Shelter from the Storm

Day 3 in Hesnaes. It’s turned out to be quite a good choice for a safe haven, given the limited options.

We found a berth between wooden posts and had the prescience to drop four lines over them instead of the usual two. That way we could cross two lines and stabilise the boat once the wind picked up.

When we arrived, the water level was high, up by 0.3m, and this is a 3m depth harbour, but we were registering only 2.5m beneath us (0.5m under the keel). Where was the other 0.8m?

The loss of depth must be due to silting, and since we are surrounded by sandy beaches, we assumed there must be soft sand filling up the little harbour. Where is that dredger when you need it?

We knew the water was due to plummet by nearly a meter during the storm, but we were now committed. There may be no tides in Baltic, but the strong westerly wind blows the water east. We would sink slowly into the soft sand and hopefully not get stuck on the way back up!

There are ten yachts sheltering here, and it’s interesting to watch all the different approaches to tying everything down that could possibly blow away, and tying off all the halyards from the top of the mast so they don’t thrash against the metal and make a racket during the night when we’re trying to sleep. We’ve doubled all our lines and wrapped sail ties around the sails and sail covers as an extra prevention from blowing out.

The boat next to us has an interesting approach. All their hatches were left open to the rain, a sail cover left blowing about on the deck, and their halyards like a set of violin strings. We put out lots of fenders next to them because they were blowing about all over the place, and we’ve been hit once already this year.

Once we were all tucked up, we turned on the instruments so we could monitor wind speed. Despite the 50-60 knot gusts offshore, we have only registered 36 knots inside the harbour. Enough to make for a fairly rocky berth, but completely safe and very sheltered.

As expected, the winds continue to howl, and the water level has now dropped to leave us 0.3m into the sand. It’s a bit of a strange motion, but shouldn’t be much more pressure on the base of the keel than water.

Of course, our choice of harbour was not influenced in any way by the excellent organic delicatessen, bakery and restaurant right beside the quay. The walnut sourdough bread, cardamom buns and locally made cider are truly delicious.