Brunsbuttel to Cuxhaven

As expected, appalling weather. We headed out of our temporary noisy overnight location at around 11:30 to catch the last hour of so of tide against once through the lock into the Elbe. It was grey, wet and very windy.

Progress, straight into the wind and tide, was slow. The wind was strong and the bow regularly dug itself entirely into oncoming waves as we headed north west. Speed over ground was about 1 knot with the engine doing all the work.

But progress we did make and as the tide turned, propelling us out to the North Sea though making the swell only worse, we happily found ourselves getting closer to Cuxhaven. Final challenge was not to overshoot given the substantial tidal stream but following a smart manoeuvre we were safely moored in calm waters.

Brunsbuttel 53 deg 53.7'N 009 deg 08.8'E
Cuxhaven 53 deg 52.5'N 008 deg 42.4'E
Wind speed 25-35 knots dir WNW cloud cover 5/8 visibility good
Distance 17 nm

Rendsburg to Brunsbuttel

Fairly dull stretch on the motor + main along the second 2/3s of the Kiel Canal. Nothing much to say except that we are now moored along the entrance of a major lock with fairly substantial ships entering and leaving. It's grey, windy and raining. It will be a noisy and turbulent night... Alongside we have a Swedish Jeanneau, length about 46 feet, just returning from a pan meditterranean and trans atlantic tour. The owner is sure he will sell the boat and do no more sailing...

Tomorrow we head out to sea. Despite all preparations (tide tables, charts, atlasses) I have little idea of what to expect. It's the main and only channel into Hamburg, it's narrow, and heads west to north west. So tomorrow we are also heading west to north west with an area of low pressure passing through producing force 6 winds from.... west to north west. So we will aim for the mouth of the Elbe and go for Cuxhaven, 15 miles into this weather and 2m waves will probably be enough.

Rendsburg 54 deg 18.4'N 009 deg 40.2'E
Brunsbuttel 53 deg 53.7'N 009 deg 08.8'E
Wind 5-12 knots, clouds 7/8, visibility good
Distance 34 nm

Kiel to Rendsburg

A bit of a quiet day today with a midday cast-off and a hop across the Kieler Fjord into the locks at Holtenau. Then a 3 hour trip on the engine and main heading west along the Kiel Canal to reach Rendsburg at about 5 pm.

Kiel 54 deg 20.3'N 010 deg 09.5'E
Rendsburg 54 deg 18.4'N 009 deg 40.2'E
8-10 knts wind, 1/8 cloud cover, good visibility
Distance 20 nm

Sonderborg to Kiel

The morning was cloudless with no wind. It was promising to be another lazy day at sea which was not quite so good since we had some distance to cover (not a stretch as such, but boring to do on the engine). Spent part of the morning doing some shopping, hosing down the deck and cockpit and giving the ship a general tidy up.

We headed out and then the wind started to come in. So we got the No 3 (genoa) hooked up and secured the No 1 further aft along the railings. On exiting the marina the sails went up quite smoothly and Struana took off. Beating into 18 knots of wind and a growing sea: she was in her element.

But it was a bit much for our program of slowly getting used to her. So we put in a reef and continued on our beat away from Sonderborg at a convincing 7.5 knots. And the outperformance relative to others was simply breath taking, both in angle to the wind and speed.

Continuing on our way SE to the lighthouse on Kalkgrund we were thereafter presented with a 30 mile close haul all the way to Kiel. With the building sea and a wind speed reaching 23 knots it was a remarkable experience.



4 hours later we were in Kiel. A very nice day sailing. Tomorrow into the Kiel Canal.

Sonderborg 54 deg 53.9'N 009 deg 47.6'E

Kiel 54 deg 20.3'N 010 deg 09.5'E

10-23 knts wind, 1/8 cloud cover, good visibility
Distance 45 nm

Aaresund to Sonderberg

Fitted the VHF radio and cleared the impeller (boat speed) of some growth prior to departing from Aaresund at 10:00. Very little wind, sea calm. Motored south, after one hour stopped the engine to enjoy the complete calm. Just made 1 knot with wind speed of about 1.5 knots, clearly Struana will never sit dead in the water.

   

But we had about 45 Nms to cover so motored for a while across the mirror like sea. Maria asleep down below, Frederik asleep on the genoa 1 on the deck and Sofia removing her dreadlocks, all very peaceful.

Then the wind returned and we beat into a 10 knot southerly breeze on the main and genoa 1 which proved a real pleasure. Towards the end we could bear away and run into Sonderborg where we berthed her rather neatly (though with too much noise coming from the kids and me, to my liking) at 20:30.

Aaresund 55 deg 15.7'N 009 deg 42.8'E
Sonderborg 54 deg 53.9'N 009 deg 47.6'E
2-10 knts wind, 2-8/8 cloud cover, good visibility
Distance 41 nm

Haderslev - Aaresund

By overnight train from Zurich to Kolding, about 20 kms north of Haderslev, Denmark. Then the bus to Haderslev where Struana was still patiently waiting. Took her out of her berth which proved to be a pain with one line having been fouled by the neighbour's, in conjunction with the rather strong breeze and new crew (instant jealously by one child when I asked the other child to do something). But we made it across the water to moor again and do some shopping.

Then headed out of the fjord for the last time, down wind on the main, no engine. Kids picking up the steering quite well. Out of the fjord, anchored in strong winds and took to the water to scrub the hull after 3 weeks of collecting dirt: extremely cold water and picked up a sting from a jelly fish...

Then motored into Aaresund for another disastrous mooring maneuver, early days, a lot to learn by all so we'll see how it goes.

Haderslev 55 deg 15'N 009 deg 30'E
Aaresund 55 deg 15.7N 009 deg 42.8E
6-15 knts wind, 3/8 cloud cover, good visibility