Scandinavia, Leg 1 - Flensburg to Oslo via North Sea, 15 - 22 August 2026 (8 days)

The trip will be focused on cruising and training. In total, we should log up to 600 nautical miles and 100h in tidal waters.

Anticipated route:

Flensburg - Kiel Canal - Sylt Island - Kristiansand - Oslo

We will be maintaining a watch system to ensure everyone is well rested and meals are prepared on time and maintenance is undertaken when necessary. There will be 3 watches with up to 2 people in each watch.

Bavaria C38, 2023

The boat is a performance cruiser. It has excellent sailing characteristics. She is well equipped and prepared for offshore sailing.

We will inspect the boat thoroughly before the voyage to ensure that every bit of equipment is absolutely ship-shaped.

General info:

• Year: 2023
• Type: sailing
• Hull: monohull
• Length (LOA): 11.90 m
• Waterline length (LWL): 10.28 m
• Hull speed: 8.8kt
• Berths (Bunks): 6+2
• Cabins: 3
• WC / Shower: 1
• Beam: 3.98 m
• Draught: 1.65 m
• Air draft: 18.6 m
• Engine: 40 PS Volvo
• Fuel capacity: 210 L (Diesel)
• Water capacity: 210 L
• Displacement: 9.3 t
• Single spade rudder
• 2 steering wheels
• Sails: Fully battened Mainsail 42.80 m2, Furling genoa 27.00 m2, Asymmetric Spinnaker: 121.00 m2, Storm Jib 9.00 m2
• Plastimo drogue

Equipment:

• Autopilot
• Swimming platform
• Refrigerator
• Stove
• Sprayhood
• Radio/CD/MP3
• Socket 12V
• DSC VHF radio
• Handheld VHF DSC radio
• EPIRB
• AIS
• Radar reflector
• Chart plotter with GPS and digital chartography charts
• Sextant Astra IIIB Deluxe
• PredictWind Offshore app
• Complete set of pilot books, almanacs and charts
• Pillows, bedlinen and towels for each crew member

Average weather conditions:

• Flensburg
• Oslo

Air and Sea temperature

The weather conditions in August are generally favorable for sailing with relatively mild temperatures and moderate winds. The average temperature during the day should be around 19° C, with a minimum of 12° C and a maximum of 24° C. The sea temperature can be up to 19° C and it should be possible to swim in the sea.

Wind and sea state

The average wind speed in that area in August is 5-6 Bft. The sailing area is located at relatively high latitudes, and frontal depressions are not uncommon.

The majority of the trip will be on the exposed North Sea coast where moderate to rough sea state is to be expected.

The route is divided into several offshore passages with lots of night sailing. You will receive a certificate of passage to prove your sea time for sailing licenses. You will be an active member of the crew, and we will provide practical training on board to ensure safety and improve your sailing skills.

We give a great amount of responsibility to each crew member in running the ship so that you can gain a good experience and learn new skills as much or as little as you want. The skipper is an instructor and will find it difficult not to teach or coach anyone who shows the slightest bit of interest.

RYA qualifying passages

If you are an aspiring Skipper or Yachtmaster, it will be an excellent opportunity to gain bluewater miles, practice navigation, pilotage and COLREG skills so that you can be more confident and comfortable when taking a boat out to sea on your own. During the voyage, we can evaluate your current knowledge and provide suggestions for improvement. We can evaluate whether you are at the right level to pass an RYA exam and practice any gaps in your knowledge.

The opportunity will also be there to act as a skipper (with guidance if needed from the skipper) for your RYA Yachtmaster Coastal or RYA Yachtmaster Offshore qualifying 60M passages.

Main topics that you can learn or brush up:

• Maneuvering under sails & engine: berthing, hoisting and lowering sails, reefing, tacking, gybing, sail trim
• Safety: use of liferaft, lifejacket, EPIRB, PLB, AIS beacons, managing emergencies
• Equipment: use of Autopilot and VHF
• Weather forecasts and weather routing
• Offshore & coastal navigation: digital and traditional (including the use of Sextant if of interest)
• Night navigation
• Pilotage and passage planning
• ColRegs
• Storm tactics and use of a drogue
• Use of Asymmetric Spinnaker and Storm Jib
• Life on board: organization of watches, nutrition, sleep and risk management

Joining day - Flensburg

We will spend the first day preparing and victualling the yacht, going over the safety routines and practices, getting up to speed with the boat and learning or refreshing all the basic sailing skills before we embark on the journey. Once we slip the lines there will be plenty of occasions to practice tacking, gybing, reefing, boat handling under the engine and all the other key skills we must have.

Flensburg

Flensburg Marina

Flensburg is a historic port and town with a mixture of Danish and German history and culture. It enjoys the unique privilege of being a gateway to Scandinavia. A tradition from the days when the city belonged to Denmark was the production of rum. Flensburg is also known for its beer and Danish feel. It is located on the Baltic coast at the end of a beautiful Fjord which forms the present-day border between Germany and Denmark.

The town has a significant cultural offering, with five theatres, including its own Symphony Orchestra, several well-respected libraries, Maritime and rum museums, and an extremely well-preserved Old Town, some of which date back to the 12th century.

Kiel Canal

The Kiel Canal, also known as the Nord-Ostsee-Kanal in German, is a vital artificial waterway that connects the North Sea with the Baltic Sea. With its massive locks in Kiel-Holtenau and Brunsbüttel on the river Elbe, it stretches approximately 61 miles and provides a crucial shortcut for maritime traffic in northern Europe.

Locks in Kiel-Holtenau

Ships in the Kiel Canal

Today the Kiel Canal is the world's busiest artificial waterway and handles around 32,000 ships annually. That is more than both the Panama Canal and the Suez Canal. The natural scenery along the Canal is remarkably beautiful so it's not a place to miss.

Sylt Island (130 NM)

The German North Sea Frisian Islands are a group of small islands amidst shifting sandbanks and shallow channels. It's an interesting area to explore and practice tides. Sylt is the biggest island in the group. We will visit Hörnum harbour at the southern tip of the island.

Sylt landscape

40-kilometre-long sandy beach in Sylt

Sylt is well known for its 40-kilometre-long sandy beach. It is frequently covered by the media in connection with its exposed situation in the North Sea and its ongoing loss of land.

Kristiansand (240 NM)

From Sylt we will undertake the longest offshore passage of the trip, crossing the North Sea and entering the Skagerrak to reach Kristiansand on the southern tip of Norway. The Skagerrak is the strait running between the Jutland peninsula of Denmark and the south coast of Norway, and remains one of the busiest straits in the world. Sailing across this open stretch can be rough due to strong winds and frontal systems, making it an excellent opportunity to log offshore miles and practice watchkeeping, weather routing and night navigation.

Kristiansand harbour

Colourful Kristiansand harbour

Kristiansand is the gateway to the Sørlandet coast - a stunning region of pink granite skerries, sheltered channels and whitewashed wooden villages. Founded in 1641 by King Christian IV and laid out in a distinctive grid pattern, the town centre is compact and walkable. Don't miss Posebyen, one of northern Europe's largest preserved quarters of old wooden houses, the seventeenth-century Christiansholm Fortress guarding the harbour entrance, and Bystranda - a sandy beach right in the heart of the city.

Oslo (200 NM)

From Kristiansand we will sail east along the Norwegian south coast and turn north into the Oslofjord, a long and dramatic fjord that cuts roughly 100 kilometres inland to the capital. The coastal route weaves through a maze of skerries, narrow sounds and traditional fishing villages, and is a paradise for cruising sailors.

The approach to Oslo takes us through the Drøbak Sound, the narrowest point of the Oslofjord where the channel squeezes to just a few hundred metres between Oscarsborg Fortress and the mainland. This is an excellent pilotage exercise: commercial traffic is dense, the buoyed channel is tight and the current can run noticeably. Oscarsborg itself is famous for sinking the German cruiser Blücher in April 1940 - the fortress and its torpedo battery are still visible from the deck as you pass.

Island fortress in the Oslofjord

Green islands of the Oslofjord

Oslo, the capital of Norway, sits at the head of the fjord and is a vibrant city with a rich maritime heritage. The redeveloped Aker Brygge and Tjuvholmen waterfront are lined with restaurants and bars, and the iconic Opera House, with its sloping marble roof you can walk on, rises straight out of the harbour. On the Bygdøy peninsula you can visit the Fram polar ship, the Kon-Tiki Museum and the Norwegian Maritime Museum, while the Royal Palace, Akershus Fortress and the Vigeland sculpture park are all within easy reach of the marina.