Running with the Wind

We are very excited to finally set off on our long anticipated tour south. Four years ago Hauke dreamt with some friends of sailing to the Mediterranean, and although, they decided in the end to make a tour of the Baltic instead to gain more experience, the Goden Wind blog was born. Now, we are finally making the journey to the Adriatic, and we are so grateful to all of the wonderful crew that have and will join us to make these dreams a reality.

Leaving Lübeck in the late afternoon we tacked up the Trave with a light breeze getting some great training in for the crew. Upon reaching the Lübecker Bucht, we set course for Fehmarn on a close haul.  The wind began to die down and turn to the east as the sun set and our eager crew member, Peter, sailed us through the night to reach the Fehmarn Belt Bridge with the early rising sun.

With a light breeze from behind we set the spinnaker in the morning carrying us all the way into the Kieler Förde and the entrance of the Kiel Canal  We had some time to get much more familiar with the forward and reverse gears on the new propellor as we waited to enter the lock.

Reaching Rensburg, about one third of the way through the Canal, we made use of this convenient stopping point for an evening rest. Wanting to take advantage of the outgoing tide on the Elbe we made an early start from Rensburg at 3am.

Leaving the canal we set the spinnaker once again and enjoyed reaching speeds up to 10.5nm riding the current out of the river. The light breeze continued throughout the day and we were able to experiment with the outgoing and incoming tides on our way to Helgoland.

With just two miles to the island we experienced a sudden change in the wind of 90 degrees so that we had to quickly take down the spinnaker and complete the final stretch tacking. On Helgoland we had the pleasure of meeting some seals on the beach and watching the spectacular colony of gannets that come to the island each year to breed. We were also able to use the opportunity to refuel from the island’s tax free filling station.