NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
From: Frank Reed
Date: 2026 Jan 15, 09:44 -0800
Speaking of the shallow tidal waters of the northern Netherlands, Germany, and western Denmark, some of you may enjoy exploring in this web tool. It has an extensive collection of "shallow water" navigation charts:
fishing-app.gpsnauticalcharts
The link should take you to the Waddenzee, which includes some of the setting for "The Riddle of the Sands". The Wikipedia article on the Wadden Sea is also good.
The idea of the Germans controlling the North Sea in this period is also tied to the British political paranoia over the loss of Helgoland. It was traded away in 1895, less than a decade befor the novel was written. The loss of Helgoland was "one of those things" --a focus of outrage for the easily outraged. It's true that it was almost immediately turned into a naval fortress by Germany, which had to be destroyed after each of the World Wars, but it had little real military benefit to anyone.
Frank Reed
Also, here's the book: 90 MB pdf.
