Wotan`s Baltic cruise - The Royal Cruising Club

Wotan’s Baltic cruise
Anthony Fawcett
The happy event of my daughter’s wedding in the summer of 2013 had
put paid to my plans to sail to the Baltic in advance of the 2014 Meet. I
had sailed in the Baltic in 2008/9 and I was itching to visit it again. The
thousands of islands that are such a feature of the Baltic really appeal to
me. Wotan is a Swan 411, built in 1978, and I like to think that she too was
looking forward to returning to the waters of her birth.
In late May, David Cunningham (RCC) and Baz Taylor set off with
me early in the morning from Itchenor to sail to Copenhagen on the first
leg of Wotan’s Baltic Cruise. We sailed as far as Shoreham when the wind
NORWAY
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Mariehamn
Stockholm
Wotan
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Få
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ESTONIA
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died and we started to motor. We arrived in Dover late in the evening
and berthed in the Granville Dock. We entered the main harbour just
as three ferries were manoeuvring. Dover Port Control could not have
been more helpful, allowing us to slip out in between two of the ferries.
Next day we took the tide up to Ramsgate. We had a strong north-easterly
wind which made for an uncomfortable passage. Arriving in Ramsgate,
we were delighted to see Stephen and Sue Lennane in their new steel
ketch Counterpoint. We invited them around for drinks to hear about their
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Anthony Fawcett
boat. Our main task for the morrow was to unblock the heads. This we
singularly failed to do. So after a welcome lunch at the Royal Temple YC,
we decided to call in Dyno Rod. Within a few minutes all was sorted.
The Lennanes very sweetly invited us for dinner. This was particularly
welcome as Baz and I were exhausted after a day’s pipe wrestling.
I had planned to enter the Baltic via the Limfjord as a change from the
Kiel Kanal. David knew the Limfjord from his days in the Royal Navy,
having sailed into Thyborøn in a rising westerly gale with no engine. The
forecast was for persistent strong north-easterly winds. We decided to
head for Oudeschild on Texel as David warned us that maybe Den Helder
was not the coolest place for a run ashore. We had a quiet sail past the
North Thanet wind farm and north towards the Nord Hinder Junction.
Quite how you navigated in the southern North Sea before GPS with all
these shipping lanes, I simply don’t know. The weather was fine until
early the next morning when it began to blow NE6, which made for some
unpleasant motor sailing. The wind moderated somewhat during the
afternoon as we approached land. We were pleased to dock in Oudeschild
at 1800. I was sad to find that the marina café no longer sold Dubbel’s beer,
as I had promised to buy my crew double Dubbels.
The forecast of strong northerly winds made the prospect of sailing up
to Thyborøn unattractive, so we settled for Brunsbüttel and the Kiel Kanal
after all. We went out of the Waddenzee though the Molengat Channel,
which provides a convenient shortcut. It is no longer an official channel,
but the Den Helder VTSD advised us that it was regularly used by yachts
and fishing boats, and had a recently surveyed minimum depth of 4 metres.
We had a storming sail along the north coast of Holland and Germany,
arriving at the mouth of the Elbe at 1100 just as the tide was beginning to
flood. My charts, which I had borrowed from various kind members and
others, were rather out of date as were those on my chartplotter. I had an
iPad onto which I
had loaded charts,
but stupidly, I
had not taken the
trouble to check
that there had
been no major
obstacles thrown
up on our planned
route. During the
night, I had set
Baz on a course
straight through a
Fåborg
wind farm that had
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Wotan’s Baltic cruise
Helsingør Castle
sprung up since I last sailed these waters. The traffic in the Elbe had to be
seen to be believed. It made Southampton water look positively deserted.
We were soon locked into the Kiel Kanal. We spent the night in the
delightful tree-lined Gieselau Kanal on a convenient pontoon just below
a lock. Next morning, we completed the journey along the Kiel Kanal,
berthing at the British Kiel YC in the mid afternoon. Moored near us was
Flamingo, the last of the ‘Windfall’ yachts that Britain liberated at the end
of WWII. It had been practically rebuilt and was in beautiful condition.
A group of young soldiers had been for a week’s cruise on her and were
full of excitement about the experience as none of them had sailed before.
Having been delayed by heads and head winds, I was keen to see as
much of Denmark as I could, before we had to be in Copenhagen, some
225 miles away, in five days’ time. We motored all the way to Fåborg on
the island of Fyn under a blue sky. Fåborg is a beautiful old town with
many half timbered houses and delightful narrow streets. From Fåborg
we sailed through the Svendborg Channel, under the enormous Store
Bælt Bridge and up to Kerteminde. As we arrived there, we were met by a
fleet of some 50 yachts having a mid-week race off the harbour entrance.
We sped on to Helsingør, stopping only at Hundested for the night. The
castle at Helsingør is very impressive, but does not owe a great deal to
Hamlet. The Danish kings used the castle to impose tolls on ships plying
up and down the Sound. The Swedes bombarded and captured the castle
in 1658 necessitating something of a rebuild. In 1857, the imposition of
dues was stopped as the Americans simply refused to pay. The Danish
National Maritime Museum has recently been built around the dry dock
just outside the ramparts of the castle. The museum is very imaginatively
designed and well worth a visit. We only had time for a brief walk around
Helsingør itself, but I would like to return.
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Anthony Fawcett
I
had
been
introduced to Michael
Nobel by a friend from
Itchenor. Michael lives
outside
Copenhagen
and keeps his boat in
Skovshoved
marina
a few miles north of
the city. He and his
wife
Anne-Marie
were incredibly kind
and entertained us
all royally. We found
Alexander von Humboldt II
the Danish to be
universally helpful. You only have to look at a railway timetable on a
station platform to be surrounded by several Danes all speaking perfect
English offering to help.
We had reached the end of the first leg of the cruise. David and Baz
returned home and I was now joined by my wife Bimbi. Our goal was
Stockholm. Two more friends were due to join us, but because of a family
crisis they had to drop out at the last moment. So it was just Bimbi and
me to sail the 400 odd miles. For the first two days we had sunshine and
light winds. Our first stop was at Ystad on the south coast of Sweden, to
pay homage to the home of Wallander. Ystad turned out to be a delightful
town that had survived the ravages of the town planners. Then it was on
to Christiansø and its twin island
Frederiksø, which I had been
longing to show Bimbi. She was very
taken by these two Danish islands.
Our evening was made by watching
the Alexander von Humboldt II, a
German sail training three-masted
barque, as she backed her square
fore-sails and sailed off her anchor
into the sunset. After a brief tour
around Frederiksø and a visit to Dr
Bim, cold and wet, but standing her watch
Dampe’s prison cell, we set off for
Utklippan. It was again a story of sailing interspersed with motor sailing
to this tiny man made harbour on an island off the south-eastern tip of
Sweden. It is a wild and beautiful place. I bumped the bottom on the way
in and on the way out with my 2.3 metre draft. I also graunched Wotan on
leaving the harbour. All in all it was something of a disaster, entirely of
my own making.
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Wotan’s Baltic cruise
The sail up to Kalmar was a very pleasant affair, with the wind behind
us all the way. It was a lovely warm evening as we arrived. The marina was
very full despite being early in the season. We took a look at the fairy tale
castle from a distance.
On Friday 13 June we set out north for Oskarshamn, by this time the
weather had turned nasty with a strong northerly wind and driving rain.
Bim bravely stood her watch getting soaked. She took selfies, which she
sent to her friends to show just how tough life was on board Wotan! The
wind continued to blow during the night so by morning the sea had built
up. We made a dirty dash around to Ut-Lango, a beautifully sheltered
anchorage I had found in 2008. By next morning the wind had dropped,
so we set off for Arkösund, taking the offshore route as with only two
of us the inner squiggly passage would have been hard work. Another
offshore passage brought us to Nynäshamn before we made it the next day
to Saltsjöbaden and Stockholm.
Next morning we awoke to find Nigel Wollen (RCC) in Wishound and
David Ridout (RCC) in Kelpie, coming into the KSS (Royal Swedish YC)
marina. They had met quite by chance in Napoleonviken the night before.
My daughter Henrietta came out to stay with us for Midsummer’s Eve.
She brought a posse of her friends for dinner on Wotan, whom we took for
a sail a few days later. My son Sindbad also came out just in time for the
celebrations. We had all been invited by some friends, who lived nearby,
to join them for Midsummer’s Eve. The celebrations involve erecting a
maypole, then young and old dance around it singing. This is followed
Anthony, Digger and Mike Redfern with better weather
by a huge buffet supper with sill, gravadlax and all manner of Swedish
delicacies, washed down with copious amounts of schnapps, plus more
singing.
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Anthony Fawcett
Bim and I had planned to sail into Lake Malaren along with Wishound
and Kelpie, but it was so cold that we decided to go home a few days early
- but not before we had visited Drottningholm Palace and its superbly
preserved 18th century theatre. While I was away, I lent Wotan to Douglas
Byatt (RCC), who took her up to the Ålands.
When I returned to Saltsjöbaden, it was with Mike and Liz Redfern
(RCC) and Digger Harris, who has sailed many miles with me on Wotan.
Our aim was to cruise up to Mariehamn in the Ålands, where we would
join the RCC Baltic Meet sailing from there to Helsinki. We had five
days to cover the 80 odd miles to Mariehamn. This allowed us to stop
for lunch almost every day and to enjoy a brief afternoon zizz. On the
advice of John Sharp (RCC), who had organised a Skerries Cruise up to
Mariehamn, for which we were sadly too late, we took the outer route
visiting Stora Nassa, Stora Ängskär, Rödloga and Stor Långören. As we
anchored in Stor Långören, which is in the outermost skerries of the
Stockholm Archipelago, I saw Kestrel, owned by the Cambridge University
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Helsinki
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Ekenas
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Pirita
Baltic Sea
Tallinn
ESTONIA
59n
YC, approaching. They considerately anchored almost out of sight. We
invited the crew on board for a drink. Douglas had said that they were in
the area and heading for Helsinki. The skipper was Oliver Beardon, who
had coincidentally sailed with Douglas on Wotan from Itchenor to the
Beaulieu Meet via St Vaast last year. Next morning we had a wonderful
spinnaker sail across to Mariehamn, leaving Kestrel far behind.
Mike and Liz knew the Baltic very well. Many of the photos in the
third edition of the RCCPF Baltic Sea Pilot were taken by them. When it
came to picking up a stern mooring buoy there was not much that I could
tell them. Our arrival in Mariehamn with some 20 RCC yachts was a very
convivial affair. A drinks party was held on Mike Pidsley’s Gas Pirate on
the Friday and dinner had been arranged for the Saturday on the famous
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Wotan’s Baltic cruise
square rigger Pommern.
The RCC meet had
been arranged with
the NJK (Nylandska
Jachtkluben)
who
kindly allowed RCC
members access to any
of their private islands.
After Mariehamn two
further parties had been
Our dining barge leaving NJK Langholmen
arranged, the first in
NJK Långholmen and the second at the NJK Clubhouse on Blekholmen
in Helsinki. This enabled participants in the Meet to choose whatever
route they wished in between.
On the first night of the cruise it was suggested that we should go to
a wonderful anchorage called ‘Bänö on’, where you could quite literally
anchor a fleet. Once we anchored, Digger, who has the build of a long
distance swimmer, dived over the side and visited most of the RCC yachts
at anchor, attracting after-dinner drinks invitations on the way. Our route
to Långholmen took in NJK Lill-Kalvholmen, NJK Borgareluoto and
Kaiserhamn. We met up with other yachts on the Baltic Meet in most of
these harbours, which added to the fun and enjoyment. Jan Hörhammer,
who is a member of both the RCC and the NJK, had prepared a detailed
guide to the Finnish Archipelago and the NJK harbours, and this became
our standard book of reference. Dinner in Långholmen arrived on a
contractor’s barge, which, rather than anchor, simply put down its single
jack-up leg and lowered its bow onto the rocks for us to walk aboard. After
dinner many of us repaired to Gas Pirate for a sing-song, ably accompanied
by Mike Pidsley and less ably by me.
On the way to Hanko, we teamed up with Nick Charman (RCC) in Fera
and anchored for lunch and a swim off a small island called Gunnaröarna.
I should mention that since leaving Stockholm the weather had been
wonderful, with temperatures into the upper 20s and usually blue skies.
Normally I don’t swim in Finland, but this season was different. West of
Hanko, however, there was a great deal of algae in the water caused by the
hot weather, which rather put paid to swimming. We spent a night at NJK
Högholmen before heading into Helsinki for the last night dinner.
My crew headed off home in the morning and I was joined by Adam
Hogg and Colin Maclean, both of whom live in Itchenor. Our plan was
to cruise over a period of a week to Hanko where Adam would leave us
and we would then be joined by Chris Colbourne, also from Itchenor. We
enjoyed dinner at Kapeli, an attractive fin de siècle restaurant in the middle
of the mall immediately above the harbour. Unsurprisingly, the wind
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Anthony Fawcett
was blowing straight
out of Tallinn. It was
forecast to veer in
the afternoon, so we
headed west towards
Porkkala before setting
sail for Tallinn. We
tried to berth in the
City Harbour marina,
but having failed to call
up the Harbourmaster
on VHF, we were
summarily told to
Tallinn city walls
leave. We simply went
over to Pirita marina, which I knew from previous visits, and spent a day
being tourists in Tallinn. We had an exciting sail all the way back to NJK
Högholmen, which makes a very convenient landfall on the way back
from Tallinn.
The following morning, we motored all the way to NJK Munkshamn,
where there were already three yachts moored and within a few minutes
another three joined us. The good weather was bringing them out. Colin,
a geologist, was in his element inspecting the rocks and geologising. Our
next stop was at Ekenäs, which was only a few miles away. We were able
to stop for lunch at Potten, an anchorage on the island of Älgö, which I
had happened upon in
2008. I encouraged my
crew to swim as I had
enjoyed a warm swim
there 10 days before.
Sadly, the water was
not so warm and I had
to warn my crew off.
Adam, who is a cordon
bleu cook, kept us well
fed and watered. Colin
and I would miss him.
We followed the ‘Green’
Looking north from NJK Munkshamn
(small boat) channel to
Hanko, only to be met by an armada of motor yachts of all shapes and sizes
racing east. There had been a motor boat show in Hanko and everyone
was heading back home at the end of the Finnish holiday season.
Adam left us in Hanko where we were joined by Chris Colbourne to
retrace our steps to Helsinki. To make matters more interesting. we ran
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Wotan’s Baltic cruise
Sunset in the Finnish Archipelago
firmly aground off the dock at NJK Munkshamn, despite having moored
there quite happily twice in the previous weeks. The high pressure had
lowered the water level. We ran a line out to a buoy off our starbord quarter
and soon winched ourselves off. Colin raised our morale by cooking up
burgers on the gas barbecue in a delightful hut overlooking the harbour
entrance.
We returned to Helsinki via NJK Högholmen, where we met Koos van
den Heuvel and his beautiful Dutch Botter named ‘t Fauwe Haentje, and
then we went back to Tallinn. Our next door neighbour in Pirita Marina
had been the advisor to the Finnish Prime Minister at the time of the
Revolution in Estonia. He had arranged for the Estonian Government in
Exile to be spirited over to Pirita Marina. He explained how in August
1991 the Estonian Nationalists had taken control of the Television Tower,
which overlooks Pirita, while the pro Russian forces opened fire from
below. The Nationalists disabled the lift, so as they say, the rest is history.
We dined at the restaurant at the top of the TV tower, as we felt that we
should visit the scene of the National Revolution.
On our return to Helsinki, Chris, who is an architect, took us on a
guided tour of the architectural highlights of Helsinki, including the
Railway Station, Finlandia Hall and the Museum of Modern Art. This
made me appreciate a different side of Helsinki. To round off the day, we
visited Sveaborg Fortress.
After they left I was joined by Bill Barnes and his friend Mike Derry.
Bill and Mike had won the Hornet World championship back in the 1960s
in a dinghy which they had built themselves. Mike and his Finnish wife
live in Helsinki. Mike had originally planned to sail only as far as Hanko,
but was granted a late pass to sail on with us to Mariehamn. On the way to
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Anthony Fawcett
Singsong on Wotan in Borgareluoto
Mariehamn, we visited many of the harbours I had been to previously. By
way of a change, we visited Korpoo to see the 14th Century church. It has
the most beautiful and probably unique choir stall on a wooded filigree
bridge across the nave, and, to cap it all, a statue of St George slaying the
dragon.
We laid up Wotan in a small yard north of Mariehamn. Bill and Mike
were invaluable, first in helping me to sail Wotan to Mariehamn in some
very unpleasant weather and then in preparing her for the winter.
Looking back, we had been blessed with one of the best summers that
the Baltic has experienced for many years. We could not have explored the
Stockholm and Finnish Archipelagos in better conditions.
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