Nordeney in the fog

We got up at 5am to leave Cuxhaven shortly after high water. Leaving the harbour was considerably easier than entering it last night across the full spring ebb tide. The first picture shows D and Ellen with the famous Kugelbake (Ball Beacon) seamark off Cuxhaven.

D, Ellen and Kugelbake before the fog descended

Shortly after this photo was taken a thick fog came down which reduced visibility to a few hundred yards. The fog lasted all day. There was very little wind so the whole day was spent motoring in fog, a trip of around 60 miles.  Fortunately the only shapes that came looming up in the fog were the ones we were expecting to see, but keeping a constant lookout and a high level of vigilance gets tiring.

We saw no land until we were very close to Norderney, and we crossed the shallow water over the bar about an hour before low water. This is not generally recommended as things can go badly wrong if there is any kind of swell over the bar or if you stray from the marked channel. Luckily today the sea was quite calm and everything worked out OK.

Off Norderney harbour we saw some people waving at us from a German yacht. The waving seemed to be more enthusiastic than the usual greeting so we went over to investigate. It turned out that they had anchored as their engine had broken down. Geoff got a line aboard and towed them into harbour with Calismarde.

Calismarde to the rescue

This evening there continues to be thick fog in the harbour so we are glad not to be still at sea. The harbour is much more crowded than we were here a few weeks ago although there may be a mass exodus of weekend visitors tomorrow.

Norderney has a special significance for D since she was last here as an 18 year old on a camping trip.It was while she was here that she got a telegram telling her that she had got a place at medical school.

Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Berlin & Nordeney in the same picture...