Now we are sitting here in Kiel with aching feet after being very cultural and walking around the museums of Kiel today the 28th August. But before we got here we have traveled through Denmark. After Grenaa we carried on to Ballen.

 We have had two really windy passages and the one from Grenaa to Ballen was one of them.  As the day wore on the wind increased so that when we arrived it was blowing about force 6.  We have, as we have mentioned earlier, thought a lot about safety and have rigged up lifelines on the boat. These we hook up to when we go up on deck. Even when we are in the cockpit we hook ourselves up. As we see it, it does not hurt anybody doing that.

It was nice to get in from the wind (SW). The sun was shining and Ballen seemed to be a very picturesque little village. I pictured in my mind that “tomorrow we are getting our bikes out, packing a picnic basket and finding a very nice spot to put our blanket down for a nice read.”  What happened? Well, I can tell you:  there was thunder, high winds and torrential rain! But we are not going to be disheartened by this, we thought as we put our rain clothes on and waited for the bus for Brondby. We were going to buy some spare oil for the engine as this could be a good thing to have. Well, we didn´t find any there…so we walked 2km in the torrential rain until we reached Tranebjer where we found oil! We caught the bus back and had to hang everything up to dry.

 We stayed in Ballen until the 22^nd August as there were gail force winds all the time. According to the forecast for the 22^nd there would be winds of force 5 and the winds would be NE.  Just right for us going down to Middelfart.

When we were at Grenaa we met a nice couple from the Netherlands who had been sailing the Danish waters for two months.  They gave us tips on different ports to visit and Middelfart was one of them. The wind was just right during this passage and we were enjoying ourselves tremendously.  It is a special feeling being propelled forward by the wind in the sails.

 The way into Middelfart Guest harbour goes around the town and under two bridges. The biggest one of these was the E20 motor way and we could see one lorry after the other on the bridge.  There was a humming and buzzing sound all the time.  It made us think about how we affect our earth with the pollution we create. Middelfart was a very nice town and had the best Guest harbour we had experienced with everything you could wish for.  It even had free internet connections! Here we did our washing and stocked up with food. Our bikes came in very handy here and also the baskets we bought in Grenaa.  On the 24^th August we hoisted our sails again and steered towards Sonderborg. Yet another great sailing experience.

The sun shone on the beautiful town of Sonderborg when we sailed passed on our way to the Guest harbour. I am pleased I took a photograph of the town!  When we had settled in the harbour we went out for a walk as we had been sitting still best part of the day. 

When we reached the centre of town we realized it was the town Festival that evening! Quite fantastic! Unfortunately we left the camera on board.  There were lots of different stands with people selling their wares and informing people about their different associations. Music and singing was heard everywhere and there were different performances by various groups.  I was pleased to see different Line Dance groups performing and to say that they were good is an understatement. We walked around for several hours before we went back to the boat.  Later in the evening we were sitting in the cockpit watching a fantastic fireworks display.

On the 26^th August we were on our way again. This time it was blowing a fair bit and after about an hour there was a gail warning on the VHF radio.  The forecast was force 5 but it was blowing about force 6-7.  The gail warning wasn´t exactly for our area, but it was really windy anyway. Luckily we had a NW wind which meant that we were on a broad reach all the way to Kiel. But we didn´t hang about! And the waves were big!

 Others were more unlucky.  We heard on the VHF about a sailor who´s mast had broken – but he got assistance fairly quickly. The inlet to Kiel meant a lot of traffic with ferries, cargo ships and smaller boats in all directions. We were keeping a sharp look out everywhere so that we wouldn´t collide with anybody.  Then we heard: “Mayday, mayday, mayday” on the VHF. It transpired that a man on an old fashioned sailing boat had had a heart attack. The Rescue boats were at his side in minutes, but unfortunately they were too late to help him.  We planned to stay a few days here in Kiel so we went to a Guest harbour near the centre of town.  Yesterday we “did” Karstadt, i.e. the shopping mall.  We had a nice lunch and a really good bear in Kieler Brauerei – does it look familiar? Mmmm…very nice! And today we have been cultural and visited different museums.  Tomorrow we intend to go to the Kiel Canal.

A little food for thought: