How we took our Westerly Storm from Suffolk to the Baltic. Part 1: Preparation, Netherlands and the Kiel Canal

1. Kalessin of
Orwell
To the Baltic
with Ben

2. Our inspiration

3. Why the Baltic?
• A new sailing territory to explore
• Beautiful scenery, historic towns
• Sheltered, non-tidal waters
• Wonderful facilities
• Not too crowded
• Good weather in summer 
• Not very far away

4. This is the Baltic...

5. ...and this is Ben
arriving in the Baltic
via the Kiel Canal

6. This is Kalessin of Orwell
© Yachting Monthly

7. About Kalessin
• Westerly Storm 33 – 170 built
• Built 1988, bought by us 2004
• Length 33ft/10.1m
• Beam 11ft 7in/3.5m
• Draft 5ft 6in/1.68m (fin keel)
• Engine 18hp Volvo
• Fast, spacious, elegant, solid

8. Kalessin’s layout
Aft cabin
L-shaped galley
(Ben's room) Forepeak cabin
Sam & Camilla
Big cockpit
locker
(with holding Spacious Conventional
tank beneath) heads saloon layout

9. A
quick
reminder

12. About us
• Sam, 71 – partly retired since 2007
• Camilla, 56 – works as a contractor in internal
comms
• Benedict (Ben), 18 – had just finished A-levels
• Guy, 21 – working in Greece for Sailing Holidays
• Sam & Camilla RYA coastal skipper qualified
• Owned dinghies & trailer-sailers 1986 onwards
• Flotillas and charters
• Magewind 2002, sailed E Coast & Netherlands
• Kalessin 2004, sailed E Coast, France,
Netherlands, and in 2006-8 round the outside &
back up the middle

13. Ben & Sam
Guy Camilla

14. Our plan
• Get across North Sea in May 2011 & leave the
boat in the Netherlands
• Return to the UK for Ben’s A-levels
• Sam & Camilla returned to head to the Kiel Canal
• Ben joined us to sail into the Baltic
• East along the coast of Germany, north to
Copenhagen and west to overwinter in
Augustenborg
• Meet up with other HPYC members... sometime
• Sweden in 2012

15. preparation

16. You can't buy Marmite in Denmark

17. Preparation – equipment
old & new
• Liferaft, dinghy & inflatable kayak
• 2 identical autopilots
• Delta, Fortress & CQR anchors
• New feathering Darglow Featherstream prop
• 4 batteries (engine, 2x domestic, fridge)
• 1 fixed and two flexible solar panels
• New CD/radio with iPod attachment
• Lavac & holding tank
• Lots of warps (+ two more from Enkhuizen)
• New foresail
• Spinnaker & cruising chute

18. Preparation – navigation
• New combined chart plotter/radar/AIS (Garmin 750S)
• Imray coastal paper charts up to the Kiel canal
• Dutch chart packs & Standing Mast Route atlas
• Electronic charts: UK, Netherlands, Germany;
Nordics (including Spitzbergen & Iceland )
• 4 packs of German Baltic charts including CD and
harbour manuals
• iPhone +Navionics charts for UK & Netherlands
(£15), all of Europe (£6) and Denmark (£30!)
• Pilot books: 2 x Netherlands, Brian Navin’s
Germany & Denmark, The Baltic Sea
• Navtex
• Membership of CA – Baltic section

20. Keeping in
touch
• The blog: April 2006
– January 2012. Now
posting by email &
readable on a mobile
• 2 laptops on board
• Wi-fi when available
• 2 iPhones
• Vodafone Data
Traveller on 1 phone -
£10/month for
25MB a day (in July
used £155-worth)
• ....and two Kindles

21. To the Netherlands
Without Ben

22. Map of North Sea crossing & standing mast route

23. Up the Noordzeekanaal from
Ijmuiden to Amsterdam

24. Amsterdam from the Westerkerk

25. Leaving the boat in Enkhuizen –
handy for the station

27. BRIDGE
BRIAN NAVIN

28. Beautiful downtown
Leeuwarden

29. A typical day on the standing mast route

30. GALLERY

31. Unexpectedly parked in central Groningen

32. GALLERY

33. Farewell to the Netherlands – the bumpy Ems

34. Map of Frisian islands & NOK

35. Into Germany
with Ben, thanks to
Ryanair

36. Cuxhaven marina

37. Our first Hanseatic city - Stade

39. Shopping & eating
• Germany was the cheapest of the countries we
visited for both shopping & eating out
• Stock up on German booze before crossing the
border to Denmark 
• Food & drink prices in Denmark – similar toUK
• Supermarkets are much like supermarkets
anywhere (Spar, Lidl, Rewe etc)
• We hear Poland & Baltic states can be more tricky
• Camping Gaz – easy in Germany, ok in Denmark,
challenging elsewhere

40. Bremen, second Hanseatic city,
and hello to Ben

42. Harbour
Small
vessel
lock
Elbe Waiting area

43. Brunsbüttel lock with
its horrible floating
pontoon

44. Nord-Ostsee-Kanal and the harbour at
Brunsbüttel

45. The ships in the Kiel canal
are really quite small

46. Traffic light system
Traffic lights

47. Holtenau: Our first
view of the Baltic

48. Into the Baltic