... try and find us

Once again, Chinook might go cross-country instead of 'cross the sea. Due to the weather conditions in the North Sea, we found ourselves contemplating something we hadn’t expected to do at all—the Staande Mastroute , or Standing Mast Route, through the Netherlands. We had actually eyed this route after our jaunt through the Göta Canal , but our trusty cruising guide had put a rather large spanner in the works. It stated that the route was limited to a mast height of 18 metres. With our mast standing at a lofty 21 metres, we had rather reluctantly filed that thought under “not going to happen.” But the North Sea had other ideas. With the weather not in our favour and the prospect of spending more time than we wanted bashing to windward along the Dutch coast, the Standing Mast Route suddenly started looking rather attractive. Then, as luck would have it, we met the most lovely Dutch couple who completely changed the equation. They assured us that our 21-metre mast would ind...

Off the coast of Germany, rising out of the North Sea like a small speck of rock, sits  Heligoland . Legoland? I’d never heard of the place before, but it turns out to be quite famous for two things: cheap duty-free goods and obese day-trippers from Hamburg. It is also 17,166km from Tasmania (sez them) Heligoland is actually two specks of land—the main island, where the harbour, town and shops are found, and a smaller sandy islet a mile or so away. Fast ferries leave the German coast each morning and disgorge their slightly dazed and ambling passengers onto the wharf for a day of... well, I’m not entirely sure what. Certainly, it seems to involve food. Lots of food. Ice cream features prominently, as does wandering around the shops and having your photograph taken in one of the many wicker beach chairs scattered around the town and beach. There is a steady procession of people posing, eating, shopping and generally enjoying themselves before the ferry eventually arrives to collect ...

A new appreciation for me is the need for constant surveillance of the weather. Kate has been keeping a weather-eye on an approaching storm which is about ten days away, so we left Ystad for a long journey south and west while wind and wave permitted. Our route Upon the way we skirted the EnBW Baltic 2 Wind Farm. So since I work in renewables this offered an excellent chance to distract ourselves from the buffeting waves worked up by the wind. EnBW Baltic 2 Wind Farm The wind farm was built in 2013-15 and has 80 Siemens 3.6MW generators to produce 288MW of power. The EnBW website says this can provided the needs of 340,000 households, and who am I to doubt them. The project is in shallow water ranging from 25-45m, so turbines have either a monopile or a jacket support. The foundations are driven between 36 and 55 meters into the seabed in order to ensure that they are securely anchored.  Wind turbine foundation options Each hub is 78m above the sea surface and the turbine blades ar...