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Zululand Yacht Club

The Pelican Grill restaurant on the ground floor, supplies reasonably priced meals to the bar area, beach or pool. Catering facilities may also be arranged via the restaurant to suit any occasion. A private pool gives much needed refreshment during the long hot summers and is pleasantly appointed within view of the clubhouse, beach and “The Wet Deck”, our waterfront bar. A 25 site camping / caravan area is conveniently adjacent, with electricity, water and ablutions readily available. Social events are organized by the management.

Every Wednesday we have a happy hour between 18H30 – 20H00 hrs. Although the bar is closed, every Monday evening there is a “bring and braai” (pot luck) in the Jib & Anchor braai area. For sailing enthusiasts, there is keeler sailing every Wednesday evening and every alternate Sunday morning. A program for junior sail training is well under way. For the fishing enthusiasts the fish cleaning area is convenient and there are braai facilities nearby.

• Listing ID : 6163

1 Commodore Close, Meer En See, Richards Bay, South Africa Africa , Global   Show phone number +27 35 788 0256   https://zyc.co.za

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• Heesen’s New 204-Foot Custom Superyacht Will Be One of Its Largest Yet

The steel behemoth spans four spacious decks.

Rachel cormack.

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Heesen has kicked off the Monaco Yacht Show with a bang.

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“It is unusual for us to build a four-decker, but we have had a few requests for such a boat from former clients, so it made sense to create one,” Heesen CEO Niels Vaessen said in a statement. “We are addressing a key market that is looking to maximize space and experience on board to share with family and friends.”

With such generous proportions, Monte-Carlo has vast amounts of real estate onboard. One entire deck is dedicated to the owner, creating space for a lavish primary suite, a giant en suite, and a spacious office. Other potential owners could, of course, adjust the layout to their liking.

“The potential is huge, you expand the primary suite to include a private foredeck with its own sundeck, jacuzzi, and a fold-down balcony to starboard,” designer Peder Eidsgaard explains. “From his/her office, the owner can walk straight out onto the balcony and take a seat.”

The guest accommodation sits forward on the main deck, creating that much-needed privacy between the owners and their fellow seafarers. The four large staterooms and one full-beam VIP can collectively sleep up to 10.

Geared toward entertaining, Monte-Carlo features a beach lounge on the main deck with low-slung sofas and a dining area for up to 14 guests. The yacht is also home to an observation lounge with a firepit and a sky lounge with a hidden pop-up TV.

Monte-Carlo is also outfitted for relaxation. The lower deck sports a wellness area with a gym, sauna, hammam, and massage or beauty room, while the aft deck showcases a 248-square-foot infinity pool and fold-down terraces for waterside chills.

Monte-Carlo even has some green credentials. The vessel can support a hybrid propulsion system, with space for a large battery bank. It will also be able to house methanol tanks in the future should hydrogen combustion or fuel-cell systems come into play. It has an estimated cruising speed of 12 knots and a top speed of 16 knots.

Not a bad way to open Monaco.

Click here to see all the photos of Monte-Carlo.

Rachel Cormack is a digital editor at Robb Report. She cut her teeth writing for HuffPost, Concrete Playground, and several other online publications in Australia, before moving to New York at the…

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SailRSA Zululand Yacht Club

SITUATION (how to get there) ZLYC is located on the Richards Bay harbour, adjacent to the NSRI base. Coming from Durban on the N2, turn off right to Richards Bay on the R34. Turn off right towards the Tuzi Gazi Marina, but turn off left into Commodore Close before going over the bridge to Tuzi Gazi.

Map reference: 28 o 47' 31" S 32 o 05' 05" E

CLASSES CATERED FOR All types of keelboats, dinghies and catamarans.

Yacht racing and cruising, Walk-on moorings , Slipway facilities, chandler, restaurant, bar.

ADDRESS P O Box 10387 Meerensee Richards Bay 3901 Kwazulu Natal South Africa

CONTACT PERSONS Fiona Strydom Tel : 035 788 0256 EMail :

Club Website : www.zyc.co.za/

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Zululand Yacht club | Established Campground

South Africa

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Description.

We met with the Commodore of the club who showed us to the campsite. Had everything we needed. Water, electricity and ablutions. Big rig friendly with level stands. The mozzies were extreme, but sunsets were awesome. Good spot for yacht watching and even got offered a sail trip on the weekly Tuesday yacht race. Nice bar with a good view, restaurant with limited options. There is a swimming pool and an awesome yachting supply store which had everything we needed to do maintenance on the truck. We were running a local project so did not get charged, so maybe phone ahead for the price.

Downsides were: Ablutions are fine to use, but could be better. Shower curtain opens up to main bathroom - which is slightly awkward. busy over weekends so lots of kids, can be somewhat noisy at times.

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Zululand Yacht Club and Boatyard

Marina in south africa.

Friendly yacht club very welcoming. Well maintained slips and facilities. Good for long term haulouts. Short term is expensive.

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Heesen reveals ambitious new 62-metre superyacht project at Monaco Yacht Show – Monte-Carlo

World-renowned Dutch superyacht builder Heesen Yachts debuted a daring new Steel FDHF 62-metre superyacht – codenamed Project Monte-Carlo , at their kick-off press conference at the Hotel Hermitage in Monaco.

One of the shipyard’s most ambitious projects to date, the yacht’s design by British studio Harrison Eidsgaard has been tailored to meet the requirements of modern owners who want to spend increased periods of time on board.

The four-deck yacht will be one of the yard’s largest yachts by volume ever built in Oss. Heesen’s CEO , Niels Vaessen, explained that the design is a direct response to trends they are currently seeing in the market. “It is unusual for us to build a four-decker, but we have had a few requests for such a boat from former clients, so it made sense to create one. We are addressing a key market of owners that are looking to maximise space and experience on board to share with family and friends.”

The luxury of privacy Optimising the increased space afforded by the four-deck design, Project Monte-Carlo will have an entire deck dedicated to the owners. Catering to a trend post-pandemic of owners spending periods of time working on board, the area incorporates both a lavish master suite and a spacious office area.

Designer Peder Eidsgaard highlighted that the owner’s deck offers supreme privacy and could be utilised in different ways depending on their reference.

“It is a very open master suite, with the bathtub, shower and office all interconnected,” he said. “The benefit of this arrangement is that an incoming owner can easily toy with the space devoted to each area. The potential is huge; you expand the master suite to include a private foredeck with its own sundeck, jacuzzi and a fold-down balcony to starboard. From his/her office, the owner can walk straight out onto the balcony and take a seat.”

The guest accommodation will be split across the main and lower decks. Eidsgaard’s design proposes a mix of up to five lavish VIP cabins and comfortable doubles.

Connected to the sea Project Monte-Carlo has also been created to allow owners and guests to feel a constant connection to the water. The design includes a large 23-square-metre pool, with glass sides giving the impression that you are swimming in the sea and fold-down wings on the aft deck that allow you to sit right over the water.

Other key spaces include a ‘beach lounge’ on the main deck, where low-slung sofas offer an informal dining area for up to 14 guests, with sliding doors again connecting the yacht to its surroundings. There is also a firepit observation lounge under the mast, an outdoor kitchen, and a semi-open sky lounge seating area, including a hidden pop-up TV for movie nights.

Holistic living Wellness is also of increasing importance to owners, and therefore, the design allows for a dedicated centre on the lower deck.  Provisional designs for this space include a large gym, sauna, hammam and massage or beauty room.

The yacht’s beach club is also ideal for launching water toys, and its impressive storage will ensure that Project Monte-Carlo can be equipped with the latest toys available, including e-foils, wave runners and a diving kit. Additionally, the yacht has storage for two tenders, which are used for easy excursions back to the shore.

Sustainable planning Along with the rest of the superyacht community, Heesen is committed to a more sustainable future. In line with this and Heesen’s BlueNautech strategy , the boat is technically enabled for serial hybrid propulsion, with space for a large battery bank. It also has a methanol-ready tank layout for future conversion to hydrogen combustion or even a fuel cell. The fast displacement hull form is optimised for 12-knot cruising, but the power train can manage up to 16 knots.

“We see that our owners are increasingly interested in minimising their environmental impact,” added Peter Van Der Zanden, Heesen’s General Manager for Design & Development. “By planning the yacht around tried-and-tested green solutions, we are helping them make good decisions that don’t add much time and cost to the build.”

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sanlorenzo’s 50steel superyacht with interiors by piero lissoni arrives at monaco yacht show

Sanlorenzo’s hydrogen-run 50steel at monaco yacht show 2024.

First introduced in May 2024, Sanlorenzo brings its hydrogen -powered 50Steel superyacht with interiors designed by Piero Lissoni to the Monaco Yacht Show 2024. It makes its way to Port Hercule for the international boat show together with the open-coupe SP110, after it docked at the Cannes Yachting Festival 2024 between September 10th and 15th, 2024. Gracing the Monaco port, the 50Steel yacht is set to stay there from September 25th to 28th.

The superyacht’s striking feature isn’t just the five staggered decks of the exterior designed by Zuccon International Project Studio and the hospitality-inspired interiors of Piero Lissoni. It’s also the fact that it’s dubbed the world’s first superyacht to apply the Reformer Fuel Cell system, a patented technology that the shipbuilder co-developed with Siemens Energy, which uses green methanol to generate the electricity that powers the entire vessel.

Reformer Fuel Cell system turns green methanol into hydrogen

In a nutshell, Sanlorenzo’s 50Steel superyacht’s Reformer Fuel Cell system with Siemens Energy transforms green methanol into hydrogen, then turns this hydrogen into electricity that powers the vessel. Usually, hydrogen needs to be stored, but in this yacht, designed with a steel hull and aluminum superstructure by Zuccon International Project Studio , the fuel-cell system creates hydrogen from green methanol on demand.

This means it generates it when it’s needed, so there’s no need to store it onboard. The Reformer Fuel Cell system supplies the electrical power for the superyacht’s hotel-like systems, such as the lights and air conditioning, without the need to use traditional fuel like diesel. For Piero Lissoni, who worked on the interiors of the 50Steel superyacht, this may be his most creative boat because it uses hydrogen to power the fixtures in the cabins.

Piero lissoni calls sanlorenzo 50steel superyacht ‘creative’

The Italian architect, art director, and designer says that Sanlorenzo’s 50Steel superyacht is creative ‘because it no longer has decks, but rather areas that have been designed as true architectures, with large spaces that dialogue with each other. It’s creative because, when open, there’s a barrier-free beach club extending for over 135 square meters. And it’s creative because what was previously the engine room has now become a living area.’ What Piero Lissoni means is Sanlorenzo’s HER system, aka the ‘Hybrid Engine Room.’

It’s a new concept for the engine room on a superyacht because normally, it can take up to two levels of vertical space. In that case, the engine room uses up space that could’ve been for the passengers. With HER, the engines, components, and other mechanical systems on board are placed horizontally, so that they only take up one level (and not vertically). This frees up a whole extra level in the lower part of the 50Steel yacht, which the design team has taken advantage of by installing an ocean lounge with a large aft Beach Club, spa, and gym all in a single, open space.

Even before the visitors step onto the 50Steel superyacht, they can already see the five staggered decks with less partitions. The concept of hospitality is present, from the spacious salon to the dedicated gym and spa on the lower deck. The design team uses light and muted colors and materials to bring out the hotel nature of the interiors.

In fact, part of Piero Lissoni’s brief was to reinvent the classic style. He and the design team do so by placing coffered ceilings and dark-wood walls around the interiors, softened and illuminated by masked warm lighting. On the upper deck, the dining room sits in the middle of the space.

In total, Sanlorenzo’s 50Steel superyacht has four guest cabins and one for the owner. There are also two pools, one on the aft Beach Club and another on the sun deck. Going to the three upper levels, a system of stairs connects them all, a way to bridge as much space as the design allows.

Those who may want to slow down and look at the horizon can do so on one of the three open terraces that the design team has opened up for the visitors. When docked, the superyacht also doesn’t release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, thanks to the fuel-cell system Sanlorenzo has installed for the vessel, trading diesel for green methanol to fuel its electricity.

bedroom view

Sanlorenzo’s 50Steel yacht is set to stay for Monaco Yacht Show until September 28th, 2024

project info:

name: 50Steel

company: Sanlorenzo | @sanlorenzoyacht

interiors: Piero Lissoni | @pierolissoni

studio: Zuccon International Project Studio | @zuccon_international_project

fuel cell system: Siemens Energy

events: Cannes Yachting Festival 2024, Monaco Yacht Show 2024

interior photography: Guillaume Plisson, Gionata Xerra

styling: vandersandestudio | @vandersandestudio

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Discover the best Baltic sailing routes: from Scandinavia to hidden eastern gems

• February 1, 2023

From popular Scandinavian waters, to off-the-beaten-track eastern gems, Wietze van der Laan and Janneke Kuysters share six great Baltic sailing routes

The Baltic is one of the best cruising grounds in Europe, with a myriad of options to choose from. But how can you make the most of sailing the Baltic – and, for non-Schengen passport holders, what can be done in 90 days?

Between late June and mid August the Scandinavian summer can be seriously warm with temperatures around 25°C-30°C. There’ll be the occasional rainy or (very) windy day, but in general the forecast is very accurate. Sweden, Norway and Finland broadcast good forecasts for the whole Baltic, and we also found the ECMWF model (through the Windy app) very accurate.

Stable weather

Prevailing winds are from the west or south-west, fuelled by a train of lows coming from the Atlantic. However, in summer a stable high pressure area forms over Scandinavia, bringing beautiful weather and moderate to light easterly winds. Make sure you have enough fuel or a large light-weather sail for these conditions.

Distances between destinations are never very far. For cruisers who don’t fancy sailing through the night, there are 20-22 hours of daylight in midsummer, giving you a wider choice of destinations to sail to. The lack of tide adds to this flexibility.

Midsummer is celebrated everywhere with food, drink, festivities and a well-decorated maypole. In the shoulder seasons it is a bit chillier, especially in the evenings. Before midsummer and after 1 August restaurants, tourist offices and attractions decrease their opening hours. The upside is that it gets quieter and easier to find a space in the popular harbours and anchorages.

Northern Baltic shores are strewn with rocks, the southern shores are sandy and shallow. Everything is well surveyed and navigation is simple if your charts are up to date and you use common sense and caution.

There’s an abundance of cruising guides detailing every anchorage and bay with the rocks marked on aerial photos – they’re worth every penny. Markers and buoys are plentiful, sometimes to an almost confusing degree.

The authors’ yacht in a peaceful spot on a jetty near Lake Vänern, Sweden – beavers swam by Anna Caroline. Photo: Wietze Van Der Laan

Mooring options when sailing the Baltic

There are lots of marinas and public jetties, and average berthing fees are around €30 for a 44ft yacht. Most have an intricate system for mooring. Parallel to the jetty there is a line of mooring balls. You pick up one of these, secure a line and then motor towards the jetty to attach two lines. There are no cleats on the jetty, but rings.

Most Scandinavian boats have fancy ladders ready at the bow to make this manoeuvre easier. Yachts with centre cockpits or wide sterns tend to motor with the stern to the jetty. In Denmark, mooring is done between poles.

But the best thing is just to anchor in one of the thousands of bays in the archipelagos. Free anchoring can be limited due to the size of the bay, so a stern anchor comes in handy. Drop it over the stern when approaching a good-sized rock. Slowly advance to the rock and tie the boat to a tree, to a ring in the rock or to another rock.

Done with caution, this is an excellent way to spend a lovely summer evening.

Janneke and Wietze on their way to Marstrand in between the narrow channels. Photo: Photo: Wietze Van Der Laan

Swedish West Coast

Technically, the Swedish west coast – and the country road to the east – is not the Baltic, but Skagerrak and Kattegat (Kattegat is a Dutch expression for ‘narrow entrance’). The west coast of Sweden is a great landing place after a North Sea crossing .

The island of Orust has many well known boatyards on it, and towns like Fjällbacka, Marstrand and Gothenburg are all worth a visit. Marstrand is the epicentre of regattas on the west coast, and foreign competitors will find a warm welcome.

From Gothenburg, there are two options: one is to continue south and wind your way in between the thousands of islands and rocks. Here there are many picturesque small towns to visit, but also contemporary Malmö with a marina right in the centre of town (Denmark is only a stone’s throw away, though we’ll get to that later). The other option is to take the Göta channel straight through Sweden.

You start in Gothenburg on the Trollhättan canal which is 40 miles long. In six large locks, you go up to 42m above sea level and exit the Trolhättan channel in the Vänern lake. You could spend weeks here exploring this very large lake (55 miles by 45 miles), anchoring in little bays and exploring the beautiful castles and little towns on the shore.

Navigating the Göta Canal’s large locks at Trollhättan. Photo: Wietze Van Der Laan

In Sjötorp, the fun really starts: you enter the first of 58 historic locks and climb to 92m above sea level. In Motala on lake Vättern there is a museum about the canal. The figures are mindblowing: it took 22 years to build, is 95 miles long and it took 58,000 conscripted soldiers to dig it with spades.

The reason behind this mammoth project, which started in 1810, was to cut down the travelling time between Stockholm and Gothenburg. Over land, it took up to two weeks. By boat through the channel, it could be done in less than a week. Traditional passenger boats still ply the channel, but the majority of the users are recreational craft.

From Sjötorp to Söderköping you travel in between locks on a small canal, fringed by fields of yellow flowers, farms painted the typical Scandinavian red, cattle and lots of cyclists. Life is easy and time goes slowly.

Traditionally, at every lock there is a lock keeper’s house in a distinct light yellow colour, and some of these cute dwellings are now ice cream shops, coffee bars and restaurants. Particularly near locks that are a little more complicated, holiday crowds often gather to watch the activity on the yachts; the Göta channel is nicknamed ‘the Divorce Ditch’, because for a short-handed crew it requires a bit of agility to tackle the locks.

When the last lock closes behind you in Mem, a whole new cruising ground opens.

Swedish Archipelago fishing village at Ostergotland. Photo: Wietze Van Der Laan

Stockholm archipelago

The Stockholm archipelago is a favourite among all Swedish sailors, thanks to its thousands of islands and anchorages. The weather here is usually calm, which, combined with the small tidal range and hardly any current, makes for an excellent cruising ground.

Many foreign yacht owners store their boats on the Swedish east coast in winter to get the most out of the summer season.

There are endless cruising options up and down the coast. You can take it easy on short day trips, anchoring or mooring to a rock, visiting small towns to provision and walking the hundreds of kilometres of footpaths that run along the shore. You can also opt to do a circular route: north along the coast, then inland to Södertälje. From there you pass through a lock and enter Lake Mälar.

Stockholm is built on a series of islands. Photo: Wietze Van Der Laan

Mälar is a large lake but a relatively unknown cruising ground with lots of lovely anchorages underneath the ancient castles and homesteads that line the shores. The water is clear and it’s a joy to have a swim on a hot day. You could easily spend two weeks here.

From Lake Mälar you sail to Stockholm, the bustling capital of Sweden. The city is built on islands, hence the nickname ‘Venice of the North’. There is lots of traffic: ferries large and small, cargo ships, pleasure craft. Even food deliveries are done by boat.

The old city centre, or Gamle Stan, is a pleasure to stroll through, while the Vasa museum is mindblowing. The King’s ship Vasa was launched in 1628 but sank within three miles in the harbour of Stockholm. For over 300 years it lay in the mud, only to be lifted to the surface in 1961, perfectly preserved.

From Stockholm you can go back to the south of the archipelago, or why not go north? You can sail straight up into the Gulf of Bothnia where only a few foreign boats sail each year. To the east there is another major cruising ground, while the island Arholma has two perfect anchorages to stop and consider both options.

Old pilot station at Kobba Klintar in the Åland archipelago. Photo: Wietze Van Der Laan

Åland and Finnish archipelago

The Åland archipelago is an autonomous region within Finland with its own legislation, and Swedish is the first language spoken there. The Ålanders are very well connected to both mainlands: ferries go back and forth between the capital Mariehamn and both Stockholm and Helsinki. The archipelago’s pink rocks give the landscape a special charm, especially at sunset and sunrise – though you’d need to be up all night to see that in high summer, as there are only two hours of darkness. Ålanders also love good food.

Mariehamn has good facilities for visiting yachts: two large marinas, of which the ÅSS harbour is most suited for international visitors. You’re in Finland, so the sauna is included in your marina fee (and is a great place to hear the latest information on the best anchorages and other cruising gossip).

One of the joys of the Åland archipelago is that you can sail right around the main islands, either on a northerly or southerly circuit. The loop will bring you back to Mariehamn in 7-10 days of pleasant day sails. If you choose to go east, some of the more remote islands are worth a stop. Finnish Utö is one, the southernmost island of the archipelago and dominated by a large lighthouse. Only a handful of people live on the island and visitors are very welcome.

Once again, it’s hard to choose your next destination. The prevailing westerly winds will blow you nicely to the east, but you need to keep an eye on the lows that pass this area regularly and cause a stiff northerly breeze. Choose anchorages with that in mind.

Typical mooring arrangement in Scandinavia: a stern anchor and bow to the rocks. Note the small bow ladders. Photo: Wietze Van Der Laan

The Finnish archipelago spans the whole south-west coast of Finland. You can meander through the islands and head northeast to Turku, a large town with all the facilities you need. Or sail a more south-easterly course and wind your way to Helsinki. Among lovely examples of islands are Bodö and Örö. Both were of military importance at one point in history and have been largely uninhabited, so nature has been able to flourish.

Two couples now lease the islands and are developing them in a very sustainable way, making them a true delight to visit with endless walks on well-marked paths, and the chance to enjoy sundowners on a wooden deck overlooking the small jetties lined with yachts, and excellent food in the small restaurants.

Well-known Finnish cruiser, Auli Irjala, says: “My partner and I have sailed around the world and have seen many beautiful places. Despite that, the Finnish archipelago is still very high on our list of favourite places. You can spend long summer days pottering around the islands for weeks on end. Sitting on a rock that still has the warmth of the sun in it and just soaking up the view, while your boat is moored alongside that same rock in calm water.”

The pink rocks of Åland seem to glow at sunrise and sunset. Photo: Wietze Van Der Laan

If you aim to do a Baltic circuit, you’ll at some point sail to Helsinki. The historic resort of Hanko on the south side of the city is a must-see. Hanko is a yachting hub, and an overnighter will get you from Hanko to Helsinki. By going slower you can take several ‘inside tracks’ that’ll see you meandering between beautiful wooded islands and rugged rocky shores.

Entering Helsinki is an experience in itself: the many rocks and islands that surround the city require careful navigation, especially because large cargo ships and ferries head into Helsinki at full speed.

The large fortress island of Suomenlinna is an impressive sight; it also has a small marina. In the vibrant city of Helsinki itself there are also lots of options to moor, and the Nyländska Jaktklubben yacht club on the island Valkosaari is well worth a visit. You can spend days exploring Helsinki, but just across the Gulf of Finland is a relatively unknown cruising area which begs to be explored…

Domed cathedral and Daugava river bridge are landmarks in Riga, Latvia’s capital. Photo: Bruev/Getty

Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania

Up until 1991 Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were occupied by Russia. The ‘singing revolution’ was impressive: without a shot being fired, the three countries gained their independence. During Soviet times citizens were forbidden to have boats and it was not allowed to live near the coast. Many guard towers and navy harbours made sure that nobody would escape to Finland or Sweden.

Fast forward 30 years, and when you cross from Helsinki, you’ll see many new yachts proudly flying the Estonian flag. There is a luxury marina right in the middle of the capital, Tallinn, from where you can walk into the historic old town. Facilities for yachts have been developed at a breathtaking speed – Estonians love to be out on the water.

To cruise Estonia, one option is to follow the coast of the mainland all the way to the ‘summer capital’ Pärnu. Along the coast, there are interesting places to visit. Haapsalu is one: a fortress towers over the small town. Spas are all along this coast, as the mud in this part of the Baltic is said to be healing for body and mind.

Coastal view at Haapsalu, Estonia. Photo: Wietze Van Der Laan

You can sail back to Tallinn via the Estonian islands: Kihnu with its ancient matriarchal culture, Muhu, Saaremaa and Hiiumaa with their historic castles and mystical forests. Facilities for yachts are all new, usually small harbours, often near ferry landings. They all have floating jetties, shower blocks and friendly harbour masters.

Further south is the Gulf of Riga: a vast body of water where the prevailing winds are from the south-west in summer. Most cruisers opt not to sail to the capital, Riga, from Estonia because it’s a 70-mile upwind slog, though we were lucky and had westerly winds.

The inner city is about seven miles up the Daugava river, with several marinas on the coast and up-river (the one nearest the city centre is basic but within walking distance of the key sights). Sailing to Riga is well worth the effort to wander around the cobbled streets of the historic city centre.

On the west coast of Latvia there are a few harbours with facilities for yachts. You could sail to Lithuania on day trips, but a keen eye on the weather is necessary. With the prevailing south-westerly winds, this coast is a lee shore and the shallow foreshore can create steep waves which may lock you into a harbour for longer than you’d like. Ventspils is the most popular harbour and an attractive holiday town.

The harbour at Klaipeda in Lithuania. Photo: Wietze Van Der Laan

Further south is the Lithuanian harbour of Klaipeda, which gives access to the Kurisches Haff, a freshwater lagoon. A long, narrow sand spit of very high sand dunes runs from Klaipeda all the way to Kaliningrad (a Russian exclave). From Klaipeda, there’s a marked channel on the east side of the spit. Well sheltered from the prevailing winds it’s a truly ‘off the beaten track’ destination. From Klaipeda to Gdansk in Poland can be sailed in an overnighter, taking special care to avoid Kaliningrad’s 12-mile exclusion zone (now enforced by the Russian navy).

Poland and northern Germany

The jewel in the crown of sailing in Poland is Gdansk. You can sail there from the north of Germany, or cross to Gdansk from Latvia or Lithuania. Either way, with the prevailing south-westerly winds, it takes an effort to get there and back.

But it is worth it. Right in the city centre of Gdansk is an excellent marina. Gdansk is intriguing, because of its complex history. There are excellent museums and city walks that unravel the mystery for the curious visitor.

Aerial view of the old town of Gdansk in Poland. Photo: Fotoman/Kharkov/Getty

Sailing is also a popular activity in Poland, so it is relatively easy to find parts or get repairs done. Cruising the Martwa Wisla river you’ll pass shipyards on a massive scale, one of the mainstays of the Gdansk economy.

Going west from Gdansk you can make day sails to small harbours along the holiday towns that dot the coast of Poland, keeping a keen eye out for low pressure systems that bring temporary strong northerly winds. If you’re lucky, a high pressure area will establish itself and bring light easterlies. In summer the active sailing community in Poland creates a fun atmosphere, and foreign yachts are given a warm welcome.

From the Polish north shores you sail west to Vorpommern, a coastal region with interesting topography due to its high sand dunes and large, narrow spits that enclose vast bodies of water – especially fun to explore with a shallow draught yacht.

At the border of Poland and Germany, you can tuck ‘inside’ the spits, between the islands of Wolin and Usedom. The natural channels and shallow enclosed ‘Haffs’ make for excellent and very sheltered cruising areas with many quaint little towns to visit.

In case of strong south-westerly winds, this can be a good area to keep sailing while still making your way west. The Boddengewässer lagoons lead all the way south of Rügen to Heiligenhafen, on the west side of the island of Fehman.

If you fancy an easier tack offshore with a deeper draught boat, you could sail from Gdansk to Bornholm or Christiansö in Denmark’s Ertholmene mini-archipelago.

Nyhavn in Copenhagen, nicknamed Little Amsterdam. Photo: Wietze Van Der Laan

Denmark – and back

Getting to and from the Baltic depends on weather windows, and timing. There are three good options to choose. The first is to sail around the north of Denmark and via Skagerrak and Kattegat to the Baltic. The second option is to take the Lymfjord between Thyboron in the west and Hals in the east of Denmark.

The Lymfjord is a sheltered inland waterway with some little towns underway where you can moor and rest for the night. The third option is the Nord-Ostsee-Kanal, nicknamed the Kiel Canal, which cuts through Germany’s Schleswig-Holstein region and connects to the North Sea. All three have their pros and cons, depending on the weather and the amount of motoring you’re prepared to do.

Inevitably, getting in or out of the Baltic means spending time in Denmark. Denmark, with its many islands large and small, is a cruising destination in itself and it would be a shame to rush through. There is something for everybody: secluded anchorages, impressive natural phenomena like the limestone cliffs of Mons Klimt, and the contemporary city of Copenhagen. The tidal range is slightly larger in Denmark, especially in the north.

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The Suwalki Gap: how this 40-mile land corridor could spark a war

‘The most dangerous place on Earth’ runs along the Polish/Lithuanian border

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It has been called “the most dangerous place on Earth”, said Der Stern (Hamburg). Spanning 40 miles as the crow flies, the Suwalki Gap is a corridor of land, running along the Polish/Lithuanian border, that connects the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad to Belarus.

Putin and Russia’s territorial ambitions Why Lithuania is feeling nervous about Russia

The area has long been viewed as “the Achilles’ heel” of Nato’s eastern defences, owing to the relative ease with which Russia could seize it by launching a pincer assault between Kaliningrad in the northwest and its client state, Belarus, in the southeast.

The creation of such a land bridge would effectively isolate the Baltic states (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia), which are all members of Nato, from the EU. Until recently, it was only Russian hawks on “state television” who advocated such an assault: it would, after all, risk starting a war between Russia and Nato. Yet now, there are growing fears that war over the Suwalki Gap is precisely what we’re heading for.

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Why? Because in June, Lithuania began enforcing a ban on the transit of EU- sanctioned goods through its territory to Kaliningrad.

Vilnius says it’s simply following EU guidelines on sanctions – but the move sparked fury in Russia, said Dmitry Drize in Kommersant (Moscow). Some Russian MPs have been urging Moscow to “cancel the recognition of Lithuania as an independent state”; military drills have been held in Kaliningrad; Kremlin officials talk ominously of serious consequences for Lithuania.

Significance of Kaliningrad

Kaliningrad’s importance to Moscow is hard to overstate, said Benjamin Restle and Monir Ghaedi in Deutsche Welle (Bonn). An area about the size of Northern Ireland, it’s home to about a million people. The birthplace of Immanuel Kant (in 1724), it flourished for centuries as East Prussia’s commercial capital, Königsberg. But after the Second World War and the defeat of Nazi Germany, it was ceded to Soviet Russia.

These days, the exclave is a key military base, said The Economist (London). A buffer zone that constitutes the first line of defence for Russia from the West, it houses Russia’s Baltic fleet, tens of thousands of soldiers and, reportedly, nuclear weapons.

It’s studded with radar systems providing surveillance of central Europe, and is Russia’s only Baltic Sea port that is ice-free all year round. Should Sweden and Finland join Nato , its importance to Moscow will only increase.

Lithuania’s ‘courageous’ stance

That’s why Lithuania’s stance is so courageous, said Migle Valaitiene in Delfi (Vilnius). Unbowed by Russian threats to the Baltic states, Vilnius had already been sending heavy weapons to Ukraine, in the process committing a far higher share of its GDP than many of its wealthier EU counterparts.

And now, by implementing Brussels’s sanctions package, it will do serious damage to Kaliningrad’s economy. Some may deem it unwise to poke the Russian bear, but Moscow’s war on Ukraine has shown that treating Russia cautiously is a tactic that just doesn’t work. “Time to try another.”

Well, the bear has certainly been poked, said Michael Thumann in Die Zeit (Hamburg). “Not a day goes by without Russian politicians making wild threats against Lithuania and Nato.” Yet an attack remains unlikely. Sounding off about what Russia calls the “blockade” of Kaliningrad and threatening Nato members is President Putin’s way of trying to spook the West into easing sanctions.

EU officials ‘seeking compromise’

If that’s his strategy, said Andrius Sytas and John O’Donnell on Reuters , then it seems to be working. EU officials, backed by Germany, are now said to be seeking a compromise over Kaliningrad: they’re terrified that Putin may use the dispute as a pretext to reduce gas flows to Europe or, worse still, “use military force to plough a land corridor” through the Suwalki Gap.

That is indeed a seriously scary prospect, said Matthew Karnitschnig on Politico (Brussels). “Lithuania, like its Baltic neighbours, is ill-equipped for a Russian assault.” In theory a move by Russia on Poland or Lithuania would trigger Nato’s Article 5 mutual-defence provision, but there’s no certainty that would happen in practice.

“How eager would Washington and Nato be to risk Armageddon over a stretch of largely unpopulated farmland few of their citizens even know exists?” That, alas, is precisely the sort of anxiety Putin loves to provoke.

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In the Kaliningrad Region

By thomas hillebrand.