So this is the last stretch of our sailing journey this year. Next week we do a final hop in Germany to where we take the boat out and pick up the camper van. It has been a brilliant trip , but the weather is definitely turning now and it is time to get off the water. We would like to say a big thanks to all those who have continued to support us on our trip. It has been great to keep in touch with everyone and have had so many visitors.
Before we start on this blog, some of you may remember the bank robbery we helped the police with in May. Well luckily he pled guilty and we don’t have to go back for the court case. Even the guys advocate said ” This was really hopeless, if it was not so serious it would be comical” ” the fact he went to rob a bank wearing a high viz jacket says it all”. So let that be a lesson to all you budding criminals out their. That’s a no to the high viz jackets and the home made balaclavas!
Ystad to Skovshoved(Denmark), with a stop over in Skanor
This is the last stretch along the bottom coast of Sweden finishing in Denmark
Nice sunset before we left YstadAt a place called Skanor on the very southern tip of Sweden there is a small canal that acts as a cut through and takes 10 miles off the journey. The bridge at the top, where I took the photo from opens every couple of hours. Luckily we go the timing right and they do remove the string of buoys when the boats go through.Another nice sunset from SkanorYep – its The BridgeNo really – its THE BRIDGE ( we went over it a few days later and we all survived. No dead body’s and did not even see Saga !)Skoveshoved in Denmark and we had some very posh neighbours. Alas we had missed them racing the day before. Theses are classic 12 Meter yachts from the 1930s. They all have full time crew just keeping them ready to go.
This one was built in Bute (the Tartan wrap is the family tartan as the boat designer)Vanity V – for the eagle eyed you will remember we saw this Fyfe a few months ago. Funny that out of the 5 of these boats , 2 were built within a few miles of Feath’s home port.The marina had its own kayak polo pool. We have seen a few in Denmark, so guess it is a bigger thing here than elsewhere, (maybe if, on average you need to be in 2.5 clubs , you need to keep finding new sports?)Someone had a different idea for the Kayak poolAt the entrance to the marina was this petrol station, it even has it’s own Wiki page. “First opened in 1936, it was designed by Arne Jacobsen and is an example of the functionalist style typical of the time. It is Class A listed and was thoroughly restored in 2002.”Just south of the marina was this old WWI fort. Big guns!The best protected camp site in western Europe!We had a cracking day out on the bikes
This is an old hunting lodge in the middle of a massive park. The park was a dear and boar park for the royal family . They still use the building today. As far as I could tell , and from the photos, they still hunt in the park.Jenny with her trusty Brompton. Just after this an old boy on his Brompton came past and stopped for a chat, 5 mins later he was off for a test drive on one of the electric ones. He has 2 Bromptons. the one he as on was about 10 years old and he loved it ( not sure what he does with the new one)Some deer in the park
Dragor
Before the arrival of Geoff and Moira we decided to move south a bit. Moira had broken her wrist so we needed to find somewhere where she could get on and off the boat with ease. We had been told that Dragor was beautiful so we headed down to see if we could get a good berth (which we did).
Jen happy with the berthDragor is the last place in Denmark to still farm geese on the common grazing land. There were loads of them. I was tempted to lure one with stealth and cunning back to the boat for a spot of dinnerAnd another WWI fort. this time some enterprising person has converted the bunker to a hotel. We planned to go in later in the week , but alas it was closed when we came back.You will see the little mermaid in a bit, well, this is her BIG sister, far more impressive as you can see for fans of ‘Allo ‘Allo this is definitely the Madonna with the big…..This is the longest swimming pier in Denmark (forgotten exactly how long it is – sorry). it is so shallow here that even at the end of these peirs it is barely deep enough to swim.Jenny at another swim peer (little bit misty). I was watching a shoal of fish swimming forward and then drifting back with the current, how do they co-ordinate it so well?We went out for a bike ride and came across this lot . Guess it was the local riding club, taking talk like a pirate day to the extreme.Further down the coast we came across a bunch of kite surfersThere was a massive lagoon with a lot of bird life, and loads of twitchers with huge camera lenses!Took me a while to figure out what these were for. They had a number of them around. They are for Frisbee golf!More Kite Surfers
Dragor itself is a beautiful old fishing village. All of the houses are painted the same shade of yellow (it is a lime wash)It was all like this ( think you get the picture)View from the back of the boat in the eveningThe airport was only 2 miles away, but surprisingly little noise.
Copenhagen
We went in to see if it would be better to be in the city when Geoff and Moira arrived
The little mermaid (did you know she has had her head removed a number of times?). I preferred her big sister, he’s always liked bigger b……!A Twin Otter (Sorry, Nerd I know!)Norse Goddess Gefjon. Story is she had a deal that she would get all the land she could plough in a night so she turned her sons into Bulls to achieve the featQueen Mary – Copenhagen’s first statue of a black woman (2018!!!!)
A little further on we stumbled across the Queen of Denmark getting on her yacht. all a bit surreal as there were just a few people hanging around. I assumes the launch was for some admiral or someone . Anyway she gave us a nice wave as she went past ( we are like that, me and the queen you know!)
Nice fire hydrantsRush hour
The Cooks arrive
Geoff and Moira arrived for a week, it was great to see them both and we had a ball. Geoff being an Executive chef also meant that the cooking took a step up from my usual fair !
Dinner on the aft deck ( think this was the last time we could eat outside.During the week the place was empty, but come the weekend it was packed as you can see. They had divers down the following week taking up the mooring linesNight shot of Dragor harbourThe floating cod. We managed to purchase some fresh cod from the fishing boats (once even before he had actually tied up)Harbour in daylightThe obligatory (not so) open top bus tour around Copenhagen.There is a street food village in Copenhagen which was a must do having Geoff with us.Moira demonstrating her broken wrist at one of the food stopsThe ladies did a spot of cloths shopping and Geoff and I had a competition to see who could look the most bored. I think I have it in the bagSo this was a must photograph – the fabled Scandinavian open sandwich. Basically, make a sandwich, then take the lid off, then double the price. Job done.We did a wee trip to Helsingor, which is just north of Copenhagen. This is the castle upon which Hamlet is based. Old Yorick must have been a wee fella judging by the size of his head.A fish sculpture in the harbour of Helsingor made of wasteIt has a fantastic maritime museum. Sorry Moira, but I had to include it! It buttoned up the back so we were very tempted to just leave her wearing it!What are you trying to say?The Hamlet Castle (never saw anyone smoking cigars)and again
Copenhagen has the National aquarium called the Blue Planet (wonder where they got that name from). Well worth a visit.
This was the biggest tank ( you could walk through the tunnel ). They fed the sharks while we were there. Some poor girl had to row out in a rubbed dingy and drop a salmon on a bit of string in the water. There was a camera showing her on the surface getting pulled about and splashed by the sharks – all that was missing was the DaDum DaDum Dadum Dadum DadumYou can just see the bottom of the dinghy in these photos with the salmon hanging off the stern. In the lower photo, you can see one of the sharks with the salmon in it’s mouth, towing the dinghy.
I love the shadows the Hammerheads make.The fish out of bed knobs and broomsticks ( showing our age here)They will not bite , honest!Big CatfishLion FishThese guys were brilliant. Sea OttersJenny communing with the Rays
They have also just opened a butterfly house at the Botanic gardens. As Jenny pointed out, that would probably make it a caterpillar house. Luckily not the case.
Postman Butterfly, so called because it travels from flower to flower using the same route everyday just like a postman going from house to house.Geoff modelling the latest fashion in living brooches.
I think this Postman is challenging Andy to a fight!A Banded Longwing, apparently it taste horrid if you are a bird.Peleides Blue Morpho has a wing span of 130-150 mm. It’s iridescence scares off predators and it’s underside is equally impressive as the poor old chap below showed us.
The underside of a Mosaic which is far more impressive than the top side!Malachite, so named because it’s bright yellow green colour resembles the colour of the mineral.
Another brooch butterfly, real name Black CrackerSee through wings. Above is a Glasswing Butterfly and below is a Windowed Moth. The windows may serve as camouflage by imitating the holes in rotting leaves.
There were also racks of chrysalises or chrysalides (I’m sad enough to have checked and both are correct!) Andy asked the lady who was freeing the newly emerged butterflies why the chrysalides were gold… she said they didn’t have a clue, they just were. Not the best way of hiding I would not have thought ( unless highly poisonous, but did not think they came from Australia!)
One last Malachite, enjoying it’s lunch.
From Denmark to Rostock
At this time of year it is getting harder and harder to find a weather window for any exposed sailing. Battering along in a force 6 for a few hours is fine, but 8+ hours fighting the helm ceases to be fun. So, leaving Denmark and getting down to Germany, we just had to go for it when the opportunity came. That involved a 4am start and 75 miles.
Blurred photo but you get the gist. I was feeling a little blurred myselfme with my happy face (4 hours in, just after sunrise)Jenny’s happy face (she is so much better at this happy face stuff than me)A beer/wine with a side helping of steak and chips after being on the go for 16 hours The most German thing i could find on the menueWe were actually moored at a place called Warnemunde which is like a little coastal holiday resort outside Rostock. It is very pretty and worth a visist if you ever find yourself in this area. More trawlers converted to selling bratwerst and chips than able to fishHas a nice beach (suspect the sea weed gets removed daily in the summer)JenI like what they have doe with the tiles around this old lifeboat. Does not show up so well in the pic but very effective.the floating chip shopsNice little townApparently Edvard Munch stayed here for a year (did not see anyone running around screaming)Beach Bingo. You get points for every time you see something not allowed happening on the beach. Think we scored about 10 points each, to be fair, the guy selling kites on the beach gave us a fair few. No shortage of dogs been walked. No idea what an FKK is but I bet we saw one couple doing itDespite all of the rule breaking going on – still a nice beachAs we were here for a few days we hired a car. First time on the road in 6 months and on the wrong side! I have to say , first Hyundai I have driven and was impressed. To be fair it had a go faster engine, 4WD and even a HUD. Went like a rocket, which it needs to on the autoban. If you can see a faint glimmer of a light behind you only pull out if you are doing over 90 mph or you will have a Porsche parked in your boot.Went to this rather whacky farmers marketSold all sorts of stuff. No idea what these are but they are native to Japan according to the signThe big thing was strawberry’s. Jam (been made as above), fresh strawberry’s, strawberry ice-cream, strawberry biscuits, strawberry bread, strawberry wine, strawberry cordial, strawberry chocolate….. you name it , they had it.Even a strawberry bearOK , not everything was strawberry. I thought these were some sort of black pudding, but they are actually smoked eel in a black bagYes …… Strawberry…..Had over 27 thousand tea pots. I guess you need a lot of tea to wash down all the strawberry’sAs is common with farmers markets throughout the world, they have an acre of sheds out the back containing ice sculptures carved by artists from all over the worldI liked this one, about 9 ft tallTook load of pics but they did not come out well with all the reflective surfaces. This one workedKids had been asked to design a sculptureJenny’s first day at Hogwarts enjoying some butter beer ( gluewein )You could sleep in the witches houseNot sure about the comfortNight shots of the marian we stayed at. It was a 5 star hotel complex. 25 euro a night so not bad.Another part of the marina. I did mean to try and capture one of the many cruise ships that went past at all times of day and night going in to the terminal just behind us, but when I remembered it was always pissing downRostock – no idea what the building was , but very niceone of the gate houses for the old wall.Part of the old city wall ( looked in far too good for an old city wall to me)Rostock is famouse for the churches that are still standing despite the war. This one was quite spectacular. This organ has over 5000 pipes. Don’t ask me where they are. We did hear it in action and I can believe there are 5000
This has to be one of the most over-the-top pulpits I have ever seen The carvings around it depict many scenes from the life of Jesus and more gold paint than I thought was possible.These embroideries were over 300 years old and in almost pristine condition. the one above was a banner for a wedding and the lower one is an alter cloth showing Mary in a rose garden surrounded by scenes from her life. The workmanship was impressive and, to think, it would all have been stitched by candle light!
Andy invested £2 in a book all about how the clock works so, prepare to be amazed………..So I will give you the very short version as the book runs to 30 Pages. Built in 1472 it has 2 faces. Above the top face is a door where six of the 12 apostles march out at mid day and receive a blessing from Christ. The top dial is 16 square meters. the clock face is a 24 hour clock, the outer ring is a Gothic ring twice inscribed with Roman Numerals, you read the time from the sun arm of the dial in day time and the star end during the night (but amounts to the same thing in my view). There is a ring of Astrological signs within which there is a ring of carvings for each month- eg January is a man dining, February is a man basking by the fire side etc. There is a small hand that covers these. Then in the centre there is a rotating disk showing the phases of the moon. Bored yet? Well on the arm there are another 2 disks. each are weighted. The one at the top during daytime is an astrological hourly clock and the one at the bottom is just another clock (clock within a clock) This bottom face is new as it starts in 2018 and goes to 2150 ( the old one was next to the clock ). The data on the 6 outer rings belong to the 365 days in the year ( such as months, days of the week, time of sunrise etc ) the 7 inner rings belong line by line to one of the years. On the outer rings there is no leap year (they just switch it off for the day!) Now the inner rings are the complex bit. They show the year within the sun cycle, the Roman interest number associated with the year, the length of time between Christmas and Shrovetide, the date of Easter, and the periodical golden digit….. Don’t ask… there is a page on that alone. Anyway the key thing is it is a hell of a peace of mathematical engineering from over 600 year ago. If you want to know more you can borrow the book!The beach was about 15km long and is a huge tourist attraction, I went for a blowy walk along it during one of the rare dry spells. The view back along to the marina.Another early start but not as ear;y as last time. we sailed off just as the sun was rising and had our own pilot boat to se us safely on our way! (or maybe they had a really big ship to meet?)
Another beautiful sunrise.A brilliant days sailing, Feath averaged over 6 knots over the 53 miles and made 9.5 knots on a few occasions. My favourite sort of sail day, just wish I could have had a few less layers on!
So, that’s it for sailing this year but, the adventure doesn’t stop here. The wonderful Anthony and Susan are driving our wee Bongo out to meet us and the next instalment will be from somewhere further South and, hopefully, a wee bit warmer.
Feath 
Fab-u-lous❣ xxx
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