Full route on travellerspoint:
travellerspoint.com/map/#/trip/1129762
Wadden sea is the whole new world for sailors with its streams, shallow waters, sandy banks but also very beautiful islands and open people in the southeastern part of the North Sea. There are special tricks to enter harbours with streams. Better to consult locals 🙂 Or at least be very cautious.
To get some understanding of how tricky it is, just look at this photo from wikimedia keeping in mind that waters are tidal and strong winds can also influence the water level by bringing more water from the North Sea or blowing the water out from the Wadden sea depending on the direction, thus changing the level by an additional half a meter and that the bottom is sandy and it changes the shape from time to time:
“The area is typified by extensive tidal mud flats, deeper tidal trenches (tidal creeks) and the islands that are contained within this, a region continually contested by land and sea.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadden_Sea
But for us, this experience was a real pleasure. After you get the idea sailing becomes very nice.
We have visited two islands: Wangerooge and Norderney.
Here is how you moore in Wangerooge. We were a second boat. And there were 5 boats in total on our place. And the last one was already aground when we understood that we wanted to change place and to be the outer boat. We had to leave very early with high water. So we had to wait until the morning and everyone had to get up with us.
Approaching Norderney I heard pan-pan for the first time in my life. Captain was calling coastguard to help with entering a narrow channel and explaining that he had a long keel ketch, the boat which is not that easy maneuver in narrows under sails. They had a broken engine. Later I heard lots of distress calls in Biscay bay. But all in french and already answered by the coastguard and this is a whole new story.
Some images from Waadden see:
Sunset on Wangerooge Island
More photos from Waddenzee:
Sweden to the Mediterranean route: Sweden – Kiel channel – Wadden Zee, Staande Mast Route (Holland) – English channel – Bay of Biscay – Galicia – Portugal – Gibraltar-Almerimar
Sailboat: Hallberg Rassy Rasmus 35