Wadden Sea Sailing
На русском. 🇷🇺
The Wadden Sea: Cuxhaven, Büsum, Sylt, three of us on a small sailing yacht.
After numerous chartered sailing trips, my friend Dima decided to get his own small boat and start by sailing through the Wadden Sea to the islands.
The boat comfortably fits three people, and the crew consisted of Dima, Danila, and me.
This time, I couldn’t take time off for the entire trip, so I joined for the first half.
The original plan was to meet in Cuxhaven on the evening of Friday, August 8, and set sail the next morning. This plan was adjusted due to a flat tire on the boat trailer en route. No one was hurt, and we were lucky enough to find replacement tires (they’re a relatively rare size), but the tire shop was only open the next morning.
Under the new plan, we decided to meet in Cuxhaven on Saturday afternoon. I took a morning bus from Berlin to Hamburg, then a train to Cuxhaven.
We met up, launched the boat without any issues, and since it was a bit late to set sail, we decided to stay overnight at the Cuxhaven marina.
In the evening, we strolled through the town, stocked up on groceries, and grabbed döner kebabs for dinner.
I walked along the shore to the old wooden lighthouse and the remains of fortifications. The town is small, touristy, with plenty of strandkorbs - those little sheltered beach chairs Germans love to use to watch the shore while staying out of the sun.
At 5 a.m., we planned to set sail toward the islands.
There wasn’t much of a tailwind, so we decided to detour to Büsum along the way. It’s another touristy town on the coast.
The town is larger and more interesting, but still compact enough to explore the central area in a couple of hours. It’s very crowded with tourists.
The shore is littered with oysters and crabs. At low tide, the Wadden Sea turns into a muddy expanse for walking.
We were lucky with the weather - clear and sunny, with a pleasant golden hour at sunset.
The next early morning, we set sail for Sylt.
The wind was better, and for a while, we sailed with the wind in our sails.
Around 5 p.m., after
50 miles (94km) of travel, we were approaching the island.
There’s a lighthouse near the marina, but as it turned out, access to it was closed. However, there were several other lighthouses on the island.
The next morning, we decided to reach the northernmost point of Germany, located on the island of Sylt.
You can take a bus to Weststrand and then walk about 3-4 km to the spot.
Sylt is covered with heather bushes, delighting with patches of lavender color on green hills. A pleasant place for a walk.
Sheep are scattered across the fields.
The sand on the beach makes a buzzing sound underfoot.
That same day, I headed home. From Westerland, a train runs to Hamburg over a narrow causeway connecting the island to the mainland. The town itself didn’t leave much of an impression. But in Hamburg, I enjoyed strolling in the golden sunlight before heading to Berlin.
A very pleasant, though short, trip!