8th May
Cruise Ship Approaching Kiel down the Kieler F�rde
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There had been a steady wind through the night and the constant squeaking of a bow rope inches from my head did wonders for my beauty sleep. The wind still made its presence felt when we arose; the skies were blue. The harbourmaster soon tracked us down, and after paying our dues, he enlightened us by telling us that in Kiel it was Sunday, a holy day, and we wouldn't be able to buy any food or gas today. We had no option but to bite the bullet and stay an extra day, which cut our margin to reach St Petersburg to an alarming low level. We occupied ourselves with odd jobs, laundry, showers. To ease the boredom, Rex and I reconnoitered a chandlers and supermarket for the following morning's gas and food purchases. Walking past huge cruise ships in the harbour, Rex entertained me with anecdotes about some of the cruises he and his wife had enjoyed in recent years; no doubt a total contrast to the cruise he was now on. We later learned that we were berthed in what was known as the millionaires' basin, and judging by the size of the boats surrounding us I could see why. I now realised why I was getting strange looks as I hung my clothes, that hadn't quite dried in the tumble drier, out on the rigging.
9th May
Naval Monument Towers and Submarine Museum
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Once again we were greeted by a glorious morning. Rex and I ventured out to perform the tedious shopping duties. First port of call was a chandlers in town to exchange three camping gas bottles, buy a 22m long jib sheet, and also purchase some fuel treatment solution (to stop bacteria growing at the diesel/water interface in the fuel tanks). Life is never straight forward, the chandler only had one gas bottle, but fortunately the owner said he could get another two within a couple of hours. I asked him to call me when he had the bottles in his shop, and Rex and I headed off to the supermarket to buy provisions for the long leg to Helsinki.
Once back on board with all purchases, we topped up with water, extricated ourselves from the box we had tied up in, and headed up the Kieler F�rde to Laboe to top up with diesel. Then, once out in the open sea, we set the sails and began our long journey up the Baltic, passing the 85m high Naval Monument towers, originally built to remember the members of the imperial German Navy who died in World War I, but in 1954 it became a memorial for seamen of all nations and to commemorate peaceful seafaring on the open seas. A World War II submarine converted into a museum in 1972 lay like a beached whale high up the shore. Sadly the winds died down and we reluctantly resorted to motor power.
Overheard on VHF Channel 16 some miles off the German coast:-
| British Yacht ............... |
"Mayday! Mayday! We are sinking! We are sinking!" |
| German Coastguard .... |
"Zis is ze German coastguard" |
| British Yacht ............... |
"Mayday! Mayday! We are sinking! I repeat, we are sinking!" |
| German Coastguard .... |
"Vot are you sinking about?" |
