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They tell me getting there is half the fun.  For all of the travels I have done with PRIDE II, let me assure you there is truth to the saying.  However, it was the proverbial icing on the cake to go aground as we slowly inched along, under power, into the narrow channel that is the way into Marstal.  During a moment that was more anxious than risky to the ship, I backed PRIDE II out and went to anchor in a lee provided by the island of Er¿ in the west of Marstal Bay.  Naturally, I was thinking the whole time that it would have been very bad form to have become "stuck" in Marstal at a time when we really needed to get to Copenhagen on time.

But, we are in Marstal now.  The wind was much calmer this morning as well from the bow, rather than the beam, so it was easier to get PRIDE II to track where I wanted her to go.  Still we scraped along for about 300 feet while in the "described" deeper section of the shoaled up area of the entrance to the channel.  So, I have had the mate, Andrew, take the small boat out and do a survey of the shallow area in preparation for departure tomorrow morning for our remaining 140 nautical miles to Copenhagen (which is north and to the east of us around a Danish Island).  Meanwhile, the Marstal Harbor Master has been aboard to tell me they are even now dredging the entrance.  "It will be done within the week."  Obviously we do not have a week.  Wish we did-Marstal is a great place for PRIDE II.  We have been here before and have always been well received.  Last time we were here we had repairs to do.  The local interest and support certainly was spontaneous, professional, and sincere!

After departing Falmouth late afternoon Wednesday, May 25, our transit was mercifully unthreatened by contrary weather and so it was speedy.  We motored for 36 hours along the south coast of England up the English Channel and through the Dover Straights, taking as much advantage as we could of the favorable currents and wind, while remaining patient during the times of foul (contrary) currents.  By the time we were abeam of Belgium on Friday morning, a favorable and sailable wind came along as predicted and we set all sail and continued heading for the Elbe River and the entrance of the Nord Zee Kanal-the significant short cut into the southwestern Baltic Sea from the Dover Straights.

Our sail took us along one of the busiest collection of ports in the world.  From Calais, France all the way up to Amsterdam there are places for goods to be shipped in to or out of the European Continent.  With England just across the water with its own import and export traffic, the area between the Dover Straights and North Sea, with the River Thames Estuary on the opposite side from Continental Europe, the traffic density is a marvel to behold.  Ships of all sizes, carrying cargo of all descriptions, converging and diverging in all directions, spread across the water like a large army of ants hustling about their assigned jobs.  This body of water and its commercial traffic density is constantly written about.  But the descriptions on offer are nothing compared to seeing the real thing.  Something impossibe for anyone unless they have the Automatic Information System (AIS) installed and working, such as that on all commercial vessels, including PRIDE II.

AIS is a means of transmitting and receiving position, course, and speed of all vessels within range of the FM radio frequency used by each AIS system installed on any vessel.  PRIDE II is able to view this information in a graphical form on the Nobel Tec digital charts on her computer.  I would never have guessed to the amount of traffic within a "right" triangle of two 100-mile sides with a 135 mile hypotenuse.  PRIDE II's AIS registered 400 vessels!  So many in fact, the computer could not do anything except process the AIS contacts.  Had it been able to do more, I would have tried to capture the image of what we saw to share with you.  Instead, I have provided what the system can do from our current location in Marstal. 

This southwestern Baltic image is 80 miles wide by 60 miles up and down.  Now, look at the image I captured of the Southern North Sea and note both the triangle and the square I have drawn.  Then, if you look again at the 18 AIS contacts in the "square" image of the Southwest Baltic that I provide, try to imagine over 400 of them in the triangle and see how crowded the waterways were between Europe and England

In the case of the SE North Sea, fully a third of the contacts in view by AIS were in the European ports all moored up or maneuvering within the confines of their harbor, information that is of little importance to us or any other vessel out in the SE North Sea.  But the other two thirds were all right there in that triangle going forth with their cargo.  My, but we people require a lot of commerce to live the way we do!

From our sail around Holland we arrived into the Elbe River and motored on past the Port of Cuxhaven against a strong ebb current.  But we had a fair breeze and used some of it by keeping the topsail and topgallant set as we worked our way up the river, under sail, with engines at a paltry 4 knots over the bottom, while going 9 knots through the water.

We made a short stop once we got into the Kiel Canal to wait for daylight and get a little rest.  Then it was "up and at 'em" with the Canal Pilots.  A wonderful sunny day as we toured some handsome farmland of Germany on a weekend Sunday.  The people were out enjoying the beginnings of summer and the waving of "hello" and "fair well" commenced.

Cheers,
Captain Miles