A Personal Guide to Polish Waters
Nicholas Hill
Hel
The Hel peninsula is a sandy spit nearly twenty miles long, with the small town of Hel on its furthest tip. The town has a long and obviously chequered history, and like much of the area, suffered very heavily in the war and its aftermath. The buildings fall into the usual three categories: pre 1945 [very rare], communist era concrete blocks, and modern developments.
The town was originally a fishing port, although there has obviously been a decline in the local fishing industry. The town has become very popular as a tourist resort, supplied by the ferries from Gdansk and Gdynia, bringing their cargoes of day trippers. It is Blackpool rather than Bournemouth, although not as as tacky as it might be. The grocery stores in the town have a limited range of provisions.
The town is just visible on the horizon from Gdansk and Gdynia. The spit itself is difficult to miss if coming from the west or north. The town centre is quite obvious [see below], as is the harbour. However, there is also a naval base just beyond the harbour - don't confuse the two!
There is a large white spherical dome [see below] which is conspicuous for miles away - this is a few metres from the yacht pontoons, and a very useful landmark. The lighthouse is visible for at least 12 miles, but be carefulk if coming from the east - there will be a lot of commercial traffic
The harbour master and berthing master are both on VHF Ch 10. They should be contacted before entry. The harbour entrance is conspicuous and easy to find.
Other than commercial traffic and lobster pots, there are no significant hazards.
berthing and facilities
The harbour entrance leads into a basin used by ferries; the yacht basin is behind this.
There are pontoons with water and electricity for about a dozen yachts, or alternatively there is a large expanse of harbour wall. The charge for one night on the pontoons was 20zl.
There are some public loos just outside the 'snail' building (see below), and quite good loos/showers inside, as well as a washing machine. You have to pay extra for all of these.
Google Earth
Resolution here is extemely poor.
The new pontoons in Hel harbour.
All photographs copyright CNH/COH. Please ask if you wish to use them and please acknowledge the source.