Oosterschelde - Dutch & German Coastal Islands Cruise €450 for 5 days

Heading for 'Kiel Week' in the Baltic

On Monday 13 June we expect you onboard around 18:00 hours. The ‘Oosterschelde’ will be moored in the ‘Eerste Haven’ (first harbour) of Scheveningen. 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.

Exploring Dutch & German Coastal Islands

Depending on the weather he will decide to leave straight away or get a few hours of sleep and leave at first light. We will follow the Dutch coast in northeast direction and sail north of 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 ‘Kieler 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.

After this voyage is the famous Kiel Week (Kiel Woche) so you may want to stay on in the city.

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.