Author Archives: samandmags97

Trauma onboard Carra

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Life on board Carra before guests arrive is always busy: cleaning, laundry and food shopping and generally getting our act together. By 9pm we were ready for bed and almost ready for Pip and Casey who were arriving the next day. All that remained was the food shopping and Mags planned to beetle off first thing in the morning to buy a week’s worth of rations.  The phone ran – it was Pip “we are here”. ”Where is here” I said. “In Svendborg” … “Oh shxt’ my astonished reply. I had got the wrong day….. I ran up to meet them at the bus stop. It was 21:30 and they were starving as they hadn’t eaten – now how to break it to Mags, who has a deep fear of undercatering …. I knew by the fact that we had eaten leftovers there was nothing on board…… except our emergency rations – for when you arrive in a harbour late and can’t be bothered to cook. 2 tins of ravioli. I could tell the depths of Mags’ trauma by the fact that she couldn’t bring herself to cook, a rather lose term for heating up the ravioli. This was communicated by “by the look” which roughly translated it as “you messed up, so you are cooking and serving up ravioli”.

The next day was relaxed affair in Svendborg, exploring the harbour in our dinghy, from which Casey swam from. The following day was a short hop to a beautiful fjord called Thuro – an anchorage that very much reminded us of some of the Swedish ones. Pip loves wildlife and we were hoping to see the sea eagle that we had seen on our last visit…. It was a no show. Dinner in the cockpit – all was good with the world.

The current runs up to 3 knots through the Svendborg sound – so leaving at 6:15am was imperative to catch the last of the favourable tide. We decided to let Pip and Casey sleep in – and of course we saw heron and a pod of dolphins on the way out…. though I am not sure that Pip believed us.

We arrived in the beautiful harbour of Æroskøbing, where we would meet Liz off the ferry. We moored next to the swimming beach which was soon used, before a wander around the intimate cobbled streets with the beautiful coloured houses. Windy weather was a good reason to do some more exploring the next day. The crystal clear waters, the sandy beach lined with coloured beach huts coupled with hot sunny weather made for a great swim well that is until Mags decided to play football with a lion jelly fish, which then stung her.

The next drama was Liz proving that flip flops, wet feet and a 10cm tall curb aren’t a great combination. She went over on her ankle….. she heard the snap and being an A&E super nurse knew exactly what she had done…. Poor Liz.

A BBQ followed and an great evening of hilarious conversations, enlightening song tracks and Liz doing a model impersonation with her single roller. Our party was then joined by a massive grain ship bearing down on us stopping metres from our boat. Thankfully we were downwind of it – otherwise we would have disappeared behind clouds of dust from the grain.

We sailed up to Lyø and were thankful that we could get alongside (there is only one space) as that meant Liz could get off. The idyllic village of Lyø is about a mile away. How could we get Liz there….. on a bike – with me pushing her up the hill. A restorative beer and Liz made it back to the boat just as the rain filled ominous clouds built. There were then some impressive down draughts of wind just prior to the thunderstorm – the deluge came. An eerie light with the setting sun and the rain – it was quite beautiful. A still calm followed as the wind and rain died and a full rainbow shone out. Next thing Casey leapt in for a swim. Only to emerge to find a chap from a Tallship playing his accordion.  Which prompted Mags and Casey to dance…. was it a jive, polka or freestyle – no one could quite tell but it was hilarious.

A peaceful sail back, we tied up in Svendborg  – the guitar came out and the cockpit choir was formed – with some very dubious singing.

Foot note  On returning home Liz found, as she suspected, a fractured ankle. She was amazing – what she manged with a broken foot on a boat and on land and never complaining even though it was clearly painful – only grumbling when you had to persuade her to ice it….. yes nurses do make the worst patients….

Guest Blog by our very able crew….Jo and Liz

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We were very excited to be joining Sam and Mags on Carra for a week. This would be the first time we have sailed in Denmark. We had caught a late flight to Copenhagen on the Monday evening. Naturally, the flight was delayed so we didn’t get to our hotel until 01.30am so we slept soundly overlooking the very pretty canal side area of Nyhavn in central Copenhagen. As ex boat owners ourselves, we knew that Sam and Mags could give us either a place or a date to meet up but not both so we expected to catch a train to wherever they had managed to moor up. It was a very straightforward journey via a couple of buses and a train to Kerteminde.

Sam was waiting for us as we got off the bus and we were soon on the lovely Carra. Dinner on board followed by an early night. We left the next morning to make our way south to Nyborg. It was a great sail and we were soon moored up in the old harbour. We went for a stroll into the town andfound an ice cream parlour that made their own waffle cone. Delicious. Friends of Sam and Mags were also moored up there so they popped over for pre dinner drinks. Just before we were about to eat a training yacht turned up and decided to raft off us. They hadn’t bothered to ask and added insult to injury by trampling across the front of the boat with their shoes on in their desperate search for food. Neither Sam nor Mags were best pleased with their behaviour.

Luckily, they had left early the next morning before us as we had a 5 hour part motor/ part sail to a very pretty anchorage just outside Svendborg. The wind direction forecast was completely wrong but we still managed a sail.  Safely anchored up, we spent the afternoon chilling before a delicious BBQ.

By now we were getting accustomed to life on board – don’t mess with Mags when she’s in the galley and let Sam tweak the sails whilst underway! We were learning to be able crew but very alert to ensuring we did things their way.

On Friday, we left our peaceful anchorage early to make our way to Faaborg. We managed to sail some of the way but we were keen to get into the harbour before the predicted storm arrived. We had made good time and were just coming along side when the harbour master requested we moved forward. No problem except the heavens opened and didn’t stop for the next three hours! However, we couldn’t really complain as this was the only real rain the whole trip. Once it had stopped, Liz and Sam had a wander around the town and found some interesting sculptures!

 

We finally managed to convince Sam and Mags to let us treat them to a meal and found a lovely local restaurant (Restaurant Heimdal) run by two gay guys. Jo had the pork casserole whilst the others had the “shooting star” open sandwich with delicious fresh fish. We also ordered three glasses of wine but they thought we meant three bottles! Luckily, this was soon rectified. Back to the boat to watch the Opening Ceremony of the Paris Olympics. It was ambitious and wonderfully bonkers but they should all be applauded given the dreadful weather!

Another short hop the next morning to the island of Lyø where Sam had found us a gorgeous spot to anchor in. The dinghy was inflated and an expedition party set of for the nearby hamlet of Bådsted.

That meant Jo could have a quiet couple of hours without disturbance. Up early again the following morning as we wanted to get a space in the old harbour of Æroskobing. It was very windy so we had a cracking downwind sail and were tied up by 10.30 before the harbour filled up.

Some yachts were more in control than others but luckily no damage done despite one couple’s determined efforts! The town is a very pretty one with art shops, restaurants, cafes and old houses. The piece de resistance was the row of colourful beach huts on the spit about ½ mile from the harbour. A late lunch at the harbourside fish stall filled us up nicely.

Our last full day was an upwind sail to Svendborg where we will catch the bus and then train to the airport on Tuesday. Wonderful sailing conditions again. Svendborg is obviously a very popular harbour in high season. We arrived before midday so we were able to go alongside but within a couple of hours, boats were rafted three deep. The old harbour nearby was full of old wooden sailing ships, testament to Svendborg’s shipbuilding history. The day was finished off with fish and chips from the fish stall on the quay. Perfect ending to the holiday.

We have never been so glad the battery ran out!

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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 3rd 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!

 

We manage to insult the Danish Nation

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Ven

We finally cast off our lines from Copenhagen, passing the harbour that I had first sailed to, at the age 17 with the Ocean Youth Club. Leaving the harbour past some key sights: the magnificent opera house with the Royal Palace opposite, the Little Mermaid – an unusually solitary figure given the tourists were still in bed.  We had to wait briefly to leave the harbour, as a massive cruise ship was docking. As we settled into our passage, Mags thankfully pointed out that we were heading back to Malmo and completely in the wrong direction… a bit embarrassing! A quick course correction and a 14nm passage to the island of Ven, motoring all the way due to a lack of wind, only the ever-present cargo ships keeping us on our toes. Ven was Swedish – so a quick change of courtesy flag was needed. Our initial place in the harbour was just by the entrance. But it was clear the swell caused by the cargo ships passing the island, would make it bouncy and unpleasant. When a boat left from a prime spot, we were quick to move, worth redoing the lines for a bit of piece of quiet. We went for a walk round a little bit of the island – but when the sky turned an ominous dark grey, our planned walk was abandoned and our pace quickened. Just arriving before the heavens opened.

Next was the port of Råå on the Swedish mainland. The harbour is built round a river, and if you are lucky you can stay in a permanent berth holders box mooring, if it is free. We were lucky, one was free and better still it was beautifully sheltered, from the expected windy weather overnight.. Råå was a much-needed admin stop, the laundry was free and a 20 min cycle through a lovely nature park to replace our Swedish gas bottle. We managed to leave the Pele sailing clothes shop financially unscathed….. it was not the sale time and no one in the right sense, would buy the clothes at full price.

Castle is top right!

Our next destination was home of Hamlet’s castle –Helsingør, all of 6 miles away – another taxing trip! Though the castle which normally dominates the landscape, could hardly be seen through gloom, it was very dreek, as the Scots would say. The 2 knots of current flowing pass the entrance, made for an interesting entry. All that training entering Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight, paying off. We arrived and I wanted to moor facing the expected windy weather, which mean parking

Helsingsør Castle

 in reverse, always interesting in a boat that really doesn’t like going backwards in a straight line. We got her in and sprung her in against the cross wind (a boating technique that looks impressive if you have never seen it before). The next door boat watched our manoeuvre, and congratulated us on it….. then added the killer line…. “Are you alone?” “yes” we said, “what, there is no one else on board with you?” The fact he was sailing single handed himself, on the same sized boat as us, made it worse. He didn’t see an issue with a single man managing but surprised that 2 women could.….. so, no the Pride flag didn’t make a blind bit of difference!

Since Malmo, we have been hopping backwards and forwards across Oresund (the sound – made famous from the Nordic Noir The Bridge). Back in Denmark it was a whole day before I realised, we were still flying the Swedish courtesy flag …opps … a big insult.

Alas poor Yorick …

We walked around the outside of the Hamlet’s Castle. Mags has the ability to remember endless Hamlet quotes, which in fairness to her, she patiently let me video them. The old buildings of the city, were ornate as might be expected of a former Royal City, and we followed a self-guided walking tour, which also paid homage to it’s ship building past, with street murals and the old dry dock converted into a maritime museum. It had a cool indoor street food market in an old shipyard warehouse – which served every type of cuisine and sofa and tables to lounge around…. We treated ourselves to Fish and Chips.

The Vikings do Glasto

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The vikings had radar!

We spent a week in Copenhagen – partly because we loved it but we were hiding from some windy weather. As the 45 knots of wind whistled high above the buildings, they afforded us fantastic shelter and we bobbed about as if we were in a flat calm.

For our final day, we ventured outside Copenhagen – to Roskilde – centre of the Danish Viking world. We were surprised to find the train to Roskilde on a Sunday was packed – standing room only. Many of them were carrying rucksacks with tents attached, we didn’t think they were intent in getting in touch with their Viking roots, and were too old to be going to a scout convention. Then the realisation dawned on us… that most were wearing wellies….. a quick google search revealed we were on our way to the Danish equivalent of Glastonbury. All tickets sold out months ago.

The Viking centre was fascinating, the 5 Viking longships on display, were raised from the seabed, as they had been sunk to block navigable waterways, as a part of the defence of the area. There was a boat yard that still builds working longships, with traditional tools and methods. The harbour was full of Lonships, one of which had sailed all the way to Dublin and back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Roskilde was the former capital of Denmark, and at its heart, an impressive Cathedral which dates back to the 12th Century. Though the simple lines seemed to be in contrast with the ornate sarcophaguses of all the former Kings and Queens of Denmark that lie in numerous chapels within.

One of the most moving, was the last King, who was a navy man, who is buried outside the Cathedral in the ground. He wanted to be buried in the soil, with a view of the sea. A simple garden surrounds his grave stone.

 

 

 

 

“There are only Gays on that Boat”

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After a great visit to the UK, both enjoyable and a relief – our friend Ali’s 60th Birthday weekend was the former and seeing my mother, and that she still knows who we are, the latter. Back onboard, we headed off to Copenhagen, well that was the plan, except our path crossed the entrance of a small fortified Danish island Flakfortet and it looked enticing. So, we dropped the sails, did a handbrake turn and were soon tied up. Built to defend Copenhagen, the harbour was a former barracks, built into the hillside, with gun batteries on top. The island was surrounded by a large stone wall, creating the harbour. It was very bijoux; a tour of the island only took 20 mins. But as it was right at the entrance to Copenhagen, and perfectly placed to arrive early before others.

Result – we got the top spot in the old Nyhavn, right in the heart of the city, multicoloured old buildings lining the harbour. It was a tourist magnet but delightful early morning before they were around, in the evening, live jazz wafted over the water.

Copenhagen is such a cool city – very bike friendly and we cycled everywhere on the separate network of cycle paths, the city is full of Danish innovation in the thoughtful design of buildings and the spaces between and what they can mean for society. The student accommodation made of containers an  example of the innovation.

Favourite spots we visited were: the Danish Design Museum, the Architecture Centre, the street food market at Reffen and the parks to name just a few.

Reffen Street market

Some friends Carolyn and Karen, were visiting Copenhagen, it was great to have them on board for tea and cinnamon buns. Which turned into the evening with chilli. It was lovely to hear about their camper van adventures in Norway.

We had decided to fly a small Pride flag from our spreaders, for many reasons, but also maybe it would stop the “where is your husband comments?” Within an hour of hoisting it, a 5 or 6 year-old and her father were passing the boat. The little girl recognised the flag, and announced to her father in a loud voice “there are only Gays on that boat” – the father was embarrassed and immediate crossed the road away from us. Not only did we find his action hysterical but how wonderful that matter of fact way that young children treat homosexuality now, compare to when I was growing up. 

Danish Democracy and Saggy Balls

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Leaving Nexo, we rounded the southern tip of Bornholm, with its sandy beaches, glistening in the early morning light but sadly accompanied by the plonk plonk of the engine. Tying up in Hasle, completed our circumnavigation of Bornholm. We opted to a wait day, so that we could sail to Sweden rather than motor – giving us a spare day. So that we had time to visit the People’s Assembly (Folkemødet), along with 60,000 people (1% of the population). Every year, in a tiny village of Allinge, a remarkable part of Danish democracy takes place – where they discuss matters important to Danish society – aiming to understand each other’s view point. The discussions took place in marquees and on many boats crammed into the harbour. The harbour, that we thought was small, when we went there in 2015, now had Tall Ships and boats crammed into every available space. 4000 young people were actively engaged in the debate. There was one workshop, which was in English, so we decided to go – to discover it was a youth workshop, we felt a little old! Politicians were there to listen, learn and answer questions from all. There was no shouting, it was a true dialogue – an inspirational event – we could learn much in the UK.

Our decision to delay, was well rewarded, with a cracking 11hr sail back to Sweden, safely crossing/ dodging the ships on the busy shipping channel. A cheese toasty for lunch, hit the spot

– a perfect moral boast. Our toasty press, being one of the more useful, spur of the moment purchases at a boat show. Originally, we were headed back to Ystad but with the wind dying, altering course to sail closer the wind, enabled us to sail for longer. Landfall being the small harbour of Gis Lovs. The other benefit, meant that we had to motor less the next day, a relief, as it was hot and windless. To cut off the bottom left-hand corner of Sweden, we planned to take a short cut through a canal with a bridge that only opened every 2 hours. We had to carefully time our approach, as the long thin canal didn’t leave much room for circling with others waiting for the bridge. Once through, we moored for the night, before heading to Malmo, where we would be leaving the boat for a week, whilst we returned to the UK.

Malmo was a cool city – and our marina was right in the heart of it.  It was perfect to leave the boat, totally sheltered. Though the harbour master did

warn us to put out as many fenders as possible, as we had one side exposed to the guest places. We had 2 deflated fenders that needed inflating. Who knew that different fenders had different adaptors to inflate them…. and we didn’t have them….. after hours of trying to get air into them, we were thankful for the saggy balls that we had created. Better than nothing!

 

A new top 5 entry in our favourite harbour list

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Ronne, the capital of the Danish Island Bornholm, was lovely but full of tourists and the marina was rather soulless. Coupled with a long walk to the loo, which was more than my menopausal bladder could cope with first thing in the morning, so we decided to move.  We hopped an hour up the coast to Hasle – an old traditional harbour with stone walls, and a few old sailing ships – a proper harbour. The island is famous for its’ smokeries, many of the houses having a tall chimney, so a visit to get some fish was essential.  On our return, we wandered through the town, via a few craft shops – it is home to the Danish Royal Academy of Glass and Ceramics. It might be an expensive trip…

Christiansø’s footbridge

With some windy weather expected, we were keen to be on the other side of the island, as it would be in the lee. But that would allow just enough time to sneak a quick visit to Christiansø. This has been on my list of harbours I want to go to, as we had missed it, when bringing the boat over from the UK. The islands are 12 miles off the coast of Bornholm, but as it is very exposed, you can only go in calm conditions. The harbour, is created by the gap been 2 parallel small islands, which are link by a foot bridge. We arrived just in time for the weekly tour in English. Which was enlightening, albeit rather gruesome, due to the manner in which it had come into existence, as a habitable island. It was a penal colony to settle any score you had with anyone male. It would appear that you could write to the King and demand that a son/husband/brother/enemy who had upset you, could be incarcerated, provided the king agreed with your reason. The poor unfortunate man, was then sentenced to back breaking work extracting granite. For which, you would pay the Danish King. They created miles and miles of the most perfectly formed walls and beautiful houses – at an unimaginable human cost. You can’t ignore it’s past but you can appreciate a remarkable island – a real jewel in the Baltic, a nature reserve, full of nesting birds – and the buildings in immaculate condition, care of the 96 inhabitants, who are employed by the Minster of Defence. It makes it into our top 5 harbours ever visited.

Post Boat Jenga

With the windy weather due, we beetled back to Bornholm and to the picturesque harbour of Gudhjem. A tiny stone harbour, which was soon full – everyone was just settled, when the harbourmaster came down to move all the boats around, and play a spot of boat Jenga. Basically cramming as many boats into as small a spot as possible, such that no one could leave without reversing the process. Thankfully we were on the outside – but not that anyone was going anywhere for a few days.

We took the bus to Swaneke – home of glass blowing and the most fabulous ice-cream shop. Mags spent the day shamelessly rearranging shop displays for my Pride video…. all in the cause of art. On the way back we visited a round church with the most unique round interior

A card had taken our fancy, a montage of Bornholm scenes, in water colours. A quick google and we discovered the artist, Jane Hamilton (a Geordie in Denmark) was living on a boat in Nexo. On arriving, we gave her a call – she popped up on the next boat to ours. We asked if she had any more original watercolours. But she said that unfortunately she wasn’t painting at the moment but that we would be welcome to look at her sketch book, which was full of doodles, sketches and fab little watercolours – we bought 3, when she came over for a cup of tea and a natter. This added to the vase and the 3 other pictures… yes it was an expensive visit!

Sam is attracted to an old Fossil

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After a frustrating motor to Klintholm – a great little harbour with a cool vibe: part boho, part holiday village and a commercial harbour. My father who had sailed here during his national service, would have only recognised the commercial harbour. Close by are the cliffs of Mons Klint – 70 million year old chalk cliffs raising 120m above sea level. We climbed down to the beach, to see the bright dramatic white cliffs – the shore line regularly reveals fossils. The water is the most incredible topaz colour, due to the chalk lying beneath the waves. Mags’ favourite occupation is collecting stones on beaches – regularly coming back with pocketfuls. So telling her there were fossils too, well that was the starting gun – head down she was in collecting mode. After a while, she had amassed quite a few fossil shaped stones and took them to the expert, who helped people identify what they have found and would give approval to remove them – sadly she had just a collection of stones. I wasn’t fossil collecting but trying to film my next Spielberg…. mind on angles, light, action … then one stone just said look at me….. so I picked it up…. A 70 million year old giant oyster….

The 15 min climb down to the beach, was now was a daunting climb up 489 vertical steps back up to the top, in the heat,  we were really relieved that the cycle back to the boat was all downhill. But we still felt that ice cream was a just reward. That evening there was a beautiful sunset – the sun appeared to turn the colour of molten metal, as it sank.

My father sailing past Mons Klint

Me sailing past 68 years later

The next day, we had an early start, sailing close to the base of the cliffs before setting our course for Sweden, and a cracking sail 9 hour sail to Ystad – made perfect by the cheese and tomato toasty Mags made. Ystad, as well as being home of Wallander, is popular location for boats heading to the Swedish East Coast. Leaving at 6am, we joined a flotilla of boats heading round the Swedish coast to the next port. It felt like a race to put out your beach towels on the sun loungers  (no prizes for guessing the nationality). The wind was light and from behind us. So not only was it a race – we were one of the few boats trying to sail and we could only eek out 3.5 knots. It was a race that we were going to lose. So instead, we decided to go closer to the wind and change our destination – which meant we had a great sail, at 6 knots and no one else was heading to Bornholm. It was a win win!

We seem to have forgotten to pack the husband (again)!

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The drive out was uneventfully and thankfully much shorter, as we only had to drive to Denmark, as opposed to Sweden. Putting the boat back in the water, was a relaxed affair and my only mishap was whilst stepping onto the boat. I had a foot either side of the guard rail (think 8mm horizontal wire) and my foot slipped off the boat and by some innate self-perseveration, I went for 3 points of contact to save myself – though the choice of face, pinky finger and top of my inner groin was not my wisest idea and if I had landed 1 inch to the right, it would have, at best resulted in a bikini wax and worse, a period of abstinence! Thankfully, it resulted in only bruises to both body and ego.

Each year, I need to remember the knitting of wires, halyards, sheets and reefing lines to put the boat back together, after the mast is put back on – thankfully only 3 mistakes this year – the worst of which was setting up the reefs incorrectly, though in my defence it was done at 11:15pm in the pitch black. Thinking I was benefiting from the lack of wind, but it had to be redone later, when I could see!

Leaving Augustenborg, we sailed a short distance to Sønderborg– the scene of much mischief, when I was in the Army in Germany – to think I used to get paid to sail. Waiting out a miserably wet day, we really try to avoid sailing in the rain, Mags was chatting to a British chap who was talking to her, from the quay side. He asked her  if “hubby was down below”. His  Danish wife looked mortified by his comment. But we needed to come up with a better response, other than steam pouring out of our nostrils. We decided Mags could say “my wife is the Skipper” and if I was asked, could say “my wife is the Engineer”. Little did we know it would be put to use a few hours later, when Mags was approached by some American Jehovah  witnesses…. (who were trying to give out The Book of Mormon in Spanish in Denmark – go figure) – her riposte was remarkably effective at ending their recruitment pitch!

Luckily, the next day was beautiful sunshine and for most the way a fair wind, so we barrelled our along  to the town of Bagenkop. Although a purpose built holiday village, it had a charming harbour.  After a few days, of admin, boat maintenance trying to find a leak, which was baffling as it had water, oil and fuel in it. The oil and fuel culprits were tracked down, and solved leaving just the water which we think is the stern gland.

The alarm at  3am was a bit grim, on our day of departure but we were rewarded with a beautiful sunrise. Though as it sun rose  – the wind died. Followed by a frustrating motorsail to Gedser, a convenient harbour, in lovely rural surroundings,  with a town, which was a ferry port and was devoid of any personality – a bit like Holyhead!

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