Sailing – Page 4 – Life Four Point Zero

December 31, 2022December 14, 2022

More Experiences, Less Stuff, Ep. 189

The clear sky, as the sun rose at 4:15 am, seemed to be a fitting metaphor for our departure from Germany. Seventy nautical miles to the northeast of our anchorage lay the island of Bornholm, a fresh new country for our logbook with all the optimism and anticipation that comes with a new courtesy flag raising. It’s difficult to miss Bornholm as you enter the Baltic Sea. It sits out in the middle, begging mariners to make a stopover just like the family dog sitting squarely in the doorway waiting for your loving return. Bornholm’s geographical anomaly is only matched by its political oddity. Located as it is solidly off the southeast corner of Sweden, you might wonder if there was a cartographer’s error that classified it as Danish soil. But, no, it is indeed part of Denmark. And, to fully explain the how and why of changing territorial lines between these Scandinavian states would easily fill a complete blog on its own. As Karen will attest, my fascination with history becomes more acute every day, but some stories could be so engrossing, we might run aground on the other end of the Baltic for lack of attentiveness!

December 17, 2022December 14, 2022

The Former East Germany, In A New Light, Ep. 188

“You are entering an active shooting area. Change course immediately to 045 degrees for Tango 7 buoy.”

Regardless of whether you have had your morning coffee or not, hearing these words from the VHF radio will bring any boater to complete, 100% attention. As we departed the Kiel fjord with our friend Pedro onboard for a week’s exploring along the northern Germany coast, we were following a series of waypoints we had carefully programmed into the chartplotter, a route that would miss all the shallow areas on our way to Heiligenhafen. I had noticed that much of the electronic chart was criss-crossed with purple boxes and tiny, hard to read symbols. These charts are the digitized cousins of the old established paper charts that mariners have used for decades. But ‘digitized’ is a bit of a misnomer. A human being, of unknown skill and compensation level, reads the paper chart and enters the latitude and longitude of all the features on the chart. Given that it is human, mistakes and omissions are possible, and to be expected. Place names are commonly misspelled. Important footnotes on the paper chart that explain the meaning of boxes and symbols are left off or buried in a menu deep enough that you should pack a canary for the journey. But this was one region you wanted to dig for the details. We were indeed headed into an active firing range and a fast-approaching patrol boat was ready to reinforce the verbal instructions with their imposing physical presence. We locked in a course for the T-7 boundary buoy without delay, and examined the chart closely for the full perimeter of the firing range. With the recent invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the navies of the NATO countries were understandably on high alert. Our role in this conflict was to stay out of the way, and the explosions and staccato sounds of automatic fire in the hazy distance were a regular reminder for us to not cut corners.

December 3, 2022December 14, 2022

Break On Through To The Other Side, Ep. 187

Neither of us could handle another 5am start. It was nice to know the sun had that kind of endurance this time of year, but after the big push in the last few days to get around the Netherlands and Germany barrier islands (area known as the German Bight), Karen and I needed some R&R time. Cuxhaven, at the doorstep of the Elbe River, is at the crossroads of history. Just a few steps away from our marina stood the ornate arrival hall for the Hamburg America Line which, until it ceased operations in 1969, was the major departure point for German and other European emigrants to the U.S. During World War I, the German Navy operated airships out of a nearby hangar. Today, like many coastal cities, a majority of the economy has pivoted to tourism. However, just south of the historic cruise ship terminal is a state of the art offshore wind farm assembly plant run by Siemens Gamesa. These wind turbine components are so massive, much more so than the land-based wind farms, that manufacturers strategically locate their plants at ports like Cuxhaven where they can immediately load the components onto custom built ships for transport to the offshore sites. It also frees them from any over-the-road size constraints. We got a chance to see the multi-story high nacelles (the central hub of the turbine where the gears and generator are located) being loaded onto a ship at Cuxhaven. Hats off to the men and women in this industry, doing their own pivot like other neighboring European countries, as they shift focus from oil and gas production to clean energy production.

A nacelle being prepared for transport (Photo Credit: Siemens Gamesa)

Custom-built ship for transporting nacelles. Cuxhaven

November 19, 2022October 17, 2022

Rules and Regs, Ep. 186

Playtime in the tide-free protected waters of Netherland’s inland waterways was over. The proverbial school-yard bell was ringing, calling us back to our main purpose at hand… finding our way into the Baltic Sea. Not only were we entering back into tidal waters, but into a stretch of narrow shallow estuaries running out to the North Sea that required precise planning so that we wouldn’t run aground. We would need to leave on a rising half tide, allowing us enough deep water for the next 6 hours before the water level started falling below half tide again. The winds were howling at our anchorage in the morning behind the Kornwerderzand lock from a low pressure system that blew through overnight, and we briefly considered tucking back into our berth to wait it out for another day. The clutches of a warm bed can be a powerful separator from one’s goals.

November 5, 2022November 6, 2022

Introspection, Ep. 185

One of the curious oddities of boating in the Netherlands is the extensive network of inland waterways. We had already been on our first one – the North Sea Canal that runs into Amsterdam from the sea – but the guide book described countless others running in all compass directions, like the fissures running outwards from a cracked window. We knew they had not been built specifically for pleasure boaters – that point was made crystal clear by the numerous fleets of commercial ships plying the waters – but what pleased us was the numerous miles of ‘mast-up’ routes. Commonly, these inland waterways are crossed by low-slung bridges, forcing sailboats to either skip the route or remove their mast and rigging. But the Netherlands had made a concerted effort to accommodate taller vessels, either by constructing bridges much bigger, tunneling roads under the water, or installing lift bridges. As we eased away from the dock in Amsterdam, and passed through the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it lock at curiously named Oranjesluis, which raised us a meer 6 inches, we waited patiently for the bridge at tongue-twister named Schellingwoudebrug to open for passage. Unfolding before us on the other side was the massive inland body of water named Markermeer.

October 22, 2022October 13, 2022

Locked Up, Ep. 184

Like land travelers that had a taste of the sea on a sightseeing boat, we had a peek into life ashore during our tour of medieval Belgium through Brugge and Ghent. But it was time to get back to our chosen mode of transport. We had intended to push away from Oostende at first light the next morning, but it would seem other plans were being hatched. At midnight, Karen awoke with a start, insisting that someone was onboard our boat. Regular readers will note this as a common occurrence – Karen awake at the slightest noise, trying to shake me from a dead sleep. She was right of course. A small sailboat was rafting up to us, apparently having just pulled into the port in the eery shroud of darkness. It didn’t make sense that someone would be underway so late, and then disturb someone else’s rest by rafting to them, but not all of my brain cells were reporting in for duty. We had the pleasure of informing them we were leaving at 5am, which would require their presence to break free from the raft-up. They were indeed gone without a trace at 5, but high winds had arrived, prompting us to turn in for a little more sleep. Ha! This time, an hour later, I’m startled awake by loud noises up on deck. What now, I fretted. Another sailboat had decided to head out but was having difficulty turning quick enough in between the other boats. Their bow, complete with a hard-edged anchor on the bowsprit, was pressed against our toe rail and lifeline. I rushed to the foredeck to push them off, as another neighboring boat pulled on their stern. They commenced forward gear again and were off without a word, not even an apology. I would have even accepted a hand gesture of sorrow. Lucky for them, I could not find any obvious signs of damage.

October 8, 2022October 13, 2022

As Thick As Thieves, Ep. 183

We had been in England for just two weeks, enjoying fine beer, authentic fish and chips, stunning cliffs and, oh yes, a ton of wind by which to sail. But Karen and I had our hearts set on the Baltic Sea this summer, and if we dawdled too long, our goals might just slip away. At 6:30am, we were off and away from the dock at Ramsgate, needing a full day to make the 65 miles back across the English Channel to Belgium. As the busiest shipping corridor in the world, our wits would once again have to be with us. In many ways, this would be more difficult than our earlier channel crossing from Guernsey to Weymouth. Here, the channel was not only more compressed, but the waters were pockmarked throughout with shoals, particularly on the Belgium side. The chart didn’t help much either. It was criss-crossed with shipping lanes and odd shaped purple separation zones. The majority of ships were following the dominant northeast/southwest routes, but a handful of ships were transiting east/west from and to the busy Belgium ports of Zeebrugge and Antwerp. In the center of it all was a counterclockwise roundabout of sorts, just like traffic circles on land except each ‘car’ here was measuring in at 600-1200 feet long.

September 3, 2022October 13, 2022

Color Collage, Ep. 182

The fun and games were over. It was time we leave the sailor’s sandbox surrounding the Isle of Wight and start making miles to the east. Try as we might, we couldn’t find anything sexy written about this stretch of England’s coast as it narrows on its way to the Straits of Dover. In sailor lingo, we were faced with a coast of passage. Not much to see, and you hope for good wind to get it over with sooner.

August 27, 2022October 13, 2022

Following Orders, Ep. 181

Two summers ago, we met a nice British couple in Greece who were exploring the Mediterranean onboard their powerboat. We had a great evening, with much needed laughter and story swapping. But like many fellow boaters one runs into, you never know if you’ll see them again, and that becomes part of the accepted protocol. I would say it is akin to meeting the folks pitching a tent next to you at a campground, or fellow divers on a scuba expedition, or foodies at a cooking class. You share a common passion, but the reality of crossing paths again is pretty rare. This was the case with David and Allison. We kept in touch and at the start of the next summer, we re-united a couple of times as we collectively explored the Ionian Sea of western Greece. We then bid adieu as Karen and I started our accelerated pace west out of the Med. But they threw out a little carrot over dinner once that they were thinking of switching to be sailors. This was before today’s sky high fuel prices, so they were wise on multiple levels! After our warmup on being hosts to our friends Steve and Julie, we were ready to entertain more friends onboard Sea Rose.

August 20, 2022October 13, 2022

Money Laundering, Ep. 180

When I think of the English Channel, my mind goes immediately to the amazing athletes that have swum across this iconic waterway. It is a 21 mile endeavor at its the narrowest point from Dover. I remember as a kid seeing live TV broadcasts of these swimmers, out in the turbulent waters swimming all through the night. Enduring for so long was impressive given that I get winded swimming from one end of the pool to the other. For our crossing of the Channel on Sea Rose, we would be in the safety of our cockpit and exerting ourselves far less, but yet some of the same challenges were present. The English Channel is considered the most heavily traveled shipping route in the world, with so many containerized goods heading to Northern European seaports, as well as supertankers coming out of North Sea oil fields, and busy passenger ferries zipping around in between them all. There are designated shipping lanes – called Traffic Separation Schemes on the nautical charts – where the majority of the ships transit in and out of the Channel, but at times it can seem like bumper-to-bumper traffic on an expressway.