Viknes in rough sea Norway to Holland 2 - Kristiansand to Bremerhaven - Hadelner Canal info

The winds are strong Westerlies, forecast to turn South West over the coming days, so that I am forced to go south via the East side of Denmark. One day of fast running with waves and wind behind us, get us from Kristiansand to Skagen, from Skagen to the island of Laeso where I stop and refuel and have fish and chips, then looking at the weatherforecast seeing things will get worse, decide to run to Grenaa after dinner. The next day - serious waves and wind on the nose, a long slow day from Grenaa via Fredericia to Aerosund Harbour. Then it's a day via beautiful Sonderborg into the Kiel canal. Winds are terrible to get out of the German Bight being strong W and SW .... but I remember I bought some charts which show a little known alternative route avoiding Cuxhaven and going NW out to avoid mudflats, known for strong tide against wind - you need an W going tide and if this runs into W winds this produces waves of several metres which really slow you down and are very uncomfortable. I find the Hadelner-Geest canal, from a small tidal harbour Otterndorf where I must get the timing right, leading to Bremerhaven. I can find hardly anything online about this so let me give you the important information so it may help you: 1) you must have an air draft lower than 2.75 metres exactly 2) the pinchpoint that proves if you can make it is the railway bridge, km 7 of the canal from its Northern entrance that is the lowest bridge of all (lower even than the bridge at the Southern end which shows as 2.6m on the map but actually is over 2.8m !!! so do not worry about that coming from the north 3) you cannot draw more than 1.1 metres 4) the lockmaster at the Northern lock is absolutely brilliant and helpful - calling him from Brunsbuttel to check if with my depth of 1.1m and air draft of 2.75m I could get there with the then FALLING tide - he was exact, practical, fast in calculating - and had the lock open for me to sail straight into when I got there - then in the lock gave me more useful tips - and kept the lock open to drain some water from the canal in the hour coming, to help me get under the crucial railway bridge which with his sharp eye he realized was going to be close. You can do it in one long day, some 70km or 35nm, it's 30 Eur passage fee, lock either end and one self-service luxury easy press a button lock in the middle. May 25.

00:00 smashing into a F6 with lumpy waves and rambling random thoughts too tired after many days sailing
03:52 left Kristiansand first hours comfortable seas
07:36 getting livelier, rolling whilst speeding down following seas
11:00 wilder seas nearing Skagen, waves building behind
12:01 following the pilot boat's flattened path to Skagen
12:30 to Laeso with waves following instead
12:54 refuel Laeso and drone shots
14:00 Laeso to Grenaa in the evening
15:20 to Fredericia
16:54 lively beam seas on the way to Aerosund
19:06 Aerosund walk
20:01 Aerosund to Sonderborg
23:18 Sonderborg to Kiel
24:20 Kiel canal
25:32 Brunsbuttel to Otterndorf in a great hurry on a falling tide
26:22 Otterndorf entrance to Hadelner canal and under the lowest railway bridge
31:21 Bremerhaven