Epilogue

05-09-2010

Home sweet home after a long and sometimes quite wet voyage
After being our home for two months the YELLOWDREAM is back at her berth again.
It was a very varying tour we did. However one thing was more or less constant. The weather really played crazy ! Sometimes we were sweating in a hot sun, other times freezing with 12 degrees at noon in a drizzle! And we spendt lots of days waiting for the wind to decrease. And by the way . When there was wind , it often was not enough to sail and we motored over 80% of the time!
Also the wind direction at the western coast of Norway was very rare ; south to south-east instead of the normal west to northwest.
We covered about 1450 nautical miles and visited 4 countries (apart from Holland off course).



Now comes the time to think about another trip next summer . Until then!
Who knows?????????

Back home !

3/4-09-2010



Today we take the reverse ropute back to delfzijl.Tomorrow we will do the rest to Steendam at the Schildmeer. The only difference is that there is less time to catch the right tide , especially the current at the Eems back to delfzijl.
However we took the dry-out area under Juist exactly in time ,scraping the bottom and ahd the right speed to have a helping current all the way up the Eems to Delfzijl.Yes , we have the normal speed again after I removed a bunch of rope from the folding prop! It was a miracle that with that amount of rope we still could do 5.3 knots! Removing the rope I discovered a new advantage for a folding prop. The rope will not stick behind the prop blades and have to be cut all the way trough but loosening it is enough to slip over the folded propeller!

The weather was excellent with no wind at all . The waddenzee was flat as a mirror which gives an almost surrealistic view.

Closing the circle ; back to Norderney.

02-09-2010



Today the weather will be fine for the trip to Norderney. The wind will be force 4 northwest which is not suitable for sailing but it will veer to North during the day and sailing may be possible later.
We left the harbour about 1.5 hrs after high tide which is the moment the current on the elbe changes from over 2 knots in to over 2 knots out in about 30 minutes!
We , because there were about 20 boats leaving for Norderney or further.
During the morning we made good progress under engine with a speed up to 7.6 knots over ground.
Then it happened .We just passed the Jade appoach when suddenly the engine revs went down. Immediately I knew we had something in the propeller and put the engine in reverse and forward a few times.After doing so there was a big bumping against the hull and thing seemed better. However the speed still was about 0.5 knots less than normal so something was still in the prop.
Luckily the wind hed veered and we could put on sail. The rest of the trip was a wonderful sail on a broad reach at 5-5.6 knots through the water.
At 8.00 that evening we entered the harbour of Norderney and thereby closed the circle of our voyage.
Tomorrow we will go to Delfzijl on the reverse route of the second day of our voyage.

To Cuxhaven , the gate to the Northsea

31-08-2010




Today we will leave the Kielcanal and go to Cuxhaven over the river Elbe.
The Elbe is a big river here and up to several miles wide.
Also the depth is enormous , up to 12 meter in the fairway and up to 28 meters near Cuxhaven where the river makes a sharp bend.
Sailing can be quite dangereous or impossible when the strong tide goes against a force 5 wind or more!
But today there is hardly any wind and we have a nice trip to Cuxhaven. Only the last 15 minutes it started to rain!
Cuxhaven is the typical departure port for Dutch sailors to go home and for others to go to Holland for holiday.
Sometimes dozens of sailers wait for days for the weathere to improve because leaving Cuxhaven and sailing the"German bight in a force 5 or more can easily become unpleasant or dangereous.
We also waited one day for the weather to improve.
During that day a curious event happened in the harbour.
Somebody was trying to put a "cherry picker"or servicing platform on the newly installed slipway but someway uncoupled it from the towing car. He tryed to hold on but the whole thing rolled down the slipway and almost totally vanished in the salty waters! By the way , it was low tide . After a lot of talk and try a diver came and attached hoist sling under water to make a lift-out by a crane possible.
See the following fotos.



Oops.....



OOOOops.....



Here comes the tide.



Rescue is on its way.



Resurgence.



As they say in Holland "Luctor et emergo" or "I struggle and emerge".



Like in the song "On the road again".

But back to normal live. Tomorrow we will leave at 8 oclock when the tide goes out and have a long trip back to Norderney.

Through the Kiel Canal

30-08-2010




Today we will make the crossing over the German mainland from the Baltic to the Northsea ( river Elbe estuary).
This possibilitry is realised in 1889 by the Emperor Wilhelm who wanted a fast connection for his marine.
Nowadays its the most navigated canal in the world!
The canal is 97 km long and locked from the sea by two locks, each consisting of two old and two new bigger l;ocks.
Yachts are normally sluiced by the smaller old locks.
Although this trip is rather dull the surroundings of the canal are quite nice and you meet a lot of ships of every size and date.



Old meets new.



A Swedish replica of a medieval ship.

At about one third of the distance in the city of Rendsburg there is another interesting surprice.
Under a railroad bridge ( 40 meter!) which was built almost together with the canal a "ferryboat" is hanging below the bridge without ever touching the water.



The famous trainbridge with the hanging ferry.



Just in time for a crossing!

Anyway it was a nice trip again ( we did it about 12 times before) and we entered the harbour in Brunsbuttel at 18.15 that evening. Time for a nice pizza.

Damp to Kiel

28-08-2010



Today we leave the baltic area and go to Kiel.
This big city is situated at the eastern end of the Kiel Canal which is the connection between the Baltic and the Northsea other than the long trip around the top of Danmark.
We stayd an extra day in Kiel because the weather next week is going to improve on wednesday and Kiel is a nice place to be.Coincidentally there were sailing regatta of the 40ft extreme class , a large catamaran single design class.
You will notice that part of the map is gone. This is not the case but because I coulkd not add anymore routes I started a second map.

Assens to Damp in Germany

27-08-2010


The next day we started again for a quite long trip to Damp marina in Germany.
Damp is a big holiday resort with hotels , shops , congress centre etc. and a big marina.
Although Kiel is rather near I chose this harbour because of the easy diesel station and the possibility to do shopping for the next days which is more difficult in Kiel because of the long distance.
Damp is not really a place for my taste but it serves the matter.



View at the damp resort. I think you understand what I meant.

Going on from Hov to Assens

26-08-2010

Lucky for us the weather turned better a day earlier as expected.


Last view at Hov. As you can see the weather was excellent.

On Wednesday we started for a long trip to Assens at the southern side of the "Lille Belt".
Although its a quite long leg I expected quite some current in favorite in the Lille Belt.
And I was right . Already long before the entrance the current was over 0.5 knots and in the narrow parts it was over 2 knots so we made speed over ground of up to 7.8knots!


The Northern entrance to the Lille Belt. Under the bridge the current reached 2.5 knots!

Earlier as expected we arrived at Assens. This will be the last Danish harbour before we go to Germany again.


Assens with marina at the right.

When we wanted to tank diesel the pumpstation appeared to be closed! A fellow yachtsman told us that they were building a new one but alrady had to close the old one. Can be very problematic because the only other possibility is a 30 minutes walk , but the friendly Danish yachtsman brought me with his car!
Strange enough the diesel and petrol tank possibility is still mentioned in the new Danish Sejlerens pilot which is freely available , also in this harbour(!).
Even at the maps at the end of the jetties the pumpstation is still mentioned. When I told the harbourmaster he wasn't very impressed by my comp[lained and didn't even sorry. I'm afraid there will be no change in the pilots next year!
Anyway, we are only here for one night and will leave tomorrow for Damp marina in Germany.

From Grenaa to Hov

23-08-2010



During the day we arrived from anholt the weather forecast kept worrying us. Only tomorrow the weather will be fine but after that there will be several days with winds up to 20 m/sec.
so we decided to keep close to the coast and go to Juelsminde with as an escape harbour Hov.
And we shure did need the escape!
The day started with almost no wind ( again) but at noon some wind came up and we could go on sailing.
At two o'clock suddenly a warning came over the VHF for a 14-18 m/sec wind in our area! So I reefed the sails and not too early because after 20 minutes the wind increased , first to 78 m/sec and then to about 15 m/sec. I already decided to take the emergency harbour (Hov) and at 16.30 we moored safely in this harbour.
Looking at the weather forecast we will have to stay on to Thursday because of the weather!



Doesn't look very nice does it?




View over Hov Marina.

Back to the coast; from Anholt to Grenaa.

22-08-2010


First we wanted to wait another day and sail directly south to samso but the weather forecast made us leave today for grenaa at the east coast of jylland.
From there we are less exposed to the western winds , coming over land.
So we left for Grenaa. Allthough there was some wind we couldn't sail because it was right on the nose again! It was a straight ( literally) trip and we arrived at 15.30.



Grenaa with marina at the foreground.

In the grena yacht harbour we even could take our familiar place close to the service building!



YELLOWDREAM at my favorite berth in Grenaa.



View over grenaa marina.

The Grenaa Marina is part of a big holiday resort with homes , shops and restaurants.
Its a big marina and with every facility you want.

On we go from Laeso to Anholt

20-08-2010


It started as a nice sail trip but later the wind died and later veered to headwind.
But later that afternoon the predicted force 6 came ( some 6 hours earlier as predicted!) and we had to motor almost straight into the waves and wind ( 20 degrees).Luckily the speed reamined above 5 knots so we didn't loose much time and arrived a short after 17.00.

Anhold is a small island in the middle of the kattegat. A great deal is a nature reserve with restricted acces . Here also lots of seals live and raise their pups.
The island also is a beloved holiday resort in summer but when we arrived it seemed rather depeopled.
There is a very good harbour with excellent shelter and good facilities.


Anholt harbour.


YELLOWDREAM found herself a nice lee berth.

The island is surrounded by a shallow area which can cause very steep waves in force 5 or more!

Next to the harbour there is a extended sand beach which however doesn't cause sand in the harbour like at Thyboron because of the position leewards of the harbour.


The beach next to the harbour.

Back home from Göteborg to Osterby at Laeso Danmark

18-08-2010


Today we left Sweden and made the crossing of the Kattegat to Osterby at the Danish island of Laeso.


Goodbye Sweden!

The wind forecast was good . In the morning we had a force 3-4 from thr port stern. In the afternoon the wind increased to force 5 so we had a really fast crossing with an average of 5.5 knots! It was first class sailing indeed!


Laeso approach.

Osterby at Laeso is a nice small fishing village with a very good guest harbour and all facilities.


View over Osterby guest harbour.

Laeso is a beautiful island with woods beaches and heather fields.


View over the beach of Laeso.


This is what most of Laeso looks like.

We will stay at least one day because the weather for tomorrow is bad , force 6 winds and some rain so making a trip over the island probably falls off also.!

From Marstrand to Göteborg

16-08-2010


Today we made a short trip to Göteborg which will be the departure port for the crossing to Danmark.
It was a rainy day with lots of wind again.
At least we could sail most of the distance.
We arrived in the "Lilla Bommen" guest harbour at 1600 and the weather started to improve. Even the sun came out! heelas only for a short period. Later the rain fell again.
But I could make a few nice fotos.


Lilla Bommen guest harbour. The building at the back is called "lipstick" by the people in Göteborg. Guess why.


The harbour is situated next to the Göteborg opera house . A very modernistic design.


Nowadays there is a permanent Ferrys Wheel next to the harbour.They call it "Göteborg Hjulet" meaning "Götheborg wheel" Maybe they looked at Londons Big Eye ?
However its much smaller ( 60 meters).

From Hunnebostrand to Marstrand

15-08-2010


Today we sailed from Hunnebostrand to Marstrand.
The day started without any wind but soon we could sail . However early in the afternoon the wind suddenly increased from force 3 to force 6-7 .
Because the wind was from the east and over land the waves were still moderate but we decided to make a detour inside the skeres ( up to then we sailed a straight line outside).
Still the day was rather nice but a few hours later rain started to fall which lasted the rest of the day.
Because of the wind we made a fast trip notwithstanding the detour.
The skeres here are much different from Norway and almost without vegetation.
Only when they are further inshore and protected by the outer skeres , also wooded skeres are quite normal


Typical Swedish west coast skeres.

Regrettably I did not make any fotos in Marstrand. The weather was simply too bad!

From Strömstad to Hunnebostrand

14-08-2010


Today we will sail from Strömstad to Hunnebostrand .
We too the route inside the skeres which was very nice. However the first part was rather difficult because the navionics chart did not comply with the reality in the first , most narrow and shallow part!
It was the first time that such things occured. Later that day everything was accurate to the meter again.
At 1600 we arrived in Hunnebostrand after a nice and sunny day.


Approach to Hunnebostrand.


Hunnebostrand Guest Hamn.


Hunnebostrand Guest Hamn.