Dutch Coast, Coastal Islands & Estuaries and Kiel Canal - Lots of shipping & sail handling

Heading for 'Kiel Week' in the Baltic 2012

The ‘Oosterschelde’ will be moored in the Veerhaven in Rotterdam - our home port. The coffee will be ready, so if family and friends have accompanied you, there is enough time to show then the ship. The captain will welcome all the guests onboard. As soon as everybody is onboard he will explain all the (safety)rules onboard and will go through the plans for the voyage. The ship will leave port straight after the briefings.

Participate in watches & sail handling

Oosterschelde will sail accross the the Nieuwe Maas and the Nieuwe Waterweg  and into the North Sea. We will follow the Dutch coast in northeast direction. Every guest will take part in the watches and we ask everyone to take part in the navigation, sail handling, lookout etc. It is not compulsory to climb the mast but it is a great buzz to admire the world from the yard of a tall ship.

Exploring Dutch & German Coastal Islands

As soon as we pass Texel, the ship will head east to the ' Duitse Bocht' and sail past the Dutch and German coastal islands. The wind is coming from the west most of the time, so with a bit of luck we will be under full sail this part of the voyage. If the wind is right, we might make a stop on Helgoland. We will sail in the direction of the estuary of the Elbe. It will be very adventurous to sail on this fast flowing river, with all the big ships around us.

Kiel Canal - An unusual view from aloft

At Brünsbuttel we pass the sluices to the ‘Nord-Ostsee Kanal, which is also known as the Kiel Canal. Also on this canal, which has been dug out by hand, big seagoing vessels will pass us. Remarkable are the many bridges we pass. For example the Eisenbahnhochbrücke, which has been designed by Dr. H.C. Friedrich Voss, as have all the bridges on the canal. All the bridges are high enough for the ‘Oosterschelde’ pass without any problems. Through the sluices at Holtenau we arrive in the Kielerfjord the next day, where we set the sails again. Friday afternoon the voyage will end with the arrival in Kiel. The ship will be on walking distance form the Central Station of Kiel, from which you travel back home.

The easiest way back to Rotterdam is with Deutsche Bahn railways and you can by international tickets in advance or at the station.

Lofty Rig with huge gaff sails

The gaff sails on all three masts are huge and it is a long way up to release the gaskets and set oosterschelde's square sails. There is a Captain, Mate, couple of deck hands, engineer and chef so the ships guest crew will need to work hard as a team to race this impressive ship.

Oosterschelde is a very comfy ship - restored for adventure charter with a huge saloon with bar, piano, wood burning stove and library so if you have always fancied running away to sea for a few weeks, we can't think of a more stylish way to do it as hands on ships crew.

Both of Classic Sailing working directors have sailed on Oosterschelde in Jan 2011 so we can tell you what she is like to sail on if you give us a ring.

More details and photos of Oosterschelde - see vessel details tab above.

Kiel Week - Kiel Woche - Biggest Summer Festival in Northern Europe.

The French have Brest Festival, but the Scandinavians, Germans, Polish and Baltic states have Kiel woche.  Worth a look if you have a few spare days.

English website about Kiel Week 16-24 June 2012