Kuhlingsborn to the Hamble ( the lost and therefore late entry )

Posted at 1:16 AM, Aug. 1, 2005

This entry is well overdue and I located it on my computer over the past weekend when I reviewed the blog and wondered what had happened to this section - it seems I typed it up but forgot to upload it onto the site. So here it is - better late than never!!

After an enjoyable evening over dinner at Kuhlingsborn with Ulf and Irene Giebel we were joined by Glen Savory from England who we had arranged to join us for the North Sea passage from Germany to London.  Glen is a retired customs patrol officer and was able to regale us with numerous stories.  The morning of 20 June saw the best weather day to date with favourable 12-knot NE winds to help us with the 67-mile passage to Kiel.  Overall trip time about 7 hours and very pleased with the performance under genaker - the boat trucks along easily and easily maintains a good average speed.  As we approached Kiel at 2100hrs we saw that the Kiel week regatta boats were still racing and many old sailing ships were returning to port under sail - some great sites to be seen.

We anchored for the night in a calm bay directly opposite the entrance to the Kiel Canal which we planned to transit the following day.

An early start at 0700hrs on Tuesday 21st saw us motoring into the ship lock at the eastern end of the 99 kilometre long canal.  The canal was built by the Kaiser in 1896 and is around 180 metres wide and 10 metres deep - during 2004 some 69,000 ships passed through and 25,000 pleasure boats.  After exiting the lock we motored until mid afternoon through the German countryside and towns (interesting but quite boring after a few hours) until we got into Brunbuttel and the locks at the western end of the canal which released us into the fast flowing Elbe river which leads from the North Sea to Hamburg.  Fortunately we had timed this to coincide with an outgoing tide which swept us downstream at over 10 knots, surrounded by tankers and container ships, blowing up to 30 knots - cold, dirty and overcast.  After an hour of this we charged across the shipping channel and into the marina at Cuxhaven for the night. Topped up with water, long showers and plugged into shore power.  The harbourmaster wasted no time in cycling down to the marina to see what we were doing and to suggest we pay for the pleasure of mooring for the night - probably not unreasonable.  After some initial doubts (during which time he wanted to know why we did not speak German) he turned out to be a most pleasant and helpful guy and the next morning was flying a NZ flag off the yacht club flagpole.

Cuxhaven is a major port and also a ferry harbour for ferries out of Harwich in England and also out to Helgoland.  There was no point in leaving Cuxhaven other than on an outgoing tide and the morning of Wednesday 22 June saw us cycling around the old town on borrowed yacht club bikes.  We managed to find a chandlery and pick up a few things we found ourselves needing for the boat and Pam also found the Murphy and Nye shop, a European brand that sell great yachting clothes.  We had to hunt around for the Immigration Office so we could clear the German customs although no-one seems all that interested at this stage in formalities.  Early afternoon saw us exit the marina and launch into the river Elbe on an outgoing tide for the 40-mile trip out to the German island of Helgoland.  Ulf Giebel had told us this was a must see and of course for Kiwi's the island became well known after Chris Bouzaid and co took out the One Ton Cup there in 1971.  We sailed a good part of the way dodging numerous ships of all shapes and sizes until we cleared the shipping lanes, and by then it was late afternoon and with the wind dying down so the iron sail was called up and we motored into the red rock harbour of Helgoland.  It turned out to be a small harbour basin, largely manmade and with the only berthage available by rafting up, so by arrangement with the harbourmaster we anchored off for the night and came alongside the jetty when space became available the following morning.  Not a must see but at least we have ticked it off!

Hegloland is a duty free island and by midday a number of ferries and small cruise ships had anchored off to disgorge hundreds of tourists who then set about buying up liquor and cigarettes while we bought up more sensibly – it is hard to find wine at more than $15 a bottle anywhere and that includes well labelled French burgundies and medocs.  We saw St Clair Marlborough pinot noir and sauvignon blanc for sale, both for less than $20 a bottle!! There was not enough depth for us to get onto the fuel wharf until midday and once there we filled up with diesel, water and gas for the trip across to England.  By mid afternoon Thursday 24^th June we departed Hegloland for the Hamble River near Southampton.  We had several warranty issues on the boat we wanted to get sorted (nothing really major) and the UK Hanse dealers are at Hamble Point Marina and had previously contacted us when they heard we were coming past and offered us any assistance we required.  They now got the phone call and we realised that timing wise we were going to arrive a couple of days before the Battle of Trafalgar celebrations off Portsmouth – fortunately they were able to make available to us there demonstration berth and relocated a smaller boat elsewhere.

We were told that Hegloland was originally English but somewhere along the way it was swapped for Zanzibar.  We thought that maybe this was a good deal for the English – Jack you might like to do some research and let us know if this is correct.

All in all an uneventful 60-hour trip – we arrived in the Solent.  The trip across was quiet and we motored sailed for the first 30 hours along the ITZ (the inshore traffic zone off nothern Europe) and then cut across to the north side of the shipping lanes and then hit the English coast near Ramsgate just south of the Thames estuary.  The only time it rained was in the middle of one night when Pam and Sonia were on watch so it was great that the guys did not get wet!   It was murky and cold with poor visibility  - when England was supposed to be off the starboard bow with the result that the white cliffs of Dover were not seen and it was some hours before we even saw the coast.  Not an exciting landfall!  We did manage to get the genaker up a little further down the coast for the final 140 mile run to the Solent and with the wind at 120 degrees and 13-14 knots we were sustaining  between 10-11 knots – just beautiful sailing and the boat charged past everything else in sight except the 40 mph cross channel wave piecer catamarans.  As the day progressed the visibility improved and we did get to see many that were every bit as spectacular as the famous white cliffs (or at least that was Glen’s story).  After tying up in the marina at Hamble shortly after midnight it was time for a few rums and then a good sleep! Particularly as the entry to the Solent was busy with many naval ships and boat movements which resulted in us having to circle the fleet and take the long channel into the Hamble River and then find the correct marina berth.