The high winds arrived as scheduled today and we were glad to have made good use of yesterday's calom weather. From our mooring at the sea wall end of the yacht harbour pontoons we had a bird's eye view of the ships battling up the förde and the little fishing boats bobbing about precariously as they tended their markers. We spent some time rejigging our cruise plan, having worked out that the money we could save by filling up at Helgoland was offset by the extra diesel we would need to get there. With careful planning we would need only a few hundred litres for our inland waterways cruise before our arrival in Belgium, where we could take advantage of red diesel.

The rest of the morning was occupied enjoying the facilities of Laboe, including watching the annual kite surfing championships, the participants of which were no doubt quite pleased with the lively weather. After lunch at a beachside restaurant we rounded off our stay with a tour of 'U995', a German military submarine which was confiscated by the Norwegians after the war and later returned after decommissioning.

Our plan for the afternoon was to make the short two mile trip across the förde and then lock into the Kiel canal and make our way to Rendsburg, a trip which should take about three hours. We opted to take on a small amount of fuel at the Holtenau bunker boat which at €1,07 compared favourably with the €1,16 offered to us at Laboe. Unfortunately the delay meant we missed the lock opening and had to wait an hour for the lock-keeper to let a batch of boats through from inside.

We should have guessed from the delay that something was amiss and when we finally got into the lock we were greeted by three young officers of the German Polizei. As always seems to be the case in these situations, they were keen to make their mark and having found nothing wrong with our ships registration or skipper's license (ICC) they decided to fine us for inappropriate hanging about outside the lock. When we pointed out the lack of signs, or indeed an appointed waiting area he agreed to reduce the fine from €20 to €10 but we were indignant all the same that we had been harshly treated. With all the available quays labelled 'Anlegen verboten' we were advised that 200m away in the Kieler Förde shipping channel was a better place to wait.

By the time we had finished arguing and paid our lock dues it was 6pm and our three hour cruise, which had to finish before the end of daylight navigation hours at 9pm, was rather in jeopardy. So when the Flemhudersee anchorage opened up on our port side we decided to cut our losses and settle down for the night.

Cruising Statistics

Distance: 11 nm

Total to date: 1061 nm

Avg Speed: 5.5 knots

Duration: 4:00 hours

Diesel: 11 litres

Wind: W-SW 4-5

Mooring: Free

Electricity: N/A

Water: N/A

Charts

NV Serie 1 - S2