Stewart,
saw your post only now - I guess you will have found some information elsewhere by now, but as August isn´t here yet, I´ll write something:
- First of all, don´t worry about missing out on Bornholm, there are more than enough nice places to go to within
day sailing distance from Kiel!
- From my experience, you find the nicest areas heading north along the German and Danish coast or straight across to Aeroe. To the northeast it takes a bit longer with less places to choose from, and to the east (my personal view) the nice
marinas only start in the east of
Germany after a day´s sail.
- The only real downside to these waters is that the ports get very crowded in summer. The later you go in August, the less crowded it will be. If you really want a nice place in port, try to sail early in the day and arrive around noon. Rafting alongside is standard procedure. Beware of empty places on the pier with tire fenders - they are usually reserved for
commercial traffic.
Lots of protected waters to choose from, especially the "Danish South Sea" (between Aeroe and Fyn) with little island harbours (some quite shallow) +
anchorages
Almost all ports in the area are worth visiting. Especially nice with kids are
-Sonderborg (Als) - beach, playground,
barbecue all next to the marina (not the city harbour at the bridge), and a 15 min walk to the city.
- Schleimuende at the mouth of the Schlei Fjord, not accessible by car in a nature reserve
- Marstal and
-Aeroeskoebing (Aeroe), both cozy old seafaring towns
- Dyvig (Als), in an idyllic protected inlet. Don´t worry about handbooks saying that it should not be approached without local knowledge, just don´t rush and keep a close look on the sounder. Gets extremely crowded on weekends.
and a bit further north, probably requiring at least one overnight sail if you want to make it within a week and have a couple of days to spend there:
- Ballen (Samsoe)
- Langoer (Samsoe)
- Kerteminde (Fyn), mainly because of the Fjord&Belt sealife centre, educating and entertaining for the kids including a little porpoise show.
Many people I know have spent every summer for decades cruising these waters and don´t seem to feel the need of going anywhere else for a change (apart from maybe further north up the Swedish coast). Not a few are so spoilt by the protected waters and loads of
marinas within close reach that sailing elsewhere becomes to stressful for them...more than 8 hours, or even over night? out of the sight of land? calculating the tide?Why bother?
Enjoy your week, I bet it won´t be the last time!
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