Our position is 53:53.748N 09:08.813E

Distance covered 121.1Nm

Because the weather forecast was suggesting that there would not be many days without stron winds, primarily from the North West, we shelved our plans to go via various Friesian Islands and the Eider River to the Kiel Canal and opted for a direct sail from Lauwersoog to Brunsbuttel, a journey of approximately 130 Nm. We would leave on Saturday evening aiming to arrive in the early evening at the beginning of the canal. This enabled us to have a long lie in on Saturday morning and then a walk in the area around the marina before getting ready to set off on the passage through the locks and out to sea on the last of the ebb tide. It is important to arrive on the Elbe with the flood as the tide can flow really strongly there.

The marina outside the locks at Lauwersoog – seems to be mainly fishing boats and a strong smell of fish filled the air in its vicinity

The marina inside the locks where we were

The early part of the passage out between the islands was scarily rough at first as the water was shallow and, although the wind had dropped from the previous day, there was still a bit of the swell running that had built up then. None of that stopped the seals frolicking on the sand banks as we went by. We also saw a gathering of boats which had dried out on one of the banks – obviously deemed to be a fun way to spend a Saturday, but I’m not sure what they got up to out there until the tide floated them off again.

I guess this is fun

Once out of the channel we set course for the Elbe and settled into the normal watch routine. Because it was the longest day it never got really dark and we were able to see many ships anchored off the Ems – obviously the Lyme Bay of the NW German coast. There was a lot of phosphorescence in the water and the bow wave was sparkling as we motor sailed along with very little wind. Ted was lucky enough to have the excitement of seeing a pilot transfer to the Maersk Edison by helicopter. The ship had all her lights on so had looked like a cruise ship in the distance and the pilot had to go down by wire as there was no facility for the helicopter to actually land on the ship. It certainly made a change from the more normal boat transfer.

Not sure of the purpose of this boat but it was the brightest coloured one we saw

The pilot book had spoken of the strictness with which the German authorities impose the regulations and impose fines so we were very careful to always display the cone when we were motor sailing and to ensure we were at least 1Nm away from the traffic separation area. As we approached the top of the Elbe we were met by a wave of yachts going the other way. They had obviously timed their trip up the Elbe to coincide with the ebb so we were encouraged to think that we would get the flood although we were a bit earlier than anticipated. However the ebb was still against us when the wind got up enough for us to sail but this didn’t last long as the course turned South, so we had to motor sail again with the wind on the nose. By the afternoon the river had turned East and we were sailing again and with tidal help achieving 6-7 knots over the ground, in spite of a light and fluky wind. Again the sand banks in the river were decorated with sleeping seals and cormorants with their wings out to dry.

This guy was going down the Elbe at over 20 knots – not sure what the hurry was

These were going slower, but there was a lot of commercial traffic on the Elbe , as you’d expect

Arriving at the locks at Brunsbuttel we were surprised to see a white light and the lock open, but yachts were flooding in and as we drew near it was apparent that we wouldn’t fit so, in company with several other disappointed yachts we turned round and made for the rather bleak yacht waiting area. We’d just got there and were wondering what to do as there was nowhere to tie up when a radio message came over that the second lock would be available for us in 5 minutes so immediately everyone hurried back, fearing a repeat of the earlier free for all. This time was much better with plenty of room for everyone who wanted it, but some boats still chose to raft rather than crew having to jump onto very low, slippery pontoons. I was lucky in that a German of the adjoining boat , who was already on the pontoon, took my warp and saved me the jump. I’m not sure I could have got back on in any case.

Is there room for one more?

It was much less hectic when we did lock. The boat in front of us belies the lowness of the pontoon, as they were quite small

Once through the lock we were able to head for the little marina just inside the canal. Tying up was made trickier by the wash from the huge boats coming and going from the lock not 20 yards away from our berth. Still it made for an entertaining evening watching the comings and goings and we were still able to fit in a walk into the town, where, being a Sunday evening, everything was closed.

Brunsbuttel marina

The view down into town

We thought this one was big

Until these went by

and then the cruise ship