After transiting the Kiel canal on Wednesday, we sailed another 20 nm (nautical miles) in the Elbe river to reach Cuxhaven harbor (Germany). Since the Kiel canal was flat we were able to spend time below and prepare a couple meals while underway knowing that we had some long days planned ahead! Upon late arrival we ate a good soup, cleaned up the boat and went to bed as we had a 6 AM wake up the next day. 

Thursday we sailed from Cuxhaven to Borkum(Frisian Island in Germany) taking advantage of favorable southern winds as we were heading West. We approached Borkum in the fog which was not optimal but made it safely into Burkana Harbor on the eastern part of the Island. We were able to tie down to a floating dock and had dinner onboard. A couple more sailboats also arriving from Cuxhaven rafted onto us during the evening and night. 

Friday was a rest/work day and we tried to make time for exploring Borkum. Morning was spent trying to figure out an issue and getting some small projects done, all work… Everybody pitched in and we were super grateful for Timo & Hilari’s help.

After a late lunch Adam stayed on board to work on the next day’s navigation plan while the rest of us took the bus to the only town on the island, also called Borkum. It felt like a seaside resort town with a long beach and a couple very touristy streets. It reminded Seth of the boardwalk in San Diego. It was amazing to see out to the water and the entrance to the channel that we had taken in the fog the previous night. What a difference! 

We went back to the boat a couple hours later as we had an early departure the next day - Us for a long day to Vlieland and Timo & Hilari for a long trek to Amsterdam (via Ferry & trains) where they were flying from on Sunday. The weather gave us a small respite and we had a lovely meal on deck (prepared by Hilari & Seth)! Quite a nice night to say goodbye (for now)  to Timo & Hilari.

Saturday morning we headed out early as we had a long day ahead and needed to arrive in Vlieland (Frisian Island in the Netherland) around high tide. We were hoping to sail most of the way but after a few hours we were beating into the wind and we decided to motor in order to be able to get there at the right time (next safe harbor was a lot farther). It was not exactly pleasant as we were pounding into the waves but hand steering helped a little.

Along the way we saw the burning cargo ship on the coast - far enough away for our safety - and read a bit more about it. As I write we still don’t know what will happen. This area is critical to a lot of migratory birds and other wildlife. Speaking with a mariner in Vlieland, we learned only that they are hoping for changing winds to take the still burning ship as far away from the coast as possible so that it does not sink nearby and create an environmental disaster.

We luckily were able to enter the channel to Vlieland around high tide and had a pleasant sail in the channel. As we approached the entrance of the harbor, Adam warned me not to worry, but that it was narrow! And narrow it was, with a very strong current across the entrance. I might have held my breath while we crossed it… and we all felt an adrenaline rush! 

The harbormaster greeted us and helped us raft onto another boat in the entrance basin of the harbor. Our bow thruster was not working but between the harbormaster pushing our bow and TJ on the boat we rafted on to, we were able to get settled securely.  With only the three of us onboard, docking can be a challenge but so far we have always gotten help from other sailors! 

After a long day, we cleaned up the boat and went to the restaurant in the harbor for a good meal. Seating by the window we were able to watch as a lot of large Dutch flat bottom boats arrived in the harbor. It was really a sight and by night time the harbor was packed with them! 

We are now staying in Vlieland for 3 nights as a storm is bringing strong winds and rain in the area. Sunday day was spent working on a lot of bot projects  - first one was to figure out why the bow thruster stopped working - the next was to figure out another issue in the back. In a home, access to systems is generally easy, however on a boat most systems are under floorboard or in other hard to access areas. A lot of the time spent on work involves moving everything in &  out  of the way to access the system! By late afternoon we had the bow thruster issue resolved and some ideas on the other problem and we finally got off the boat to walk to town.

Unlike Borkum, Vlieland is a really charming village, sparsely populated and accessible by ferry. Lots of small shops and hotels/restaurants along the main street. We had a lovely meal at ‘De Herbergh van Flielant’ and great ice cream afterwards at Mint 12 (we are obviously not letting the cold & rain keep us from enjoying ice-cream - it is summer after all).

Monday is a rainy day, so working on planning, navigation plans and blog posts… hoping for a break in the rain to explore Vlieland some more, the beach looks amazing and renting bikes would be fun….