Category: Uncategorized

Thursday 6 – Tuesday 11 September

After a speedy turnaround on Wednesday and Thursday, Second Mate’s brother arrived, somewhat earlier in the day than his grandmother had, into Copenhagen airport.  Again, a very pleasant few days was spent in his company, much of it relaxing and chatting in between brief dips into the most interesting sights of the city.  He accompanied Skipper, borrowing Mate’s wheels, on a bike ride to Kastrup for a chandlery hunt.  The Sunday evening found us at a hugely entertaining jam session at La Fontaine, a cool jazz club downtown.

Thursday 30 August – Wednesday 5 September

Bridging the end of August to the beginning of September, we enjoyed the company of Mate’s mother, who flew into Copenhagen airport late on Thursday evening.  After a gentle morning on Friday, we introduced her to our lovely friends from Saltimbanque, meeting them for farewell coffee in the sunshine in Nørreport, before they began their final journey home to Oslo.  We hope to visit them (if not by sea) during the coming Winter.  Later we drooled over the fabulous food stalls of the Torvehallerne – the first time in five months Mate had seen a ‘proper’ fishmongers ie one offering more than just salmon or smoked anything.

We had a pleasant stroll through the grounds of the fort to Langelinie Park, in order to say hello to the Little Mermaid.  Just South of the Park is the impressive Gefion Fountain, which depicts the Norse goddess, Gefion, ploughing the sea with four oxen, and tucked behind this is the attractive flint-walled St Albans Anglican Church, with a very familiar atmosphere within.  We wandered past various important buildings on Amaliegade, to gaze at Frederik’s Church, a rococo marble church, before crossing the Amalienborg Slotsplads, the Queen’s winter palace that is guarded by busbied soldiers.  Beyond lies an attractive route along the shore to wander through the pavement cafés of colourful Nyhavn.

Indulging Mum’s love of Shakespeare, a visit to Elsinore Castle, the setting of Hamlet – Prince of Denmark, seemed an appropriate item on the itinerary.  Known in Danish as Helsingør, it lies less than an hour’s train ride North of Copenhagen, and was built to pair with Helsingborg, on the opposite side of the Øresund in Sweden, to defend the straits and collect tolls from passing trading ships.  It remains an impressive fortification, and even from the outside has an imposing presence on the edge of the town.  Helsingør is a popular day trip for visitors to Copenhagen with good reason: it boasts attractive architecture, interesting buildings, a pleasant harbour and a wide selection of cafés and restaurants.  We enjoyed a delicious traditional Danish style lunch courtesy of Madam Sprunk.

Keen to take in her third Scandinavian country in her 80^th year, having experienced Western Norway aboard a Hurtigruten cruise at Easter, we took a comfortable train ride across the Øresund Bridge to visit Malmø in Western Sweden.  Grateful for a clear day, the views were spectacular.  The Internet offered mixed reviews about this city, with which we would tend to agree.  There is no traditional tourist information office (Mate had withdrawal symptoms), and when we finally tracked down a guide and map, we were asked to pay for it.  It feels like a ‘normal’ working city rather than merely a tourist destination, and has an eclectic mix of old and starkly modern architecture, not always in harmony.  The ubiquitous canal boat rides are on offer, and we did find a pleasant lunch which fuelled a long, cosy gossip.

On the Sunday afternoon, a pleasant hour was whiled away in Dragør Church, listening to a jazz concert given by a talented combination of piano, drums, double bass and saxophone.  We’ve heard elsewhere that there is a vibrant jazz scene in Denmark, although to be honest, this audience was mainly of the silver variety, and probably the church’s usual congregation.

Monday 27 – Wednesday 29 August

It must be the Late Summer Bank Holiday in the UK – it’s raining and windy, even here in Eastern Denmark. Mate suffered a couple of days’ jet lag, whilst gradually orientating herself to our new temporary home for the next couple of weeks, glad to have made it before the visitors began to arrive. The usual domestic details were attended to, in between lots of R&R.

Wednesday was a Wedding Anniversary – our third aboard, celebrated quietly with a disappointingly unremarkable lunch out on a grey and damp day.

Saturday 25 – Sunday 26 August

Exactly 24 hours later, still waiting for the wind, we set off again for what we hoped would be our last leg into Copenhagen. Swallows were beginning to gather along yacht lines around the harbour, in preparation for their winter migration to warmer climes – we know how they feel. Bornholm, the most Southerly of all the Danish islands, was clearly visible on the horizon only 20M away. We’ve now sailed past it twice, both times disappointingly not destined to step ashore. Maybe next time…

By 0800 the wind was beginning to fill in, bringing with it a slight swell and the threat of imminent rain. We set the main and staysails close-hauled, and fought our way through a couple of nasty squalls. The first time we were prepared, having taken in the first reef on the mainsail; the wind indicator recorded 90 knots, but must have been imagining it. Later we were caught unawares amidst sustained gusts of 30 knots, with both foresails set in an attempt to maximise progress during spells of lighter winds. In trying to run downwind, Mate foolishly released both sets of foresail sheets, whereupon they instantly became a flailing mess of spaghetti, whilst the lazy backstay wrapped itself around the wind generator that stands proud of the stern arch.

Meanwhile, I merely wallowed lazily, in no immediate danger. By the time my crew had sorted all this out, as any fellow sailor will realise here, the squall had passed and some sense of normality could return to the deck. However, in case we should allow ourselves to become lulled into a false and foolish sense of complacency, at 1730 another heavy squall recorded winds increasing from four to twenty-four knots in four seconds. This one was seen approaching, and sensible precautions had been taken. The wind and rain were now accompanied by a huge crack of thunder as forked lightning struck the sea not 200 metres away.

All this drama was rounded off by the wind veering 180˚ into the NW, pushing up short sharp waves that cause us to stall, so we reverted to motor-sailing. Through the evening, showers were interspersed with periods of heavy rain. Overnight Mate had a difficult watch, fumbling a couple of tacks in the vicinity of the local and busy shipping lane into Trelleborg on the Southern Swedish coast; Skipper suffered very little rest.

Early on Sunday morning, glad to be in daylight once again, we closed the first circle of our Baltic cruise when we crossed the line we had sailed from Skanör back to Germany in early May. Avoiding the large wind farm at the Southern end of the Øresund, the narrow, shallow channel that divides Denmark and Sweden, we skirted the edge of the shipping channels up this very busy waterway, until the marine equivalent of a zebra crossing opened up and we could cross safely to tie up on the ‘service pontoon’ of Dragør harbour, just South of Copenhagen. After just 103M in 27 hours, Mate’s closing comment in the log reads “horrible passage – really hard work. So glad to be here safe”… and we’re doing this for fun!

Wednesday 22 – Friday 24 August

Still with a long distance in front of us to reach Copenhagen, it was decided to make the most of the tail end of a strong wind that blew through during the day, and lines were slipped at 2200 on Wednesday evening, by which time it had already been dark for an hour. Having familiarised himself thoroughly with the challenging navigation of the channel immediately South of Kalmar, Skipper took the helm to motor into a headwind for the first hour, giving Mate a chance to acclimatise to the short, choppy sea.

The wind remained light overnight, and it was very dark after the moon and Venus both set around 0200 on Thursday morning. Mate took the first watch and made a couple of sail changes and tacks, as the sky began to lighten around 0330. Skipper took over the watch at 0600, resetting the staysail and noting “slow progress”. Thursday became pleasant and sunny, but at noon we’d sailed 51M, but were still only 26M from Kalmar. The wind backed towards the East, but remained stubbornly light.

During the evening there were several large windshifts, but Mate enjoyed a soft sunset and the moon rising at 2030. Skipper decided to run the engine to charge the batteries when he commenced his evening watch, but the wind dropped almost to nothing and the engine became our primary motivation. At 0300 the decision was made to change course for Simrishamn and rest until the wind filled in again. By 0630 we were tied up alongside, and caught up on some much-needed sleep.

Tuesday 21 August

A day of indecision about which plan of several alternatives would be our best option, interspersed with some wonderful social time: Mate got chatting on the quayside with a British couple who are ‘motorhoming’ around Europe, and who lived for nearly 40 years five minutes around the corner from my crew’s former land dwelling in SW London – it really is a small world.

After a trolley dash around the very local supermarket, an impromptu al fresco tapas lunch was enjoyed in my sunny, if waspy, cockpit with our lovely French friends. Later, they went off to explore Kalmar Castle, where a treaty, known as the Kalmar Union, was signed in 1397 uniting the Nordic countries into Scandinavia.

Monday 20 August

Another early start saw the anchor weighed at 0715, and another day beginning, still in heavy rain. We began with full main and genoa, but soon changed down to the staysail, with a lively SSW F4-5 keeping Mate busy on the helm. Skipper coached her through some tricky navigation as we approached the high bridge just North of Kalmar, and after a challenging day of 47M, we were glad to tie up tucked right at the top of Kalmar harbour. Our Alu-Club friends on Saltimbanque joined us at the end of an impressive passage, arriving 90 minutes earlier than expected.

Sunday 19 August

After a Sunday morning lie-in, we set off into a Westerly F4-5, achieving a much more exhilarating 7 knots reaching with full main and staysail. This is Mate’s favourite sailing scenario, assuming the sun is shining as well, as I flick up my petticoats and fly, without heeling as hard as under the genoa. There were a few changes of foresail during the day, and as the sails were stowed ready for anchoring, the heavens opened and the day ended somewhat damply. Just South of a nuclear power station, and out of sight of it, we’d found a beautiful spot for our last night in the Swedish archipelago, at Fläskö. Once again, large numbers of small jellyfish discouraged any fleeting thoughts of swimming…

Saturday 18 August

Suitably refreshed, we set off as the sun rose, towards Västervik. The/another seal popped up to watch us go. The day began well, Mate enjoying 6+ knots under full mainsail and genoa, until 0800 when the wind dropped, so the staysail was added. It continued to back, so to maintain a reasonable speed we came further off our desired course, and put in a couple of tacks. As the wind backed further, but increased slightly, further sail changes were made, until by late afternoon we were down to first reef in the mainsail, and staysail.

After what the log records as “a long, tedious day’s tacking”, in which we averaged only 4 knots over nearly 15 hours, we’d covered 59 Miles, and headed into our chosen anchorage of Kyrkogårdsskär, in the company of swans and more jellyfish. A German-flagged yacht had beaten us to the prime spot, so we tucked further in with the advantage of our variable draft, and enjoyed a comfortable night’s rest.

Wednesday 15 – Friday 17 August

The following day saw their departure, and whilst Mate organised another laundry turnaround, Skipper carried out a routine service of my anchor windlass, which has been well used this season.

On Thursday my regular crew gave themselves a well-earned day off, to explore this ancient and attractive town by bicycle, before stocking up at the local supermarket. Like in Finland, alcohol above normal beer strength can only be bought at state monopoly retail outlets; in Sweden they’re known as a ‘systembolaget’, similar to an off-licence in the UK. They were delighted to find their favourite wine once again, in boat-friendly boxes…so the panniers were even more heavily loaded than usual. They also treated themselves to a delicious Swedish lunch alongside local businesspeople and a few late tourists.

We slipped out of our berth and around the corner into the town harbour to take on some diesel, before motoring to a nearby anchorage for a peaceful night on Långskär. It proved to be such a peaceful and well sheltered spot, we stayed a second night, briefly spotting a seal nearby amongst hundreds of tiny jellyfish, and sitting out an intense thunderstorm, followed by a curiously yellow and grey storm-clouded sunset.