Summer 2011. Sailing back home 1. Ærøskøbing to Middelfart

Ærøskøbing was the most southern town we visited this summer. We are now sailing towards Orkney from Ærø island. 

Leaving Ærøskøbing

After sailing for 12 miles in light SE winds, we anchored at Lyø island for the night.The bay was very shallow and we had to anchor a long way from the shore.

Next day, continued sailing for 32 miles in SW winds , sometimes up to 20-25 kns. and anchored at Mosvig bay for the night. Next morning arrived in Middelfart Yachthavn where visitors moorings are very exposed, being at the enterance.

 

Couple days later, forecast was for strong NW winds, so we decided to move. The plan was to go to Strib, but once through Fanø sund we had a 3 kn current against us which made getting under the Middelfart bridge interesting. 

 

So, we went into the Gamel Havn just after the bridge. This was a pleasent change after the yacht harbours. A real harbour with lots of old wooden boats below the old part of the town.

Hanging gardens above Middelfart Gamel Havn

Summer 2011 12. ÆRØSKØBING

 

We had a week of summer with lots of sunshine in Ærøskøbing, and the beach huts looked lovely.

Old houses with decoration like icing sugar on cakes in Ærøskøbing.

A nice wooden boat sailing out of  Ærøskøbing harbour

Summer 2011 11. Kerteminde to Aeroskobing

July 26^th, we left Kerteminde early morning in a flat calm sea,  passed under Great Belt bridge and anchored in Thuro Bund in the evening after 34 miles of motoring.

July 27^th, recovered the anchor in the morning and started sailing towards south, passed through Svendborg Sund joining the line of yatchs in Hojestene lob, a narrow dredged channel through shallow sand and was passed by 2 large ferries. 

Svendborg harbour and an old wind mill in town

Svendborg Sund Bridge

Aeroskobing Ferry

We anchored south of Drejo harbour for the night. Enjoyed seeing some nice boats.

  

Arriving to Aeroskobing:

July 28^th , Recovered anchor at 8 am. and started  moving towards Aeroskobing marina which was only 4.5 miles away, so arrived in berth at 9:40. We decided to be there early as the berths fill up very quickly in Danish harbours. 

Swallow in Aeroskobing , on our mooring rope.

Summer 2011 10. Grenå to Kerteminde

Yacht approaching Grenå marina

Bad weather conditions, strong winds ( against us ), heavy rain and lots of motion at sea made us extend our stay in Grenå marina. We had some nice walks around the sandy beach and visited the town and museum, and enjoyed fresh fish in old harbour area, where we saw some nice old traditional boats.  Sean also had a chance to change the fuel filters,  and when the weather changed and we had some sunshine, I could do some painting in the cockpit.  

GrenaåYacht harbour

During our stay in Grenå , I had a haircut , which was a different experience,  having my hair dried under a wide hair dryer attachment  using only hair dresser’s fingers ( no comb or brush ) , and she called it ‘ sailor’s hair ’. End result was better when  I did some finishing touches later .

Traditional wooden boats at Grenå old Harbour

July 20^th, we left Grenå , sailing south in light winds for 33 miles, and  anchored  ENE of Ronnen island, in the NE corner of Begtrup Vig. Anchorages in Denmark are quite different to my experience in Scotland, being more exposed and crowded. But we also met lots of interesting boats.

Ebeltoft Ferry terminal and wind farm

Ebeltoft ferry

Sletterhag Lighthouse ( Ebeltoft vig and Begtrup vig.)

Spent a day at this anchorage with near gale warnings with 30mt. chain.

  

Next morning, left when the gale warning cancelled with forecast of decreasing winds, and started sailing south towards Little Belt. However,  rain increased with poor visibility and wind started to increase against us , so we changed our direction towards Store Belt, turned onto a run to head down east side of Fyn. 

July 22nd, 2011. Enjoying summer !

We ended up with a day and night sailing and arrived in Kerteminde in early hours of morning, on Saturday, july 23^rd , after 76 miles of sailing in strong winds. We first anchored at bathing beach , south of Kerteminde harbour  and after a short rest and sleep, entered Kerteminde old harbour and found out all berths were reserved for the weekend ( old wooden boats race would start that weekend from there ), so we entered the yatch harbour and found a place on hammerhead , just inside enterance.  Strong southerly winds stopped us again for a couple of days and we enjoyed seeing old wooden boats in Kerteminde.

Store Belt bridge from Kerteminde harbour enterance 

Traditional wooden boats in Kerteminde waiting for around the Fyn race.

Starting around the Fyn race

Old wind mill in Kerteminde

Kerteminde houses

Summer 2011 9. From Skagen to Grenå

From Skagen to Grenå : different sailing with 84 miles of shallow sea in Kattegat.

We left our berth in Skagen with the help of the owner of a Danish boat that was next to us and motored to the fuel berth for diesel and water. Getting out of the harbour proved difficult as first one, then another, large fishing boat appeared in the entrance. Eventually it was clear so we headed out, only to have the engine die right in the harbour mouth. 

We had a fair westerly wind, so unrolled the staysail, then the jib to get clear. Up with the main and on our way. Investigation while under way seemed to indicate a blocked filter as the pump leak appeared to be fixed. Changing fuel filters while sailing in a fresh wind is not much fun so we carried on. 

Laeso Rende lighthouse , marking a large shallow area with depths of 2.5 metres between Laeso and the mainland.

I feel more comfortable with night watches and even enjoy some views with interesting boats passing by , despite very busy shipping routes in narrow stretches . 

Here are some pictures taken at dawn :

 

We tacked in between two shallow banks to within a quarter of a mile of Grenå yacht harbour, easily identified by the forest of masts and the regular appearance of boats leaving in the early morning. The wind was blowing straight out of the narrow entrance making sailing in very difficult so the main anchor was unlashed, just in case, and the engine started. We got to about 50 metres from the starboard pier end when the engine stopped, so down went the anchor in 3 metres of water. A few of the boats leaving waved, some looked puzzled, and others just ignored us.

Grenå with forest of masts !

We used this break to rig fenders and lines for mooring, then recovered the anchor and made a second attempt with the engine.  This took us about 150 metres and around the end of the breakwater pier, then silence. Anchor down in even less water and dropped back on the chain until the stern was just clear of the breakwater rocks – not a nice place to be. Inci started the engine again, and Sean switched over the fuel feed to the small header tank used to bleed the system, then recovered the anchor. We made it between a pair of piles directly ahead and achieved our first Baltic box mooring without too much difficulty. This time we stopped the engine!