Vlieland, the Netherlands, to Borkum, Germany

Sherri and Peter with layers, ready to sail from Ameland

It was a bright day with partly cloudy skies and a nip in the air, and the wind was blowing from the southwest at 20 knots when we cast off at 9:40 this morning from the dock in Ameland in the West Frisian Islands to travel to Borkum, and island in the East Frisian Islands in Germany. After about an hour of making our way through the winding channel to the open sea, we were able to turn of the engine and sail on a deep broad reach, cruising along at an average of 8.3 knots. Throughout the day, we tacked and changed our point of sail, varying between a broad reach and dead down wind with the sails set wing and wing. 

Peter at the wheel 

The north side of Vlieland from the boat

We started out enjoying good sailing, but the deteriorating weather was not up-lifting. Over the course of the day, the cloud covered changed in percentage from 25 to 90 in an hour and then decreased to 50 then 40 then 30 before going the other way around 3 p.m. and becoming 70 by 4:30 and 100 by 5 p.m. The sky was a ominous gray and the water was steel gray with a slight green tinge. My mood steadily dropped as the day grew darker and chillier. We wore our foulie jackets, hats and life jackets the whole time. Toward the end, I was feeling like the day's travel was becoming interminable. 

Around 5 p.m., the wind speed fell to 12-14 from the southwest, and, with the current not in our favor, we were forced to use the engine for the rest of the day, even when the when picked up again. Uncertain about where and how to dock, having been unable to contact the harbormaster by phone or VHF radio, we followed the green and red marks into the yacht haven on Borkum. We decided to dock in one place, but a man who had been showering naked on an adjacent finger pier told us that we needed to dock on the other side of the wharf. Various sailboats, all smaller than Mantra, were rafted up two by two. We decided to try to dock at the outer end of the wharf. A couple of men from other boats came to help with lines. Peter was at the wheel and I was told to throw the bowline to a man on the dock. I failed to reach him with two attempts. On the third time, it worked, but the wind was blowing the boat away from the wharf and the stern swung to starboard so that Mantra was almost perpendicular to the wharf. By then, two more men had arrived. The men, who were very strong and more experienced than I am, managed to pull her around steadily once I tossed them a spring line. Eventually, with Peter thinking that the lines should be released for a fresh attempt and the men determined to make it work, our boat was parallel to the wharf and securely tied. It was the worse, most embarrassing docking experience ever!

The wind is still blowing around 20 knots and anticipated rain has started and is expected to last through the night and all day tomorrow, so we may be docked here for two nights. Borkum does not look as pretty at the West Frisian Islands, but we will try to do a bit of exploring tomorrow.