11-May-2013 -- I spent the weekend in northern Germany to visit my female friend Maike. We both wanted to go out to the countryside and a visit to this Confluence Point came into my mind.
My friend who is also a water sport enthusiast agreed. This point is about 800 metres off the shore, thus I needed a boat to reach it. A search on the Internet showed that the next boat charterer is in the harbour of Travemünde, some 11 kilometres (6 nautical miles) off the point. I would have preferred a seagoing sailing boat, but they were only available on a weekly base. Thus I booked a motor boat for three hours. It is equipped with a small cabin and with a 51 Kilowatt outboard engine. In Germany you need a license (the German Sportbootführerschein See or the International Certificate of Competence) for motor boats with more than 11.03 Kilowatts (15 HP). This was no problem for me.
On the morning of the agreed rental day I got a phone call from the charter agency that the wind and waves were too strong and the lady recommended to postpone the trip by one day. We agreed.
The weather on 11 May was favourable, sunny, calm wind and nearly no waves. We arrived in Travemünde, got instructions how to handle the boat and off we went. We set half throttle and with a speed of 11 knots we sailed towards the point. About half an hour after we left the harbour we spotted a boat with fishing rods very close to the point. Does the skipper want to catch the Confluence Point? We waited, the other boat drifted away and after two attempts my friend steered the boat right to the point. Hooray!
Later at home I evaluated my track log and found out that the closest approach to the point was 20 centimetres. Splendid job of my friend, who never steered such a boat before!
I took the required photos and gave a high five to my friend. After this "duty" we sailed along the coast of the Bay of Lübeck, enjoyed the time and later returned the boat to the charter agency.