Want to bet that many boat people don't know Mrs Clara Street? Because theyEckernförde do not know. And that's a shame! The beautiful little town on the western shore of Eckernförde Bay is often "left out" on Baltic Sea cruises. This becomes noticeable when you leave the busy Bülk-Damp course line at the centre of the bay and head into theEckernförde Bay It's almost all yours, even in the middle of the high season.
In order to avoid the Eckernförde South and Aschau warning areas in the first place, after passing the "Mittelgrund-Nord" cardinal buoy you sail close to the coast parallel to the northern shore of the bay.
Immediately to the west of the projectingNaval harbour is the marina of theSailing clubs Eckernförde. Free guest berths (up to 14 metres in length) are marked with green signs. As in almost all Baltic Sea harbours, you are moored in front of bow and stern dolphins. The all-round service includes a 15-tonne crane, a slipway for boats up to 7 m in length, sanitary facilities with washing machine and dryer, WLAN and a restaurant in the clubhouse. The only small disadvantage is that the harbour is around 1.5 km from the town centre. However, bicycles can be hired free of charge from the club. www.segelclub-eckernfoerde.de
Eckernförde's maritime centre is theCity harbour0.5 nm further west. Top spot here: the Im Jaich marina in a fantastic location on the post-modern "harbour tip" between the harbour and beach promenade. Perfect guest moorings with water and electricity on the inside of the east pier alongside. Sanitary facilities with washing machine and tumble dryer at the harbour office. WLAN. www.imjaich.de
The Ostsee Info Centre (www.ostseeinfocenter.de) is located at the exit of the harbour and offers in-depth insights into the underwater world as well as various events. A stroll along the harbour promenade quickly leads to the brick "Rundsilo", a former grain silo. On the water side, the historic wooden bascule bridge spans the harbour.
Inland harbour. On the old town side, the former fishing quarter, Frau-Clara-
Straße, the oldest street in the Fischerkiez neighbourhood, entrance to the pedestrian zone and today a showcase and shop window for fine delicacies: the sweet shop at no. 22 ( www.bonbonkocherei.de ), the Clara Hof distillery (No. 26, www.clara-hof-destillerie.de ) and the gourmet restaurant in the same building ( www.eckernfoerde-isst-schoen.de ), which sells meat from Wagyu cattle from Schleswig-Holstein.
However, it was fish, not meat, that established the first prosperity in the 18th century, and the question of why sprats from Eckernförde were and are sold as "genuine Kieler" is the subject of many stories and speculations. There is much to suggest that sprats were originally a Kiel speciality, which was later also produced in Eckernförde - while retaining the name. Sprats were also smoked at Frau-Clara-Straße 22 at the beginning of the 20th century.
Let's remember: today there are sweets there. One of the most popular rollers in the sweet shop, however, is a beautiful old fish roller in which a wide variety of sprat sweets are shaped and sold all over the world, just like their smoked ancestors once were. The tip for the best fish restaurant in town from harbour master Erich Adolf: the "Fischdeel". An absolute hit. But nothing works without a reservation! Kattsund 22, tel. 04351/56 51, www.fischdeel.de
Coming from Hamburg, Eckernförde was of course not our "first contact" with the Baltic Sea. That was the Kiel Fjord after four days travelling via the Elbe and the Kiel Canal. Once you have left the Kiel-Holtenau lock, you enter the Kiel Inner Fjord. This stretches a good five nautical miles in a north-south direction from Friedrichsort lighthouse to Hörn, the southernmost tip of Kiel harbour. Ten marinas are located on the shores of the inner fjord, six on the west bank and four on the east bank. Eight of them with a total of 1400 berths are operated by Sporthafen Kiel GmbH ( www.sporthafen-kiel.de ). If you count the harbour of Möltenort (310 berths, www.hafen-moeltenort.com ) and the Mönkeberg club harbour (200 berths, www.wvm-online.de ), the inner fjord offers 1910 berths.
Every skipper is spoilt for choice. My preference is clear: Düsternbrook, the Olympic harbour from 1936 - still halfway in the countryside, close to the city centre and the "Kiellinie". It is located 1.5 kilometres south of the Kiel-Holtenau lock in the elegant residential suburb of the same name, surrounded by the buildings of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy and the white clubhouse of the Kiel Yacht Club (KYC).
Kiel's magnificent promenade, the Kiellinie, runs car-free from here towards the city centre to the Ostseekai. It offers marvellous views of the fjord, including cruise ships arriving and departing. On the land side, it is lined by the state parliament, several ministries, the Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research and the elegant clubhouses of various rowing, canoeing and sailing clubs. On the water side, there are jetty after jetty and boat after boat. Life is not only bustling here during Kiel Week, which is partly due to the fact that the promenade also has a lot to offer in terms of gastronomy, such as the Louf (Reventlouallee 2, www.louf.de ). Best cuisine with a view of the fjord.
The Düsternbrook marina consists of four basins. My favourite spot is in basin 3, alongside on the north side of the main pier, where the harbour office and sanitary facilities are also located. Basin IV, located in front of the KYC clubhouse, is reserved for "big" yachts and is nicknamed the "million-dollar basin". This is the home harbour of noble, classic racing yachts in particular. If you want to learn about Kiel's history as a port city, naval and shipyard location and as a sailing mecca ("Sailing City"), we recommend a visit to the Maritime Museum in the former fish auction hall (Wall 66, 15 April to 14 October daily from 10 am to 6 pm, www.kiel.de ).
The east coast of Kiel's outer fjord guarantees fantastic views of postcard-perfect sunsets. These can be admired particularly well on the terrace of the restaurant in the Baltic Bay marina in Laboe, just under an hour's drive from Düsternbrook. The company, which consists of the Baltic Bay yacht centre and the Laboe shipyard, describes itself as the "perfect combination of comfort and service" ( www.schiffswerftlaboe.de ).
There is everything here for boat and crew, including a morning bread roll service at the harbour office, a slip for all trailerable boats, a 15-tonne crane, a 150-tonne travel lift, Wi-Fi on all jetties, a children's playground worthy of the name and super chic sanitary facilities. Older crews will be pleased that they finally don't have to lie in front of bow and stern dolphins, but alongside on accessible side pontoons. Nearest supermarket: Sky in Laboe, Dellenberg 22, 1 km.
Everything is just right in the marina, including the design of the grounds and the architecture. So it's not surprising that berths are only reserved for one week or more. Spontaneously finding a free berth is therefore not easy.
However, it is not only the harbour that attracts water sports enthusiasts, but also the Baltic seaside resort of Laboe. On the north side of the fishing and yacht harbour is the "Fischküche Laboe", a fish restaurant and kiosk that many people rightly travel long distances to visit. From here, it's a hundred metres to the beach, which stretches northwards for two kilometres up to the naval memorial and the "U 995" on the eastern shore of the outer fjord.
After such charming places, it's easy to digest a culture shock: The Kiel-Schilksee sports harbour, Olympic port from 1972, located just under 3 nm northwest of Baltic Bay, is one such place. From a distance, the grey concrete of the apartment blocks in the background looks like a wall. Just under 900 berths with good service against a bleak backdrop: This is certainly highly functional for a boat parking area and for international sailing competitions such as Kiel Week - but as a stopover on a boating holiday, you can safely forget Schilksee ( www.sporthafen-kiel.de ).
It's better to head for the cosier harbour of Strande (www.hafen-strande.de), which we only did on the way back from Eckernförde. The former fishing harbour is only 0.3 nm north of Schilksee and offers 350 berths with full service. A few cutters still go fishing and sell fresh fish in the harbour. For us motor boaters, Strande is particularly interesting because of the boat filling station: it is the only one on the Kiel Fjord where you can buy petrol as well as diesel. The 500 m long beach of the small Baltic Sea resort begins directly north-east of the harbour.
With WSW around 3 to 4 Beaufort, we rock from Strande across the outer fjord towards Marina Wendtorf. With an offshore wind, the swell is limited. With our shallow draught (0.92 m), we can easily pass through the Au-Haken, a shallow area (26 m) that juts out into the fjord far to the north. The fairway into the marina is marked by buoys. The water next to the fairway is shallow (less than 1 metre)! The marina is well protected in a bodden behind the Bottsand headland, a quaint nature reserve with a natural beach, salt marshes and reed beds.
Completely renovated in 2015, the harbour offers 800 berths with water and electricity, at least 100 of which are for guest berths (green sign) on jetties 1 to 5. The barbecue areas in the harbour are popular, as are the small snack bars such as "Piccolino" and "Dreas Bude". The bakery (Törn 7) is around 300 metres away and the supermarket (Nahkauf, Strandstraße 2) is 1.3 km away. Endless natural beaches and well-surfaced dyke paths are perfect for walking and cycling. There are plenty of modern holiday homes and flats on the south bank of the marina behind the dyke.
How nice that during the summer holidays the Bundeswehr is also taking a break and the Todendorf and Putlos firing ranges can be sailed without any worries. 20 nm always parallel to the coastline in sunshine, a light breeze from the SW and a slightly choppy sea. From Wendtorf we head towards the harbour of Lippe.
In his "Törnführer Osteeküste", Jan Werner describes the "Sandloch" north of Hohwacht as "peculiar". And indeed, the harbour is very different to what we have seen so far. It's more rustic than fancy - but with everything you need: 210 berths with water and electricity, toilets and showers, a crane (7 tonnes) and a slip. Freshly caught fish is sold directly from the cutter on the north pier. And when you're nibbling on a fish sandwich in a beach chair in front of the Lipper "Allerlei" harbour snack bar, Wi-Fi and smartphones are finally far away ... (www.ycl-o.de) In the "Klabautermann" restaurant, just a few steps from the edge of the harbour, you can enjoy the deliciously prepared catch from Lipper fishermen on a terrace with a view of the Baltic Sea.
From the Hohwachter Bucht into the Fehmarnsund. It's 28 nautical miles to Heiligenhafen, and the Fehmarnsund Bridge is an ever-growing landmark. It is probably due to the staggered course of the jetties that the Heiligenhafen marina does not appear as gigantic as it actually is: after all, just under 1000 berths is no mean feat ( www.marina-heiligenhafen.de ). The service on offer corresponds to the size: there is practically everything you need, including bread and rolls from the Junge bakery on jetty 10. The nearest supermarket (Sky) in the centre is also only 300 m away. And what is not technically possible in the marina can be found in the Heiligenhafen boatyard ( www.yachtwerft.com ) a good 1 nm east of the marina on the south bank of the fairway.
There are plenty of pubs, restaurants and fish stalls around the fishing harbour, but only one "Treffpunkt Fischhalle". Here you can get whatever is still wriggling in the net at favourable prices ( www.treffpunkt-fischhalle.de ). To the north of the marina, in the direction of the Erlebnis-Seebrücke, the "Strand Resort Heiligenhafen" has been built, a complex with thatched-roof houses and elegant holiday flats that is perhaps a little too densely built up. To the east of this is the Graswarder, an attractive nature reserve with thatched-roof historic beach houses and a wonderful natural beach, which forms a quiet counterpoint to the lively bathing beach during the holiday months.
After a week of strong winds from W to SW, it is still quite rocky in the Fehmarnsund as we tackle the 8 nm to Orth. But as soon as we pass the Kiel-Fehmarnsund fairway and enter the bay of Orth near the Breiter Berg headland, the rocking is over. A 3 m deep, buoyed channel leads into the harbour of Orth - a 550 m long tube with guest berths (green sign) on the west pier (water and electricity on the jetty, sanitary facilities on the west pier) relatively far away from the town. Orth is on the other side of the harbour, so in the worst case it is 700 to 800 m away from the berth. But "halfway", in the far north-west corner of the harbour, the quaint snack bar "Kap Orth" with its nice little beer garden will quickly make you forget all your troubles ( www.hafen-orth.de ).
Lemkenhafen is only 1.3 nm further east. The approach initially follows the Orth approach. Shortly before the pair of Orth 1 (green)/Orth 2 (red) buoys, turn east and after a short voyage you will reach the red LM approach. The red buoys LM 4 to 8 remain on the port side and lead to a prick path that leads into the harbour. Here we find the usual service including slip and mobile crane (28 tonnes). With 140 berths, the home harbour of the Segler-Verein-Lemkenhafen is one of the small, quiet harbours ( www.svlf.de ). The village has little to offer. Well known far beyond Fehmarn is the "Aalkate", a tourist magnet with a beer garden that stretches right down to the water (www.original-aalkate-fehmarn.de). Kolle's Fischpfanne & Kapitänsstube", diagonally opposite the Aalkate, offers really good fish specialities (www.kollesfischpfanne.de). You can't miss the lighthouse next to the terrace.
It is always a special feeling to head towards the mighty Fehmarnsund Bridge and pass underneath it. Our destination is the south coast of Fehmarn. To avoid the shallows of Mittelgrund and Grüner Grund, we stay in the fairway to the east of the bridge as far as the Fehmarnsund approach buoy and then head for the Burg 1 approach. A buoyed channel leads into Burger See, where the harbours of Burgtiefe and Burgstaaken are located.
Off the green-red-green buoy 21/B2 hard to starboard, and Burgtiefe lies ahead - the largest harbour on Fehmarn with 600 berths ( www.yachthafen-burgtiefe.de ). First a circular jetty, then five jetties running perpendicular to the shore, jutting out up to 150 metres into the Burger See. Everything is very well maintained, but also somewhat sterile. The huge blocks of flats on the south beach, some holiday flats, some hotels, are also not impressive. But the service is good: Water, electricity, sanitary facilities, washing machine, tumble dryer, 20-tonne crane, boat filling station (diesel/petrol), boat accessories, supermarket.
In maritime terms, Burgstaaken is the polar opposite of Burgtiefe. For the combined yachting, fishing and commercial harbour of Burg, the term "adventure harbour" (www.erlebnishafen-burg
staaken.de) is no exaggeration: a submarine and a sea rescue museum, restaurants, cafés, snack bars, fish and other shops around the harbour and, right in the middle of it all, the netting area next to the cutters. No wonder there is so much going on around the harbour. The marina ( www.yachthafen-burgstaaken.de ) is a little away from the hustle and bustle. 185 berths, green sign for free guest berths. In addition to the usual services, including a diesel fuelling station, 25-tonne crane and WLAN, there are several very well-stocked boat chandlers and service outlets.
By the way: Smoking is not only done in Eckernförde, but also in Burgstaaken. The fishing co-operative runs Fehmarn's first "show smokehouse" here (www.fehmarnfisch.com). Want to have a taster?
