We left Odden on 11th July. Our destination was
Kerteminde Yacht Haven on Fyn on the west side of Store Sound. We decided to
anchor off the island of Romso as the wind had died away to nothing. We tried
both anchorages to the north and south of the old lighthouse and dragged. At
our third attempt north of the lighthouse the anchor held, but there was an
alarming smell of hot oil coming from the engine. When Jeremy checked the oil
filler cap wasn’t there. Fortunately, it was nearby and must not have been put
on properly the day before. Anyway, no harm was done and there was no oil over
the engine or in the bilges.
 |
| Peaceful scene on the Gieselau Kanal |
We left Romso at 5.00am the next day and motorsailed through
the Wester side of the Store Bridge. The 18m clearance didn’t look high enough
for the mast, even though we knew it was. The wind increased and was directly
“on the nose”, only freeing up a little as we approached Langeland. We spent
the night at Spodsbjerg Harbour, where friendly neighbours helped us with our
shore lines. Jeremy went on board a Dutch yacht, Verandi, and was given a guide
to the Staandmaast Roote from the River Ems to Amsterdam and beyond. Although
we had not yet decided, this inland waterways route was to be a significant
part of our journey home.
 |
| 180 degree turn into the ferry dock |
We left Spodsbjerg at 5.00am and had a good motorsail with
full sails very close hauled all the way to Kieler Fjord. We had to wait an
hour to lock into the Kiel Kanal at Holtenau at lunchtime. We had crossed the
border into Germany on the way. Once in the canal, we motored 60km to the
Gieselau Kanal, where we spent the night. We considered continuing along the
Gieselau Kanal to avoid the River Elbe estuary, but it looked like a long,
torturous route that might be less than 2m in places. Our draught is 1.5m.
 |
| River Ems side of Delfzil |
We had a lie in the next day, leaving at 7.30am and motoring
to the end of the canal at Brunsbuttel. We were wearing shorts by the time we
arrived four hours later and joined the flotilla of yachts waiting for the
lunchtime lock to catch the tide to Cuxhaven on the River Elbe. Here we bought
diesel and spent the night in the American Haven. For one euro a metre, we had
a secure pontoon berth, the loan of bikes and a key to the clubhouse where we
used the hot shower and the honesty bar. We helped ourselves to beer at one
euro a bottle and put the money in a tin.
 |
| In the sea lock at Delfzil |
We left Cuxhaven at 3.00am in order to take the tide out of
the estuary with light winds of force 2-3 forecast. We kept outside the busy
shipping channel. The wind increased to 24 knots and rough seas were kicked up
for a while. Sal Darago bounced like a kangaroo and log speeds were down to 2
knots or less at the strongest part of the ebb. Conditions improved with the dawn
and once we were out of the Elbe the dark clouds were replaced by sunshine and
we changed into shorts. We crossed the entrance channels for the Rivers Weser
and Jade and as we approached the safe water buoy for the entrance to the
island of Nordeney, we had to decide whether to go to the harbour or keep going
to Vlieland in The Netherlands. Gales were on the way and I was tired. We
turned into the Dovetief Channel and followed a large sailling barge to
Nordeney Yacht Haven. Nordeney was a holiday island, full of hotels, tourists
and naturally - bicycles. We ate out at the marina.
 |
| Lifting bridge |
After checking with the harbourmaster, we left Nordeney the
next day at 8.30am on a rising tide. We followed the inshore route to the River
Ems. We almost took a wrong channel and slid across a sandbank to the right
one. Here we followed a ferry, and behind us was a huge coaster-type ship, so
there must be enough depth of water, we reasoned. Wrong! Both vessels went
aground and so did we. Afloat again, we moved closer to the channel marker
buoys, which soon became withies (thin tree branches with top twigs going up)
that marked the northern part of the shifting channel. We had about 10cm of
water under our keel for quite a while; finally breathing sighs of relief when
we reached the deeper Oesterems Channel. We had a few more sandbanks to
navigate before we reached the river, where we turned south and followed the
edge of the ship channel to Delfzil. On our port side we could see Germany and
on our starboard side we could see The Netherlands.
 |
| Home time |
We entered the Staand Maast Roote and motored to Groningen
Yacht Harbour for the night. There were no canal fees to pay and the locks and
bridges were all controlled by traffic lights. The privately run yacht harbour
charged 18 euros per night. It was very interesting the following day to motor
through the city, where lock keepers lifted the many bridges for us.
 |
| Passing through Groningen |
The gale that we were avoiding hit us as we were crossing
the Zuiderzee South, perhaps the widest and most exposed part of the whole
inland waterways route. Gusts of 30 knots whipped up the water and spray came
over soaking me. I almost lost my way in the poor visibility brought by the
heavy rain and was very pleased to turn into the channel that led to the next
stretch of canal. A Danish yacht had gone aground on a sandbank. We turned
around and towed them off, not an easy task in the strong winds. Soon after, it
was our turn to be in trouble. Jeremy noticed the bow line was missing. It was
over the side and stuck firmly around something. We made our way to a jetty and
tied up. Jeremy put on his snorkelling gear and went over the side. He was able
to release the line, which wasn’t quite long enough to stop the propeller
turning. Had it been, we would’ve been blown aground before we could raise a
sail or drop an anchor. Jeremy narrowly avoided crushing his ankle as he tried
to push Sal Darago off the jetty and was lucky to escape with a swollen ankle
and bruising.
 |
| Leafy Groningen |
Thanks to our son, Simon, who was able to send an email for
us, we found out we were only 8 miles from Mike and Suzie on Nostromo (Antigua
and then Skeets Boatyard, Melton). We changed course, anchored near them and
spent 4 happy hours enjoying sundowners and chatting. We returned the
invaluable cruising guide to Germany and Denmark, which we had borrowed at the
start of our adventure.
 |
| Windmills and canals |
Being so close, we had to go to Amsterdam. We went to a
yacht haven in Aeolus just across the river from Central Station. A free ferry
took us across to the city, where we wandered through the red light district
looking for a particular canal trip operator (Oh, is that what we were looking
for {J}). Soon we were slowly motoring through Amsterdam on a converted
lifeboat, sipping beer or G&T’s and enjoying the humour of our friendly
guide and skipper. After lunch in a Chinese restaurant, we walked along one of
the canals, visiting the floating flower market on the way.
 |
| A wrong turn had us touching the bottom in Wergen |
We checked the weather when we returned to SD. Gales were
expected in a few days. We wanted to be back in the UK before the weather changed,
so we left the following morning along
the wide and deep Nordzee Kanal to Ijmuiden. We passed through the sea lock and
motorsailed close hauled to Scheveningen, where we spent the night. Having
stocked up with food, had lunch and made sandwiches, we left the next day for a
24 hour crossing of the North Sea. The NW gale 8 expected later was upgraded to
a severe gale 9 and by the time we reached the River Deben in Suffolk, storm
force 10 was expected soon. We had a quiet motorsail to the Suffolk coast, switching
off the engine to drift with the tide until we could enter the Deben.
The storm rattled the rigging that night and woke us up, but
we were on the mooring several miles inshore and very happy not to be out at
sea. Emily, Ben and Ellie came for us the following day and took us to our
house. Another adventure had come to an end and it was good to be reunited with
our family.
