to Ijmuiden
We go out an hour after high water (according to the instructions), we go with the flow for most of the route. At 4:10 pm we enter the marina Ilmuiden. The marina is huge – for 650 yachts. The booms are divided according to the length of the yacht. We stand at the end of the long pontoon, but in front of the marina exit. You can pay by the app, or at the marina office when it is open (you can also pay at the machine in front of the marina office). There is electricity, toilets and showers in the fee. Washing machines and dryers payable additionally.
We are going for a walk around the marina – enough exsiside for one day :-).
15-06-2022 Wednesday to Scheveningen
We leave Ijmuiden around 9:30. It’s a good time to go with the flow. It is true that the wind is 5kn, so we use the engine a bit, but when it increase to 10kn, we hoil the genoa and sail over 5kn. Great ride. Sunny, little waves. Tomek takes out a circular saw and cuts the slats for a hanger in the drying room. We enter Scheveningen about 15. It is necessary first call Scheveningen Control on VHF channel 21 – and so I do it, and then call on VHF channel 31 the marina – and this I cannot done because channel 31 is only used in the Netherlands. In front of the marina office I find a number of mobile for the harbor master’s office. The booking app doesn’t work on my phone. Fortunately, the hafenmaster comes and logs in from his tablet. Water, electricity, toilets, showers are in fee but laundry are paid additionally. Theoretically you have to use code, but the gate and the door to the toilets are open all the time. We stand alongside to the beautiful historic yacht Warlus (we met in Ijmuiden). They are going to leave tomorrow and we will move to their place.
16-06-2022 Thursday The Hague
In the morning we move to the berth, connect to the electricity and take out our bikes. There are 5 yachts with us in the guest marina – the rest leave.
We pack a bottle of water, some provisions and set off by bike for a trip around The Hague. We start with a nautical shop – we buy the Belgian flag, a three-sector bulb for the top of the mast and a handle for a small crank. Then we go for a second-breakfast fish at the bar recommended by our neighbors. It is indeed delicious. We eat our fill. We decide to visit some interesting buildings – first the avenue with flags and the Palace of Justice, then the Palace of Peace – unfortunately, tickets for sightseeing (only with a guide) must be ordered much earlier – the next date is 06/26/2022, i.e. after our departure.
Most palaces have government facilities, or at least embassies, so we can forget about visiting the interior, but they are also nice from the outside. In the evening we return to the yacht, a little cleaning and the end of the cruise.