The Danish island of Bornholm has been fought over for centuries by Denmark, Germany, and Sweden. The 227sq mi (588 sq km) island is the 8th largest in the Baltic Sea, lying 80nm east from the nearest Danish land, 45 miles from Germany and only 25 miles from Sweden. Prominent on the northwest coast of…
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Klintholm, Denmark
We reached Denmark the day after transiting the Kiel Canal, and anchored for the night at the west end of Smalandsfarvandet. The next day we passed through eastbound to Klintholm, where we rode our bikes out to view the famous Mont Klint chalk cliffs and enjoyed touring the area. Being early in the season, we…
Kiel Canal
Following an overnight run from Amsterdam, we made a brief pit stop in Heligoland to top up our diesel tanks with duty-free fuel and were underway again in time to catch the last half of the Elbe River flood tide and reach the Kiel Canal that afternoon. We arrived at the canal in a fog…
Amsterdam to Heligoland
Just over four months after arriving, we departed Amsterdam on a calm but chilly morning and exited the canal system into the North Sea at IJmuiden. From there we made a 200nm overnight run to the German holding of Heligoland to pickup a load of duty-free diesel. Conditions were wonderfully settled most of the way…
Amsterdam Visitors
In addition to being a wonderful place to live and complete some boat projects, City Marina IJDok also was convenient for visitors. This gave us an opportunity to catch up with some old friends, meet in person some that we’d only corresponded with, and make new acquaintances with locals or those travelling to the area….
Amsterdam Projects
Besides being a great place to call home, City Marina IJDok in Amsterdam also was convenient to complete a number of boat projects including replacing the Jabsco 34600-0010 bilge pump with Whale Gulper 320 High Capacity bilge pump, installing a new steering pump, and adding shorepower soft start. Some of the gear and supplies we…
City Marina IJDok
City Marina IJDok was an exceptional winter home for us. We were lucky to get a spot in the small marina in downtown Amsterdam that is an easy walk to the train station and countless restaurants and attractions. In addition to exploring the city and enjoying the Amsterdam Light Festival and the city’s extensive New…
March in Amsterdam
In our last couple of weeks in Amsterdam, we visited The Hague, completed a few boat projects, finalized our preparations for our summer cruise to the Baltic and hosted a few visitors. We’d initially planned to depart Amsterdam for the Baltic Sea on March 1st, but extended our stay until the 15th to give us…
The Hague
James has long had an interest in the famous Dutch graphics artist Maurits Cornelis Escher, whose work features mathematical objects and optical illusions. As a teenager he had a poster of Escher’s Dragon on his wall and as an adult very much enjoyed reading Douglas Hofstadter’s Godel, Escher, Bach that explores the common themes between…
February in Amsterdam
In February we took advantage of unseasonably warm, calm and sunny weather for Amsterdam to make day trips to NDSM Wharf, Zaanse Schans, and Rotterdam. We also started stocking up for the summer trip to the Baltic; completed several boat maintance items and projects, such as replacing our unsatisfactory Jabsco 34600-0010 bilge pump; and did…
