Saturday 7 April

We got a lie in today, an extra 15 mins unto 5:45. So with that extra sleep to enliven us we left Heligoland. It was an interesting place to visit with a unique quality to it. We read in the tourist blurb that it was “the most islandy of Germany’s islands”, whatever that means. We think that they were trying to say that it is more remote than the Friesian islands, as there are several of them, they have more similarities.

We left with a good wind blowing and as soon as we were clear of the land, we had the sails up.

One of the more challenging aspects of the day was to cross multiple shipping lanes leading into the Ems estuary. When we neared the lanes, we radioed the traffic control to request permission to cross, and were told we were ok to proceed in accordance with the rules. It felt reassuring to have spoken with them, as the area is very strictly policed, and apparently they dish out on the spot fines for those who transgress. As we neared both the middle and the far side of the junction we saw ships which we eventually realised were at anchor, which was rather confusing.

After crossing the lanes we were able to turn right and start running along the north coast of Germany, and its outlying islands. During this time the wind died away, and we eventually had to resort to the engine.

We were heading for Borkum, which was the only port on this coast that we could access due to our draft. The downside was that this coast is notoriously difficult, highly tidal, and with numerous banks and shallows. Readers of “The riddle of the sands” will be familiar with this area. We had to go some way past Borkum, and then turn back up the estuary, which added miles to our route, and we ended up going in against the tide, which seemed to take for ever. It must have been about 23:00 by the time we docked, having felt our way past various shallows and unlit buoys in a slight mist. It was made even more complex, as the electronic chart we were using ended at the German border, and some of our detour was into the Dutch sector, so we had to resort to one of our fallback navigation systems. Then a little further on we came back in to Germany, and the charts were operational again.

We arrived and tied up, only then to be greeted by the harbourmaster (harbourmistress), who said we had to move to the other side of the pontoon, as we were on the commercial side, and a large ship was due. We moved, but there was never any sight of the ship. We were a little tired and stressed by the whole experience. The rather utilitarian natural of the port suggested that it might look best in the dark.

Distance covered today - 88 nautical miles

Total distance covered - 260 nautical miles

Steve (and Tricia)