Danish cheer


Yesterday was our last day in Fehmarn and we found time to visit the Uboot museum- a 1960s German submarine which is forever beached. It was interesting enough - only one heads for the entire crew!

This morning we fell back into the old routine of preparing for sea although doing everything for the first time in 8 months is slightly nerve racking.

We were setting off from Germany with no water pump - hence no washing up or washing hands or faces- and no motor for the anchor windlass so we can't anchor unless we can drag the heavy beast up ourselves without ricking  our poor old backs. Nic has a new water pump but no time as yet to fit it. But the windlass motor is kyboshed and no replacement yet identified.

We set off anyway and raised the main sail quickly to check we'd put it all back together correctly- which we had! Much joy.

But the sail was no damn use,  as we motored directly into the northeast wind for most of the 32 miles to Gedser in Denmark. Still it was sunny, if bitterly cold. Thermals were deployed.

It felt wonderful to be at sea after all that grinding hard work in the yard and all the money we've dished out on new rigging and sea cocks and the rest.

We crossed the route of container ships with only a couple of avoiding tactics and arrived in sleepy Gedser before 4pm. A steady stream of yachts arrived and then, horror of horrors,  a motor boat full of potbellied half-naked drunken Danes playing Hotel California at stadium level. They swooped into the space next to us which is the fuel berth. Dismay was written on our English faces.

Luckily they decided to leave after half an hour when it became clear there was no one to deliver fuel.

And now it is quiet and a stir fry supper is under way. We have installed mosquito nets over the hatch and companionway as there are mozzies everywhere and big ones at that. 

We have a difficult routeing decision to make - given easterly winds do we scrap our plan to head east to Sweden and head north to Copenhagen instead? 

Find out tomorrow.







Sent from Samsung Mobile on O2

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Westwards onwards

Image
Industrial Bandholm was rather nice and very peaceful. So as we left at our usual 0830 this morning we thought 'oh, good, the forecast NW wind is v gentle today.' But no, once out from the land it blew hard at us again. Whichever version of West we head, that's exactly where the wind comes from. Never mind, we are a motorboat for now.  There's a small island just outside Bandholm with birds on every branch of every tree. (Pic) Are they vultures? Is this Africa? No they are cormorants - a most unusual sight. Today's 6 hour passage was picturesque at times followed by some uneventful open water. The sun shone but there is a real chill in the air. We passed many wind turbines. In Maribo y'day we got talking in a cafe to two young Englishmen who work on building and maintaining the turbines. They said what a great job it was, 6 months work then 6 months off and they can work anywhere in the world. I suppose we could call them wind-riggers, they are the new oil-rigge...
Read more

Beach Boys in Denmark

Image
Today we tasted the worst and best of downwind sailing, that is, sailing with the wind right behind us.  We were expecting a warm southerly wind and that made us hum ' Blow the Wind Southerly' as we trekked to the showers in the morning. We were headed north to the top of the thin island called Langeland and part way down the west side.  First we had to extricate ourselves from the box berth. The night before, a giant German yacht had barged in beside us even though one of the berthing poles was missing which meant it might lean on us dangerously if something went wrong. We were discomfited, but asked them to change their ropes around so their enormous ropes were not looped over our little ones at the moment of leaving. This monster made Sirena IV look like a minnow. (see pic)  In the event, leaving the harbour proved pretty straightforward. We imnediately began to sail using just the foresail or genoa, and we didn't even let all of it out.  That moment of switching ...
Read more

Rodvig - a change of wind

Image
Today didn't start well. From 1.30am to 4 am the high energy music was blasting from the bar just a stone's throw away from where we are moored...again.  This time Lesley went to tackle them about the noise level, to find a dozen drunk people with glassy eyes who didn't understand what the fuss was about - and simply laughed at her distress. She stomped back to the boat to phone the police at 1.45. 'I'm afraid things are different in Denmark' said a polite policeman. ' They probably have a licence to play music until 4 or 5am. But I'll send a patrol car to swing by the bar.'  Lesley tried cotton wool in the ears, pillow over the head, but nothing could drown the insistent beat which changed every 3 minutes for a new track until 4 o clock. We can't leave Rodvig - and escape the broken nights - until our bowthruster is fixed. That's the little engine in the bow of the boat to give us added manevurability - trying to reverse our boat without it ...
Read more