Carra Tidings

We had wanted to make a quick getaway but annoying the ships clock had stopped. It was an unusual type of battery and Helsingsør, would the last chance to replace it for about 10 days. But the shop didn’t open til 0930 – 2 hrs later than we had planned to leave. Decision made; we would wait for the shop to open. So off to the shop with the boat purse, except there was no purse – the boat was searched with panic rising, we realised we didn’t have it. We had last used it in the street food market which had been packed with people…. and it contained 4 of our credit cards and some money. Gulp! We sprinted round to the street food market, they were cleaning it prior to opening. No one had seen it, it hadn’t been handed in. My heart fell….. We went back to where we had been sitting, no sight of it. Then Mags removed the cushions and thankfully found it down the back of the sofa – what a relief. Thank goodness for needing to buy the battery. Otherwise, we would have been in another harbour by the time we had noticed, if we had left as planned.

Very relieved, we set off not before removing some of the cards from the purse. Passing the impressive castle, that dominates the coast line –though less photogenic given one side was covered in scaffolding. The current was whisking us along and we carried it for the next hour, we saw a pod of about 4 dolphins, a rare sight for us, though they were more interested in eating than us.

We arrived at 12 in the busy fishing harbour of Gilleleje on the north of the island of Zeeland. Grateful that we had managed to find the last place…..or so we thought – for the next 8 hours boats kept arriving. They crammed in, rafted 4 deep/ hanging off fishing boats. It is famed for its fresh fish for sale in the fish shacks that surround the harbour. Of all the delicious fresh fish that Mags bought, we won’t be buying salted fish again …. it was inedible. Unbelievable and annoyingly (as we had written some postcards) – there was no letter box in the whole town.

Peaceful anchorage

We had the luxury of time to wait for the wind in the right direction, which meant we have a lovely downwind sail all the way to the Island of Sejero. Next stop was due to be Ballen on Samsø– but that was rammed full – and so we anchored outside along with 37 other boats! But it was lovely to be at anchor again – no noisy neighbours – just peace and quiet. So, lovely in fact that we spent 2 days there.

The Cherry Queen

Leaving from an anchorage is blissfully simple and uncomplicated.  So we slipped away at 6am to benefit from the wind as it was due to die throughout the morning. Blue skies and wind made for a cracking sail to Kerteminde.

Unbeknownst to us, it was the beginning of the 3 day cherry festival, for which the area is famous. The town was in carnival mode with stalls, musicians and the Cherry Queen. Mags won some cherries, on the human fruit machine – 3 guys selecting fruit at random. As she is allergic to them (cherries not men) I benefited.

Human fruit machine

At night the Cherry Queen and an opera singer greeted canoes carrying flashing lights along the river, in a night time paddle. Quite magical.

The next few days saw me working, proofing reading the 3^rd edition of my book and Mags doing a sterling job cleaning and doing admin jobs ready for our friends! We met some new friends Sara and Thomas – and had tea and cake with them. A lady on a neighbouring boat next to us asked…. “are we alone” – Oh no I thought here we go again …. yes we said… her reply “that is so cool – I really really like that” ….yes finally a great reaction!