The Kiel Canal was a great idea

As we get ourselves around the Jutland peninsula and back down to Helgoland, we can appreciate why the Germans built the Kiel Canal. Now that we’re committed to going around, we sort of wish we’d taken the canal back out. But we wanted to sail, and we thought we’d get to do more of that—and less docking—by going around. And we will get to do more sailing. We just have to wait for the right weather window to do it.

Geography lesson: Helgoland is circled in red; the Kiel Canal is drawn in blue; Hirtshals is near the top; Helsingør is where Denmark almost touches Sweden (Click on the map for a larger view.)

Meanwhile, we’re waiting in Hirtshals. The marina here is small and a little primitive, but it’s half the cost of Skagen, and it’s on the west side, so part of the hard part is behind us.