South through the meers

Today saw us winding our tortuous way south through the Netherlands, through many canals and through three large lakes or 'meers'. We had to hover before bridges waiting for them to open, and hovering in a boat like Sirena with her long keel and wayward moods is not easy.

Anyway, we finally arrived in Lemmer, our destination for tonight, and motored through the town which was chock full of skimpily dressed tourists (not wearing masks or distancing) eating and quaffing at crowded tables. 

For fun they were watching us wrestling Sirena into line behind a giant motor boat while an even bigger cruise boat squeezed by on the other side. The air was blue.

When we got clear of the town we found a nice quiet berth in a marina...asked the harbour master if it was free. Yes it was. Settled down. And then a voice rang out- what are you doing in our berth? We argued but had to disconnect the electricity, unmoor all the ropes, find another berth and do it all over again. The air got bluer.

But we did our clothes washing, had showers and a stir fry and tomorrow We head for Amsterdam.

Someone is looking after us ...

We know it's tempting fate to say it, but we have been very lucky so far. Someone up there, or perhaps down there (if you've seen the Good Omens series, highly recommended ), seems to be looking after us very well. When we had to be at sea, the wind was unseasonably in the east, and now it is forecast to be strong from the west (on our nose), we have the inland option of the Dutch canals. Then there's the berths - finding one is the most stressful part of the day, but our boat handling is more confident and last night after much searching we found possibly the only 'green' (available) berth in Lauwersoog Nooderhaven. Right by the shiny new facilities too, and when we went to the Havenkontrol (harbourmaster), the man turned up as we arrived and processed us quickly.

Tonight lucky again, 7pm and with a dark storm approaching we turned off the main canal into Weaga to a small marina that in the book says depth of 1.8m; we need 1.6m. It's all about depth in the canal system. After two attempts to berth on green pontoons which were foiled by the mud, we found the last alongside berth and managed to haul her in - we are in the mud, no doubt; let's hope we can get off it in the morning. Anyway, the toilets were 50m away and open with no accursed smart card or code required, and electric connection was 10m away. That's all we need. So thank you, again, whoever is guiding our steps. 

But what of the day, you ask? The Lauwersmeer is a big shallow lake with buoys to guide us, and we traversed it in damp mist. Thence into the canal system through a little lock; these hold few terrors for us now, as we know how things work. Then on through Dokkum where you still pay bridge fees by putting money into a clog dangled down on string by the bridgemistress. 

The pics show an aqua duct where we chugged over a motorway, one of very many beautiful Dutch barges, N at helm with standard windmill, and us leading a line of boats in a suburban bit of canal. 

Other adventures of the day included a man swimming in a narrow stretch where boats were going both ways, and when I told him it was dangerous his reply was 'Gouf" and a wave of the arm; I'd like to think he swallowed a mouthful of canal water in that manoeuvre, and serve him right.

Germany to Netherlands

We left the long sandy beaches of Borkum behind in poor visibility, but we could still see what looked like crowds on the beach. In fact they are row upon row of high-backed two-person seats which are everywhere in these parts, used for sunbathing or relaxing in the shade.

It was another challenging journey, with Sirena IV rolling like a metronome in big uneasy seas, all the crockery crashing to and fro at each transition. 

Unfortunately we miscalculated our arrival time at the buoys which mark an entrance channel to our destination, Lauwersoog.

We got there too soon. The water would be too shallow for us to enter safely, so we had to pointlessly motor out to sea for half an hour and then motor back to wait for the tide to turn and give us more water under our keel. We have not had to wrestle with tides for 3 years in the tideless Baltic, so it's all coming back to us in a rush.

And how did we know that the depth would be too shallow? Not from our primary navigation source, our chartplotter which is the 'satnav" of the seas, but from our humble tablet which has Navionics software installed as a backup. 

And the tablet is our only way of navigating inland waters, because the chartplotter won't do anything but high seas. And yes, inland is where we are headed now. The weather looks so bad that we will have to putter through Dutch canals rather than go around the outside top bit of Netherlands. 

We've done it before,  twice. And we'll just have to do it again. This is a delivery trip not a pleasure trip. But being in Holland has its compensations- seeing beautiful traditional boats like the one pictured.

Rolling towards The Netherlands

We found what seemed like the last available berth at Norderney last night, arriving at 2000; very crowded with Germans staycationing. It's a big marina but the management is v old-fashioned; you have to see the jolly martinet of a harbourmaster to get your access card. The showers are locked btw 2100 & 0800 when he's not there - makes you wonder why. We left at 0730 to catch the tide, after a warm flannel wash on the boat.

Today was a 36 nm leg to Borkum, our last port in Germany. Tomorrow, weather willing, will be the Dutch Friesian islands instead of the German ones. Today started as forecast, not enough wind to sail particularly when it's behind us. Then it built and a nasty short steep sea developed, making for extremely rolly progress. Everything rattled but no cupboards burst. We set the genoa with one reef which was a good choice as the wind continued to build to F5 and the seas reached the 'don't look behind you' stage. Thank goodness wind and waves were behind us - beating into this seaway would have been very slow and extremely unpleasant. As it was we hung on tight and surfed along, reaching Borkum an hour earlier than expected. Again we were hugely lucky to get a comfortable pontoon berth, possibly the last one. Other boats had to raft out against a wall (pic).

So far we have been very lucky with all our berths, and with the weather. Of course we've not had the 'right' winds, but we'd far rather have the wrong winds behind us than on the nose. This may all be about to change as it looks like strong westerlies will soon replace the variable easterlies we've enjoyed so far. The air is noticeably cooler, so here's a pic of Nic relaxing in the warmer days.

Bird of passage

Today was the long passage, 13 hours or thereabouts from Cuxhaven to the Frisian Island of Norderney. We knew there would be little wind, and because we had to motor against unfavourable tides for a few hours, that made life easier. Having wind against a strong tide will kick up nasty chop, which is very unpleasant or sometimes dangerous.

Nic had made tons of sandwiches featuring very strong smelling German cheese. We took the usual 2 hour watches, with the person off-watch resting, eating or filling in the log.  

Unfortunately Lesley was due to call into a board meeting of the charity of which she's a trustee. Sitting in the forepeak trying to get a phone signal  was quite surreal. But it was a waste of time. No signal.

Soon after, Nic had an unexpected visitor who flew on to his lifejacket and brazenly hopped across his chest. A small yellow breasted bird who seemed tired and disoriented. He settled on various places including the fenders (see pic) and even the folds of our noble flag, the Ensign. Then he disappeared. We fear for him, so far from land.

Now it is sunny again, and the cloud has cleared away. Frankly it's better cloudy as the heat really gets you down after a while.

We have left crumbs. But he probably won't be back.

Lazy-ish day

No pics today! We didn't go any where, at least not in the boat. After a later start than the usual 6am, the morning was taken up by going for a swim at a little beach 10 mins walk away. The water was positively warm. 

We set up a serious sun shade for the back of the boat and that kept things a little less oven-like. A few little snagging tasks, and engine checks, and detailed passage planning with tides, and filling the water, and reading/dozing in the shade ... the day goes gently by. We feel re-charged and ready for a 13 hour leg tomorrow. 

Brunsbuttel to Cuxhaven

The usual (half)wit has deserted me for today's title; the heat has sapped my synapses.

Last night we got lucky again; we did the whole canal in 9 hours instead of the expected 10 ... and who can tell me why? Well, because as everyone says the canal is 98 km or 60 miles, but we only recorded 53 miles - cutting corners?! No, it's the difference btw land miles and nautical miles, and btw mph and knots. Anyway the lucky bit was getting the last pontoon space in the tiny Brunsbuttel yacht harbour, just inside the lock. We had a noisy night under the locks' arc lights as 20,000 ton ships rumble past us literally 30 metres away into their lock.

This morning again we were anxious about getting through the lock, but it was all fine. We telephoned the Lock master because the website says 'do NOT use VHF from private craft', only to be told we should call on VHF! That felt strange after 3 years (the Harbours & Marinas in the Baltic don't use VHF, you just rock up and find a berth). He said to come over so we did and jilled for less than 10 mins then got the flashing white only light to proceed. There was only a barge and 2 motor boats - no other yachts. 10 mins later we were released into the Elbe.

We had decided last night just to make the 15nm leg to Cuxhaven, because to make the tides work to reach Helgoland in one go required leaving at 5 am. Not necessary!

We had F5 from behind with a lumpy sea and lots of shipping, so prudence said just motor on. We were doing 8.5kn over the ground aided by 3kn of tide by the time we reached Cuxhaven, which made for an interesting sideways slide into the narrow marina entrance. No drama, until someone clouted their knee on a winch - always happens, just a matter of when, hurts like hell for a while. One of the many things we've learnt over the years is that boats don't always have to be moving to be under control; you can stop her and then attend to mishaps or assess your mooring options calmly, just keeping an eye on the drift 

Although we came to this SVC Marina on the way out in 2017, we didn't remember it. So last night we researched their website and the almanac and Google maps satellite mode, so we knew exactly where the ideal berths were. And, lo! There was a free berth just where we wanted, a downwind pontoon no less.

The pics are in the marina - look closely and you'll see two people swimming down the middle. Quite dangerous, very un-Germanic to break the rules. 

After a short rest we taxi'd off to Edeka and bought €100 of food; the lockers and fridge are bulging. This pm we just lay in shade and panted. After much discussion of charts, tides and weather, we have decided on a rest day here tomorrow and then straight to Norderney on Fri. Yep, tomorrow there's too much wind and on Fri there's too little; as we're being cautious, we'll take the latter.