Friday, 24 August 2018

23 August 2018. Borkum to Lauwersmeer

22 August 2018. Spiekeroog to Borkum

21 August 2018. Wangerooge to Spiekeroog

19 August 2018. Helgoland to Wangerooge

18 August 2018. Cuxhaven to Helgoland

17 August 2018. Brunsbuttel to Cuxhaven

16 August 2018. Rendsburg to Brunsbuttel

16 August 2018. Möltenort to Rendsburg

14 August 2018. Schlei estuary to Möltenort

13 August 2018. Vemmingbund to Schlei estuary

Sunday, 12 August 2018

12 August 2018. Åbenra to Vemmingbund

9 August 2018. Åro Kalv to Åbenrå

8 August 2018. Gamborg Fjord to Åro Kalv

7 August 2018. Sandbjerg Vig to Gamborh Fjord

Monday, 6 August 2018

6 Aug 2018 Langør to Sandnjerg Vig

A long frustrating day. Into the wind all day. Put a reef in and later took it out again twice. Ran out of wind twice and started the engine fpr a short time. Eventually anchored in a quiet bay.

Saturday, 4 August 2018

4 August 2018. Grenå to Langør (anchorage)

Langør is the best harbour on a favourite island: Samsø. Although there is quite a bit of wind forecast for tomorrow we have anchored in the bay outside the harbour.

We had a good sail from Grenå, though the wind headed us and we had a beat for the last few miles

3 August 2018. Bønnerup to Grenå

Thursday, 2 August 2018

Wednesday, 1 August 2018

1 August 2018. Saeby to Øster Hurup

Rather slow sail but only motored the last few miles. Anchored outside the harbour at Øster Hurup.

Jellyfish outside Saeby..

31 July 2018. Hirsholm to Saeby

30 July 2018. Skagen to Hirsholm

28 July 2018. Sunna Holme to Skagen

27 July 2018. Stavsundsholmen to Sunna Holme

26 July 2018 Hätton-Kärsön to Stavsundsholmen

Wednesday, 25 July 2018

25 July 2018. Strandanäs to Hättan-Kärsön

Both are small anchorages, so the names may be hard to find on the map.

24 July 2018. Henån to Strandanäs (E side of Orust)

Saturday, 23 June 2018

23 June 2018. Flatön to Skaftö(Lindesholmen)

Still but cool morning. By the time we took our morning swim some wind had got up so we did not spend long in the water.


Just lazing around. As with many anchorages round here there is nothing much to explore ashore.

Friday, 22 June 2018

22 June 2018. Knarrevike Kile to Flatön (Handelsman Flink)

Alongside the restaurant's pontoon at Handelmans Flink.


Midsummer celebrations. Raising the maypole. Then we all danced round it.



Cable ferry. The island has one at each end, each crossing a narrow channel which can have significant wind and current. The ferry has electric drive.  The power cable unwinds from a big spool as it moves along.

Thursday, 21 June 2018

21 June 2018. Henån to Knarrevike Kile

Cosy anchorage well protected by trees.

Wednesday, 20 June 2018

20 June 2018. Henån. Run in the rain

Not nice weather for sailing. So we went for a run.  Unsurprisingly it was not nice weather for running either and we got soaked and frozen.  Also tiring as we went further than intended and took a wrong turning or two.  Harbour was quiet so we put all our clothes in the wash.

Monday, 18 June 2018

Thursday, 14 June 2018

Wednesday, 13 June 2018

Tuesday, 12 June 2018

Monday, 11 June 2018

Sunday, 10 June 2018

10 June 2018. Vinga to Rörö

Our first sail through the W coast rocks and islands (the skärgård), so we took it carefully with only mainsail. With light wind and wide channels there was no great problem with pilotage. As it was a fine weekend a short way from Goteborg lots of boats were out.



We stopped for a swim and lunch at a little anchorage. Gradually the sky clouded and the other boats left, so we took the hint,aided by the weather forecast and motored the short way to Rörö.

Moored in Rörö soon to experience our first proper rain of the trip

Saturday, 9 June 2018

9 June 2018. Læsø to Vinga (Sweden)

Not as sunny but still warm and with light wind. Today the morning dip was taken with foot protection - for me cheapo not-crocs and for Pam fins (which comically hampered her entry and exit on the shallow-sloping beach). The reason was a warning of the possible presence of scorpion-fish, which lie hidden on the bottom. Stepping on one can result in a painful sting described as "bee sting x 10".

Rather a slow passage. However it crossed the main ship route into the Baltic, so we were kept busy watching for ships and avoiding one.

Anchored at Vinga.


Vinga has a very distinctive daymark and lighthouse


Also a small harbour (seemed full - we were anchored in the next bay) and pilot station, of which no sign of activity.

Friday, 8 June 2018

8 June 2018. Chilling out in Læsø

Very warm and sunny but not enough wind for a passage to Sweden. It's not a long way but we don't want to motor all the way.

We started the day with a run in the supposed cool of the morning. With hardly any wind we soon got hot. Returning along a road through the woods seemed a good idea. However we got bitten by flies when we stopped.

Then a swim. After breakfast we needed a rest so didn't do much else. With a fine weekend in prospect the harbour started filling up with Swedish boats.
Run on Læsø

Breakfast in the cockpit.

Thursday, 7 June 2018

7 June 2010. Exploring Læsø

Salt-making old style. Nice job on a cold day. Læsø used to be an important salt producer, as they cam pump up super-saturated ground water which is 12-14% salt, though they don't seem to know why.


Læsø is the only place where they used to thatch the houses with eelgrass. Does not look as neat as reed or straw but they say it lasts a lot longer. The art of thatching with eelgrass had been lost, but a recent project has worked out how to do it and is restoring some of the houses. It looks as if they have put too much on, but all the old houses look a bit like this.



We biked to the other harbour on the island and also to the village in the centre, visiting the salt centre and the thatched houses. Easy cycling in terms of hills, but some of the roads were very long and straight.

Wednesday, 6 June 2018

6 June 2018. Anholt to Læsø

Sunset at Læsø

Rather a long way for a light wind day. However it was warm and sunny and there was no need to motor

Læsø is completely flat and almost entirely sand. Swam off the good beach in extremely clear water. Will explore tomorrow.

Tuesday, 5 June 2018

5 June 2018. Exploring Anholt



We explored the west part of the island which is desert. The road is too sandy to bike to the eastern tip and too far to walk. So we came back and swam from the beach by the harbour.


We used the cooking facilities. They have a kitchen, free to use. Also they light the barbecue at 6pm, so we had BBQ sausages and cooked veg

Monday, 4 June 2018

Sunday, 3 June 2018

3 June 2018. Samsø to Grenaa

SW wind. That's handy and also a little stronger than yesterday. We had a broad reach up the side of Samsø and after a while it seemed the wind would hold, so we carried on up the coast (the alternative bring to turn the other way and stop at Ebeltoft).

The cruising chute had an outing and then got put away in favour of goose-winged genoa. After a while it grew a little cloudy ahead, could not see the headland, looked like rain, heard some thunder, wind went light and funny so took down the genoa, heard rain on the water not far away.

All these things suggest it would be a good idea to take down the mainsail while it's easy, but we did not. Then strong wind and hail hit us hard and the boat heeled a long way even with the mainsheet completely eased and the sail flogging. Pam eventually got the sail down and secured. We motored slowly towards Grenaa but with 30+ knots of wind behind we went quite quickly (in the initial gusts the wind meter had showed more than 45 knots). No chance of entering the harbour and box berth in this wind, so we turned round and motored into the wind to hold station whilst the storm went past. Eventually it seemed we were heading back into the bad stuff! So we turned round and headed for the harbour, thankfully not pursued by the storm.
Quiet evening after the thunder had passed

Saturday, 2 June 2018

2 June 2018. Samsø

Clear and sunny but hadly any wind. Went ashore early(ish) and had a run round part of the island - this time without having to clamber over rocks. Rather a warm day for running. Still no wind so we had a lazy day at anchor. Went ashore and bought smoked salmon and strawberries for supper.


This marks the place where the Vikings dug a canal across the narrow part of the island so that their fleet could leave to East or West

1 June 2018. Korshavn to Samsø (Langor)


Rather slow beat (first windward sailing of the trip so must not complsin) in warm sun and cool wind. Pam saw a porpoise.

Anchored at Samsø and had a swim in water at 20C whereas in the open water the temperature was 15 or 16.

Thursday, 31 May 2018

31 May 2019 Kerteminde to Korshavn

Not too crowded here
A gentle sail up the East side of the island of Fyn, then round the top corner and anchored off Korshaven.

Unlike many places in Denmark the anchoring area is reasonably close to the shore. A rather small quiet place

Saw a porpoise briefly.

Swam from the boat in a surprisingly warm 21C.


Wednesday, 30 May 2018

30 May 2018. Kertemimde


Visited the Viking ship burial. Only a few miles from the harbour by bike. It's the only Viking ship burial in Denmark and we kept comparing it with the Saxon ship at Sutton Hoo. This ship was the same beam as our boat, about the same weight, but at 21.5 m long was more than twice the length.

The remains were preserved in situ by building a concrete roof over the top.

Later in the afternoon we swam off the beach and found it much warmer than during our brief pre-breakfast dip. This time there was a layer of warmish water at the surface, after a day of warm sun, but the water up to knee deep was still cold

29 May 2018 Omø to Kerteminde


Morning run round most of the island. What we did not expect was that the path turned to shingle beach then rock beach. No records were set.

Sailed up the Store Baelt and under the bridge. The main span for the big ships is 65m high. We took the next span which at 55m is more than 3 times the height of our mast. After the bridge it got rather windy so we put in a reef and then took the mainsail right down and headed downwind towards Kertiminde. Later we put the sail up again.

Store Bælt bridge. Look carefully - there's a full size ship under there.


Big bridge - big cable anchorage.