Flood of the century: Over 200 total losses - "Schilksee resembles a battlefield"
The pictures show a horror story for many owners. Sunken boats, badly damaged yachts, jetties torn loose. In the early hours of the morning, the insurance broker Pantaenius reported 50 total losses, but more than 200 total losses are expected. The water levels in Flensburg rose to a maximum of 2.27 metres above the mean water level, in Eckernförde to 2.10 metres. "Schilksee resembles a battlefield," was the comment of one observer.
Many owners fought all night to secure their property. But even if they managed to secure their own boat, damage was caused by other yachts being torn loose.
Self-evacuated
Lasse Johannsen, deputy editor-in-chief of YACHT, has his Vindö 40 in Strande and was affected. He describes his experience as follows: "I was already on the boat on Wednesday evening, as it was predicted what would happen. I moved my Vindö from its berth to another, more sheltered one, which was a good thing. Because my other neighbour on the jetty broke away."
Yesterday afternoon he deployed all the lines he had at his disposal and secured some of them against slipping up the pole.
"When darkness fell, I evacuated myself," says Johannsen. "There was nothing more we could do anyway, the jetties were deep under water. And when the breakwaters were flooded, it would have been life-threatening to stay on the boat. It was bucking like on the Stollergrund."
Strande was somewhat more sheltered than Schilksee, for example, and no yachts went aground, although some that had been torn loose were washed ashore. And there was a lot of damage, holes in hulls, windows torn out. The clean-up work is now underway.
Why are so many yachts affected?
It is unclear why so many yachts apparently remained in the water unprepared despite the forecast. Some owners probably had no opportunity to take care of their own boat during the holiday season due to long journeys. However, the storm and high water had been announced well in advance.
Accusations were quickly levelled at the harbour masters that they had done too little. But what a harbour master is responsible for, you can read in this article:
What happened between about 6 and 10 p.m. was an apocalypse and one of the worst things I've ever experienced in connection with sailing"
Reports about the flood of the century also piled up on social media during the night and today. The well-known sailor and author Jan von der Bank posted on Facebook: "I've just come back from Kiel (Schilksee) quite exhausted and exhausted in the truest sense of the word. Just a quick note, because I've had a lot of worried enquiries: 'Rémy' and I survived what happened in Schilksee with only minor injuries. Schilksee South resembles a ship graveyard, yachts have also gone down in the north harbour. What happened between around 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. was an apocalypse and one of the worst things I've ever experienced in connection with sailing."
Von der Bank had warned yesterday: "Most people use fixed eyes (bowlines) for the dolphin mooring lines. They can actually slip over the top of the dolphins at the expected water levels. So if you can, you should definitely go to your boat and quickly tie the stern lines to the dolphins with stoppers. I have seen a lot of boats that are completely unprepared for storms: crosswise to the wind, simple line connection, upwind very close to the concrete edge of the jetty, mainsail and furling genoa still attached (the latter sometimes without a tarpaulin and not even secured with Zeising to prevent it from untwisting!!!) ... That will be a rude awakening for some."
What happens next?
Meanwhile, in Sønderborg, Denmark, things went a little more smoothly, at least comparatively speaking. The reason for this is probably the more sheltered location, and the harbour was only 30 percent full. Nevertheless, the number of yachts that have sunk is currently estimated at six, four more are lying on the jetties, which were also badly damaged, and others have also broken free here. A large motorboat drifted out of the harbour and washed up on the beach on the opposite coast.
While it was hit the hardest by the unexpected hurricane in August 1989, when the largest yacht damage in German history occurred, the Wendtorf marina was largely spared due to its location, unlike Kiel-Schilksee. Nevertheless, Ole Winterberg from the local shipyard Bottsand Bootsbau is expecting a large influx of orders. "We will try to support as many owners as possible in the coming months," he explains. However, it is not yet clear whether there will be overloads and long waiting times. "At the moment, we need to be in close contact with the yacht insurance experts and the owners in order to coordinate a quick settlement of the damage incurred."
