Germany : Profile

Facts

Germany occupies a central position in Europe with coasts on both the North and Baltic Seas. The most important navigable rivers in continental Europe, the Rhine and the Danube, also flow through German territory.
Although one of the most active sailing nations in Europe, Germany is not a cruising destination and most German sailors prefer to do their cruising away from home. One such popular area is the IJselmeer in the Netherlands, which is reputed to have more resident German yachts than locally owned ones. Cruising opportunities on the North Sea coast are rather limited and the restrictions imposed on cruising in some of the German Frisian Islands have reduced the destinations ever further, although the opening up of former East Germany is adding a hitherto unknown corner of the Baltic to the German cruising portfolio. The most attractive part is the island of Rügen and the surrounding area in the Greiswalder Bodden.
The only contact many visiting yachts have with Germany is the Kiel Canal, the convenient shortcut from the North Sea to the Baltic. Those with more time on hand may be tempted to sail up the narrow estuaries to the old Hanseatic ports of Hamburg, Bremen or Lübeck.
The best facilities are concentrated around the main sailing centres at Hamburg, Kiel and Bremen. Extensive repair facilities are available in all these places and also a comprehensive range of marine supplies. Marinas and small boatyards are spread around the entire coastline and also in the rivers and estuaries.
Cuxhaven Marina, at the mouth of the Elbe, is an excellent place to prepare for the transit of the Kiel Canal towards the Baltic. Kiel is the place to stop for boats transiting the canal in the opposite direction.
Facilities are rapidly improving in former East Germany. A marina has opened at Rügen, which now has good repair facilities.

Germany has a temperate climate, with warm summers and cold winters. The coastal areas are generally milder than inland in the winter. In the North Sea the predominating winds are SW or W. The incidence of gales is low in summer but increases in spring and autumn. Gales usually veer from SW to NW producing cross seas. Winds on the Baltic coast are variable. DP07 Commercial VHF Station provides good weather forecasts in slow, clear German.