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After England, I wanted to experience tides and currents on my own. That meant the Kiel Canal, NOK, into the North Sea. Plans included Cuxhaven, Heligoland and any Frisian island. The last part was difficult.
I studied Navionics, Imray’s Germany and Denmark cruising guide, marina websites, the German pilotage site https://www.skipperguide.de/wiki/Wangerooge, Google and Telegram chats. Nowhere could I find the information I needed for Wangerooge or Spiekeroog. Eventually, I emailed the marina:
Thankfully, a reply came the next day:
Route planned. On https://wsv.webshop.bund.de I paid €12 for the canal transit and printed the emailed number on A4. I’d already walked to the canal, picked up an English leaflet, and watched the signals:
• red or green: no entry
• red and white: entry will be permitted in fifteen minutes
• white: fifteen minutes to enter the lock
White usually appears within the first ten minutes of each hour. Daylight only, maximum 10km/h. No autopilot or sailing. About ten hours in total. You can call on VHF channel 12, but they won’t tell you anything new.
The day before departure, Anton @nerekong, asked to join so he could see Heligoland. We agreed I’d pick him up in Cuxhaven on Saturday. After work on Thursday, I bought provisions, showered, went aboard, unpacked and went to bed.
At six on Friday, I opened Windy for the first time to check. Gusts to 35 knots, dead ahead all day. Under engine into that, I’d manage only two or three knots. Worse, Sunday’s Cuxhaven–Heligoland leg could mean 45 knots on the nose. Time to abandon the North Sea plan and start again. I told Anton.
#passage
I studied Navionics, Imray’s Germany and Denmark cruising guide, marina websites, the German pilotage site https://www.skipperguide.de/wiki/Wangerooge, Google and Telegram chats. Nowhere could I find the information I needed for Wangerooge or Spiekeroog. Eventually, I emailed the marina:
Dear Mr Peter,
I'm Andrei Iatsuk. I've found your contact on the Wangerooge Yacht-club website here:
https://www.wyc-wangerooge.de/home/gastlieger/
I'm planning to visit your marina on Monday, 26.08.2024 for a night. My boat is Ohlson 29: 8.8 m LoA, 2.7 m width, 1.6 m draught, 12 m mast. I'm worrying about depth in the marina due to a low tide. There are no specific depths in different cruise almanacs from Imray or on Navionivs charts. So I decided to write to you directly and ask about it. I will really appreciate for a short answer from you about is it enough depth for my boat or not?
I'm looking forward to hearing from you and wishing you to have a nice day.
Kind regards,
Andrei Iatsuk
Thankfully, a reply came the next day:
that's no problem. However, it is best to approach the harbor at high tide or a maximum of 2 hours after or before.
Route planned. On https://wsv.webshop.bund.de I paid €12 for the canal transit and printed the emailed number on A4. I’d already walked to the canal, picked up an English leaflet, and watched the signals:
• red or green: no entry
• red and white: entry will be permitted in fifteen minutes
• white: fifteen minutes to enter the lock
White usually appears within the first ten minutes of each hour. Daylight only, maximum 10km/h. No autopilot or sailing. About ten hours in total. You can call on VHF channel 12, but they won’t tell you anything new.
The day before departure, Anton @nerekong, asked to join so he could see Heligoland. We agreed I’d pick him up in Cuxhaven on Saturday. After work on Thursday, I bought provisions, showered, went aboard, unpacked and went to bed.
At six on Friday, I opened Windy for the first time to check. Gusts to 35 knots, dead ahead all day. Under engine into that, I’d manage only two or three knots. Worse, Sunday’s Cuxhaven–Heligoland leg could mean 45 knots on the nose. Time to abandon the North Sea plan and start again. I told Anton.
#passage
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