Kiel Canal

[Dwayne Lister]

Given your lady's lack of cruising / offshore experience, I would really really suggest the southern route. To be frank, I would probably go further south down as far as Den Helder before crossing.
Yes I appreciate it would be longer overall, but a long sea passage before she is really comfortable with the boat will not win you love and affection, and may well end her sailing aspirations before they get going.

The inside route through the Fresian islands is nice and offers plenty of ports of call should the weather turn nasty, as well as a degree of protection from the North Sea.

Fair winds

Dwayne

[Cherod]

Yes thank you DL , I agree entirely, I have been looking at the maps along that coast and yes there does seem to be plenty of poss ports , Cruxhsven to Nordernery seems like a nice easy wee run , and as you suggest bit of coast hugging along , depending on prevailing wind / weather , do you have any experience of marinas / harbours costs / charges or anchorage spots .

[Dwayne Lister]

Not for many years I'm afraid - I sailed that coast as a teenager (t'was a while back)

I remember the Fresians as good sailing, although the sand banks can be challenging with a deep keel - fine for us

You can cross from Den Helder fairly easily, although aim for Lowestoft rather than Great Yarmouth would be my preference as the Marina is good. In GY you are tied against the wall and the tide range is quite high.

Fair winds

Dwayne

[Cherod]

Thanks DL , every bit of information helps paint the picture , finish nite shift thurs morn and have a days rest / normalisation (??) before hedin off on Friday , v early Dov - Cal ferry then all day drive throo Germany, be at boat 6 ish I think , looking forward to it , , , after seeing Safari can't wait to cast the ropes !!

[Cherod]

Best laid plans and all that !!! Looks like nxt week is going to be dominated by Sw and Nw erlys , some strong ! Not best conditions for making way west on the Fresian coast , I may be pushed up north after all , prob with that is I am then committed to waiting for suitable weather window for hop over to Scotland which is 3 or 4 days out . , or still come throo the canal and decide on this side ,,, oh oh , decisions decisions !!

[Dwayne Lister]

Sounds like a challenging schedule...

The best advice I can offer is - don't push too hard. Worst case is that you need to return to work for a week or two before you make it home. Such could be a pain, but it is not worth the potential damage to your sailing relationship with your partner to rush.

I can guarantee that the greatest risk to yourself, the boat and your relationship will be pushing hard to meet a deadline rather than just accepting things as they are, and going with the flow. Once you are back in the UK, everything else is fairly easy - you can always go home / back to work on the train / plane etc. and collect another day.

Almost all sailing accidents are the result of a timing issue - leaving when something wasn't quite right to meet a deadline, rushing to get back to work, you get the idea.

Fair winds and have a good trip

Dwayne

[Cherod]

Sound advice there mate , sound advice indeed , I have two weeks off work , but better leave boat in Lowestoft ( e.g. ) than somewhere in Denmark !!! I may end up holed up in Denmark for a week then quick crossing to England ,,,,,, enough of this speculation , time will tell !!

[Dockhead]

The "inside route"? There isn't any such thing. Do you mean the Standing Mast Route?

The Standing Mast Route is a series of canals which gets you from Delfzil on the Ems to Vlissingen near the Belgian border. It's supposed to be lovely, and avoids the dangers of the Northern coast of Holland, but it's for small boats only. 1.7 or 1.8 metres draft is supposed to be maximum practical draught.

The Friesian Islands make a fearsome coast in bad onshore weather. There are little feasible shelter and the gatts are ferocious in an onshore gale with wind against tide. There is hardly any place behind them a deep draught boat can go, and the sands are constantly shifting so charts are unreliable. I am unfortunately speaking from experience. That's not a coast to "hug"; it's a coast to stay far offshore from if there is a risk of bad weather.

I don't understand the logic of sailing all the way down to Den Helder, around this difficult coast, just to save 100 miles of sailing in the open sea. The crossing from Den Helder is through heavy traffic and lots of oil platforms. The Northern route is far less stressful.

In general, sailing near coasts, even more hospitable ones, is far more work and far more stressful, with many more hazards, more traffic, etc., than sailing in the open sea, where you can relax in good weather, and where radar and AIS takes a great deal of load off.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Dwayne Lister

. . .although aim for Lowestoft rather than Great Yarmouth would be my preference as the Marina is good. In GY you are tied against the wall and the tide range is quite high.
. . .

Good advice. We crossed from Helgoland to Great Yarmouth one year, and regretted it. You have to sail around a very long bank to get into the harbour, then a long ways up the river. Lose a lot of time. Lowestoft is the right landfall.

This is an unpleasant latitude for crossing, however -- three different TSS's to cross and tons of oil platforms. Lots of traffic. Further North is much more relaxed.

[Cherod]

Thanks DocH. , rest assured I will not be sailing anywhere in any stormy / windy conditions let alone any onshore gales !!! Be that the Fresian coast or the North Sea , as I said earlier , the trip will be wholly dependant on current weather conditions, the favourable conditions however for a more northerly crossing being an easterly air flow are much less likely than favourable condition for a southerly one , all eventualities are to be considered. Thanks for you help .

[Cherod]

( in another thread ) I asked if anybody currently in the Baltic could give an up to date weather picture , but so far no reply , I believe one CF member is there at present tho I am not sure if he is sailing or cycling round it ..

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Cherod

( in another thread ) I asked if anybody currently in the Baltic could give an up to date weather picture , but so far no reply , I believe one CF member is there at present tho I am not sure if he is sailing or cycling round it ..

I have just sailed from one end of the Baltic to the other. I started at Cowes, transited the Kiel Canal in May, and am now in the Eastern Gulf of Finland near the Russian border. I'll be going back in August.

Weather is as usual here - sometimes warm and sunny, sometimes cold and rainy, could snow at any moment. Usual air flown from SW and W with some extended anticyclones producing E and N from time to time. What else do you want to know?

[Tetepare]

I've greatly enjoyed this thread, as Kiel is a place I've always wanted to visit, but probably never will. The history of that whole region fascinates me.

So thanks for all the long descriptions of dangers, and weather, and transits, I feel almost as if I'm there!

[Cherod]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

I have just sailed from one end of the Baltic to the other. I started at Cowes, transited the Kiel Canal in May, and am now in the Eastern Gulf of Finland near the Russian border. I'll be going back in August.

Weather is as usual here - sometimes warm and sunny, sometimes cold and rainy, could snow at any moment. Usual air flown from SW and W with some extended anticyclones producing E and N from time to time. What else do you want to know?

What is the forecast for nxt week ?

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Cherod

What is the forecast for nxt week ?

Detailed output from the GFS model here:

Sailing Weather - Marine Weather Forecasts for Sailors and Adventurers - PassageWeather

It's not very accurate a week out, but will give a rough idea of the kind of flow which will probably be.