From Grenaa to Kiel |
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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. |
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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 22nd
August as there were gail force winds all the time.
According to the forecast for the 22nd there
would be winds of force 5 and the winds would be NE.
Just right for us going down to Middelfart. |
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Sorry! No pictures. |
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 24th
August we hoisted our sails again and steered towards
Sonderborg. Yet another great sailing experience. |
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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.
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On the 26th 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.
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A little food for thought: |
What
do you do when you are sitting in a boat for several hours when you
are on your way? Well, you think. About all sorts of things. As for
instance: How fast do toe nails grow? What! Is it time to cut them
again? Did we do it that often when we were living on land? Other
things stirring around in your head: About 75% of the boats we have
met have had a crew of three men. Why is that? I haven´t read “Three
men in a boat”, but now I feel that I really have to. Then there
have been topics like the meaning of life, etc. The one thing I
have established is that it seems to take a lot of time to wind down
after living at top speed before. But we are struggling on. Have a
nice day!
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