Baltic Sea 2019 Part 4

Wed 24.07.19 Maasholm -> Gelting

Time/Distance: 3h 30m / 18 nm

The day starts promising: Already sunny and very warm (28°) and almost no wind at 08:00. Ideal for the motorboat ride on the "open sea", well, let's rather say: off the coast of the Baltic Sea in Schleswig-Holstein. ;-)

The route is planned (with the nv-charts app on the tablet), it is estimated to take no more than three hours to Gelting. We set off at 09:00. We pass LT Schleimünde, go out to the navigation mark and then turn north. A few miles later the beautiful blue Baltic Sea lures us for swimming. Fancy a swim in the sea water? Why not, and then the anchor drops at 54°53'N and 10°01'E (approximately!). Wonderful, suddenly this calmness in the boat, only a gentle sound of waves against the hull, otherwise silence. But then the water was still quite chilly, from the belly button it takes a little bit of courage to dive in completely. The swim ladder helps with that. - An hour later it's time to lift the anchor and continue the journey. By the way, the anchor came up sparkling clean, no mud, not a grain of sand was sticking to it. I like that!

The route was actually planned to pass the Kalkgrund lighthouse on the port side, i.e. around the Kalkgrund. However, when approaching, I "dared" to take a shortcut and cross the Kalkgrund. According to the nautical chart, there should always be at least 3 to 4 m of water, which the depth sounder constantly confirmed. The trip was interesting in so far as that the water suddenly became light green instead of blue as before and that we could see the white ground where the shadow of Miss Marple accompanied us.

The logbook notes: 12:40 Kalkgrund crossed, and 13:35 all moored at YH Gelting-Mole.

Gelting-Mole is a marina and nothing else. There is a kiosk (which is mostly closed), a small restaurant, a motorhome parking lot and that's about it. So, good for overnight stays and continuing the journey the next day.

Thu 25.07.19 Gelting Mole -> Fahrensodde

Time/Distance: 3h 30m / 22 nm

Fahrensodde? Never heard of it, where is that? - It can be called a suburb of Flensburg; only about 5 km before the end of the fjord and from the city center. I didn't want to drive through to Flensburg "City" right away, so I chose this marina.

The weather is good to us again: sunny at 08:00 and already 23° with a light east wind. When we leave the shelter of Gelting Bay, the now freshening east wind becomes noticeable. It is more pleasant to drive with following seas than against them, but the boat is yawing quite a bit. That means: a lot of steering for the helmsman! But that too will end at some point, namely when we have rounded the Holnis peninsula by 10:30. Then the fjord becomes "tame" again. We moor at the marina shortly before 12 o'clock - as I said: Fahrensodde! I don't know how to pronounce it: Fahren-sodde or Fahrens-odde? I didn't think of asking a local. ;-) I dock at the pier of Flensborg Yacht Club. Yes, Flensborg is correct, it's a Danish club. But with German-speaking members. To go shopping, you just have to walk up the "hill" through the forest, and then everything is there: ReWE, gas station, ice cream parlor, bus stop for the bus to Flensburg. But I don't need that, I'm going to Flensburg by boat tomorrow. ;-)

Fri 26.07.19 Fahrensodde -> Flensburg City

Time/Distance: - hardly worth mentioning, but for the sake of completeness: about 1 hour and just under 3 nm

At 09:00 it is time to say "Goodbye Fahrensodde, I liked it with you". We pass the Mürwick Naval Academy with its impressive facade seen from the water. Long ago, I completed a "ship security course" here. The lessons were a bit tedious and too focused on the military for my taste (Cold War, convoy travel on the North Atlantic, etc.), but the practical exercises were great, I have to say. Firefighting and leak sealing under realistic, almost real conditions. We sweated a lot. Even today, it is very vivid in my memory.

I make a brief stop at the industrial harbor and get a few cans of diesel from the neighboring gas station. It works wonderfully, and shortly afterwards we moor in the city harbor, so to speak in the center of Flensburg, directly on the tourist mile. In the evenings and at night, it's a bit noisy from the unceasing revelers, but that's what we wanted. ;-) The harbor master is so nice and lends me a bicycle (originally intended only for shopping) and I take a little exploration tour through Flensburg. Tomorrow should be a day in the harbor and in the evening I make plans for what I want to see.

Sat 27.07.19 Harbor day in Flensburg

The museums open at 10 o'clock. So I set off on foot at half past nine to the other side of the fjord, a few zigzag steps up the hill to the "Museumsberg Flensburg". https://www.museumsberg-flensburg.de/de/

There are two impressive buildings, one is a former school building, which can still be seen inside in the staircases. In any case, it reminded me of my first years of school. The natural history part is very "close to nature" and lovingly designed, and the cultural history rooms are impressive as well. I also liked the small but fine Nolde exhibition in the other building. - Nevertheless: After two hours, their little legs were tired and their eyes needed a rest. I found that in the surrounding park - with an ancient cemetery where Danish and Prussian casualties from the German-Danish battles are buried. History has left its mark, there are street names like "Kanonenberg". The famous "Idstedt Lion" also stands at the old cemetery, which was originally intended to commemorate the battle won by Denmark at Idstedt and is now seen as a symbol of German-Danish friendship.

Through the green areas, I continued to the nearby viewpoint (once down, once up again), which was listed in the city guide. The view used to be great, but today it is largely obscured by green overgrowth. Well, a gardener with a "long-reach pruner" should take care of that. Afterwards, I went down the 101 steps of the Marientreppe to the fjord shore again, where the Flensburg Maritime Museum is located, which I, as a former sailor, had put on the "to-do" list. It was also nice. You learn a lot about Flensburg ship owners and maritime tradition. Luckily, there was also a cafeteria; the first coffee and snack break of the day! After that, I visited the museum shipyard, where old wooden fishing boats etc. are being restored. There was also a "shipyard café" there, a quaint, very cozy place with delicious cake and a beautiful view of the fjord. In the late afternoon, I was back on board, quite exhausted, as always after such a day. It was nice to finally stretch my legs.

Sun 28.07.19 Flensburg -> Glücksburg

Time/Distance: 1h 30m / 5 nm

Only 5 nm in an hour and a half? Yes, today it's a bit windy again: a strong east wind creates a short, steep sea in the fjord, and we had to go against it. The boat was rolling quite a bit, so I drove a bit further into the bay between Flensburg and Glücksburg in search of some shelter. It worked reasonably well. However, since we are not in a hurry, I drove accordingly "adjusted", i.e. slowly. The berthing maneuver in Glücksburg didn't go so well at first, but then a woman from a sailing yacht came to the dock and showed me a smaller box, more in the corner, and she even helped with mooring, demanded "windward line first"! Yes, she knew what she was doing! Thank you! It's always nice to get "land support", especially as a lone sailor, I appreciate that.

Glücksburg is a pretty, well-maintained resort with a small bathing beach, which was fully used. Many beach chairs and sunbathers on the beach; stand-up paddlers and other water sports activities liven up the water surface. In beautiful summer weather, I take an extensive walk along the promenade and through the resort.

And tomorrow it's finally time: "Denmark, here we come"! Actually, the "Danish South Sea" was my destination too. Due to time constraints, I have to cancel that, but I still want to visit a harbor in DK. Sonderborg would be an option, but I don't feel like going to a bigger city. That's why I chose Horup Hav, a small (former) fishing village right next door, as my destination. Let's see, I'm excited.