Logbook April/May 2019 Germany, Denmark, Sweden

Robert and myself came form Canada to Germany in order to visit Robert’s family and to relax.

After some troubles with the booked tickets and their validity we arrived in Germany on Sunday, April 21^st. What happened with the tickets? Of course they were paid for but the Airline WOW went bankrupt with no notice or email. What a shit!! But new tickets were purchased, arriving only two days later than originally planned.

I am using the website of Steffen to report about our stay in Germany and the countries we are going to visit by sailing. Me, Brianna will report the following days.

Logbook Day 1

Sunday, April 21^st2019

Arrival to Tegel Airport, Berlin.

Robert’s parents picked us up at the airport. We travelled on the German Highway than fast tracked to Gustow at the island of Rügen.

We had a nice dinner and then an Easter fire with Steffen, Moni, Frauke, Thimo and the kids.

Logbook Day 2

Monday, April 22^nd 2019

First day, we had time to relax in German territory and to spend time with the nephews and niece of Robert.

We had a super lunch of salmon that was caught by Robert’s father on the Baltic sea recently.

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Logbook Day 3

Tuesday, April 23^rd 2019

Gustow – Barhöft, 14 nm

In the morning, we had a super sleep in. Later, we had a German lentil soup, super supper!

Now preparation of the sailing tour. We have to store all of our belongings and a lot of other stuff on board of the Sailing Yacht “ALL RIGHT 2”. This all is done by 3pm. We are ready to leave the harbour, but its really stormy and we all afraid not able to manage this because of heavy easterly wind – 23Ktn – which is coming from board side to the yacht. But even the wind makes sometimes a break and we used this particular time window.  We left the harbour at 3:40 pm. Our target is to reach in the evening the marina of Barhöft. For this purpose we have to cross the so called “Ziegelgraben” Bridge in Stralsund. We arrived in front of the bridge quite early, since we left too early from Gustow. Anyway, the bridge opened on time at 5:20pm, and we crossed the bridge at 5:30pm. Behind the bridge, in front of Stralsund, we then set the front sail and fast sailing towards Barhöft.

On the way there was a sandstorm like in the desert, unbelievable for a Canadian. We arrived in Barhöft at 7:15pm. With a super maneuver by Roberts father, we docked and could have a so called “Anleger” or otherwise known as a Docker Drink. Super!

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Logbook Day 4

Wednesday, April 24^th 2019

Barhöft (D) – Klintholm/Møn (DK), 40 nm

While Robert’s father has used to purchase nice German bread and cake, we, Robert and myself, used the shower.

9:10am, we are ready after breakfast to leave the harbour. At 9:20am, we set the main sail and went along the South of the island Hiddensee. At around 10am we reached the end of the shipping lane, westerly of Hiddensee. We changed our course to 340° and set the front sail.

Unexpected, the waves were not as high as forecasted, only a half metre. We travelled quite fast, 6Ktn average. After one hour of sailing, we pulled out the full main sail and came to a speed of 7Ktn. The wind was permanently coming from the south-east from 12 to 17Ktn. Then, in the afternoon at 1pm, the waves came up to 2 metres and with the wave, our speed came up to >7Ktn.

Increasing the wind, we were obliged to reduce the main sail a little bit, but we kept the speed the same. We arrived at the island of Mon at 3:15pm, in the village of Klintholm. Super sailing, and we crossed the South of the Baltic sea in 5 hours.

We had our Docker Drink and took some time to explore the village. Beautiful beaches and a quiet atmosphere. We had a super flounder dinner that we greatly enjoyed. Chef Gordon Ramsay would surely give a wonderful review of the restaurant and meal. We returned back to the lady to have a drink, as usual.

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Logbook Day 5

Thursday, April 25^th 2019

Klintholm (DK) – Copenhagen (DK), 53nm

Wanting to leave by 9am, we got up early and prepared for our journey. We had left the quiet village of Klintholm on time and with no troubles. The wind was coming from the south at 8.3Ktn. At 9:45am, we set the main sail to try and catch some wind. It was a beautiful day with the sun shining and no clouds in the sky. However, at 11:15am the wind slowed down to 4Ktn and we took down the sail to use the motor for greater speed.

The weather was quite nice and it was growing warmer. We all took turns to relax and enjoy a nap throughout the day, having lunch and coffee in between. We saw large cargo ships in the shipping lanes as well as fields of windmills in the sea. Still no wind.

At 3pm, we tried again with the Genua sail but it was hopeless. Still no wind.

Around 6:20pm, we arrived directly in the city of Copenhagen, right on Nyhavn or “New Harbour”. I was amazed that we could dock so close to the bustling streets of Copenhagen. As usual, we had our Docker Drink whilst sitting on the boat and enjoying the sights and sounds of the downtown city. We had a delicious dinner and many laughs about the decadence of Copenhagaen’s demographics.

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Logbook Day 6

Friday, April 26^th 2019

Copenhagen (DK) – Helsingør (DK), 24nm

We woke early to catch the “Hop On Hop Off” boat and bus tour, starting with the boat tour. We had a wonderful captain named Annes who was very well-trained on the canals. We saw the ‘Little Mermaid’, ‘The Black Diamond’, and the spire with the four dragons. Afterwards, we walked to see the Queen of Denmark’s “Amalienboøg Palace.” Sadly, she was not home.

We walked a little further to Kongens Bastion with lovely fields and gardens. We then walked to see ‘The Little Mermaid’ up close and wait for our bus called “The Mermaid Tour.” Our first stop was the Rosenbørg Castle with gardens filled with flowers and hedges. We had just missed the Royal Guard, as they had left already for their march through the city. The bus came 20 minutes later and we hopped on to see more of the city.

We stopped for lunch. Moni had the famous Danish Smørebrod, and Steffen, Robert and myself had the equally as famous Danish hotdog with cucumbers, mustard and fried onions. It was not so special, but very tasty nonetheless.

Then we met Alex, the Philipinno-Danish bus driver. He took us on the “Carlsberg Tour”. We saw the Fredericksberg Garden and the Carlsberg brewery – which was closed – Alex said they were going to re-name the tour and change the route accordingly. We arrived back at the hub and hopped on the “Christiania Tour” – Alex was our tour guide again. We saw where the hippies live and the new Opera house. We concluded our tour with a 30minute walk home to the lady.

We prepared the boat to leave the harbour and say goodbye to Copenhagen. At 4:14pm we departed, raising the main sail. Again it was hopeless as there was no wind. Robert spotted a pig-whale, which was new for me. At 6:30pm, we are south of the island of Ven, heading 352° we passed the island. At 7:05pm, we raised both of the sails as there was finally some wind. 7:30pm, we pulled the sails in and prepared to dock – at least 25 minutes of sailing.

At 8:10pm we arrived in Helsingør of Denmark. We found a spot to dock fairly quickly and Steffen discovered that we had to turn the boat around. No rear-docking as there were rocks in shallow water and the rudder would have been ruined. Steffen docked forward instead. We sat down to have our Docker Drink, as usual, followed by a delicious spaghetti dinner made by Moni.

We were all quite tired and smelly. We showered quickly and went to bed shortly after.

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Logbook Day 7

Saturday, April 27^th 2019

Helsingør (DK) – Malmø (S), 30nm

Two beers or not two beers. That is what we pondered for breakfast. After sleeping in, we visited the castle of Hamlet or better known as “Kronbørg.” We learned a lot about the Danish crown and had to crouch many times while walking through the doorways, as it appears they were much shorter back then. Needless to say, Rob fit in quite well. We also went down into the catacombs, which was very creepy. Completely dark and cold, I would not want to be left alone down there.

We finished with the castle tour and went straight to the Mariner museum. Steffen got upset as the lady made him wait for our tickets, and we entered the museum from the wrong direction and had to walk back to the beginning. After all was said and done, I learned a lot about sailors, ships, and the Danish navy. Germany is at fault for all of Denmark’s sunken ships. I also achieved a top score in the trade simulation. I was quite proud.

We proceeded to go to a restaurant that was highly praised by Steffen, but was now under new management. Steffen was not afraid to tell the waitress so. The smøresbrod was quite good – although too small – but the fish and chips was not good. The restaurant is called Kai, we will not go there again.

After lunch, we returned back to the boat and prepared to leave the harbour. Departure was at 3:10pm, with a cloudy sky and still no wind. 3:20pm, we raised the main sail but drifted towards the town of Malmo, with the help of the motor and 2Ktn of current from the rear.

At 5pm, a flag was moving towards us with great speed. We figured it was a pig-whale caught in a fishing net. We avoided and set the course again towards Malmo. We arrived in Malmo at 7:30pm.

Rob and Moni stayed on the boat while Steffen and I made a tour around the main part of the city. We saw the main square where all the young people go to enjoy a drink with their friends, and we stopped for a beer. We also saw the castle just outside of the city, which had ghost-like figures projected and dancing through the windows. We returned back to the boat, Moni was already asleep and Rob was finishing his school-work. We went to bed shortly after, as it was a long day.

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Logbook Day 8

Sunday, April 28^th 2019

Malmø (S) – Kaseberga (S), 58nm

8:45am, we departed from Malmø. At 8:50am, we set both of the sails and headed towards the bridge connecting Malmo to Copenhagen. We crossed under the Oresund bridge and watched a pilot boat follow a large tanker, then watched as the pilot left the tanker. At 10:07am, the wind decreased and we changed the sails to a butterfly formation.

11:20am, we brought down the sails and waited for the bridge at Falsterbo channel to open. At noon we crossed the channel. 12:20pm, we finished crossing the channel and pulled out the sails again. At 12:45pm, we pulled in the foresail and turned on the engine in preparation for the ultra-lite sail or “fancy sail.”

At 6:30pm we pulled in the sails near Ystad, Sweden, and used the engine to go the remaining miles. At 8:30pm we arrived in Kaseberga. We had our Docker Drink and dinner on the boat, and an early evening. It was too dark and rainy to take a walk on the dock.

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Logbook Day 9

Monday, April 29th 2019

Kåseberga (S) – Ystad (S), 11nm

We started our day with Einstein’s breakfast, after sleeping in a bit. We had gorgeous sunshine and blue skies. We walked to the Viking burial ground, or “Swedish Stone Henge”, that was shaped as a ship and was used as a calendar, up on the hills of Kåseberga. We met ponies and cows and had a beautiful view of the Baltic sea. Moni led us down to the beach and we continued our walk along the rocks until we returned back to the dock. We made a quick stop for lunch before returning to the boat.

At noon, we left the harbour. There were still no clouds in the sky, but we had good wind up to 22Ktn. I sailed majority of the way to Ystad and Rob said I was going to get pulled over for speeding. We docked in Ystad at 1:40pm and had our Docker Drink.

Moni, Steffen and I decided to take a walk to the main part of the city while Rob stayed on the boat to finish his school-work. We first stopped at a store that Steffen likes to visit that has a lot of old sailing items. Steffen tried on a captain’s suit and was persuaded by the store-owner to purchase it, but it was a little too large. Nonetheless, Steffen looked like a true captain in this suit.

We walked through the tiny streets and admired the old buildings. We stopped for some groceries and to have a coffee and some cake. We returned shortly afterwards to the boat and relaxed while Rob had a short amount of work left to do. Once he had finished, we walked back into the city to have dinner. The brewery restaurant was closed as it was Monday, so we went to a different restaurant but had the most delicious asparagus and lamb. Everyone was quite happy and full.

We made a short tour down the shopping street and to the Monastery and its gardens. We returned back to the boat and had a drink before bed.

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Logbook Day 10

Tuesday, April 30^th 2019

Ystad (S) – Vitte/Hiddensee (D), 61nm

I slept in while everyone else prepared the boat to leave early. We left at 6:45am while I was fast asleep. At 8:45am we entered the shipping lane. At 9:25am, we raised the fancy sail and Steffen prepared the fishing rods to troll for salmon. At 10:20am, we pulled the sails down as there was only 2Ktn wind, completely useless. At 12:15pm, Steffen pulled in the fishing rods as there was no luck with salmon.

At 3:15pm, we woke up from our nap. At 4pm, we had coffee and cake while we trolled for salmon one more time just north of Rugen. At 4:15pm, we stopped trolling and went to ‘XY’ location. At 5:30pm, we were at ‘XY’ location to fish for cod and Steffen and Rob were successful. They had caught 3 fish. We started to head to land.

At 8:20pm, we docked in Vitte/Hiddensee and had to run to the restaurant “Godewind” before it closed at 8:45pm to ensure we could have dinner. We had a delicious dinner, and afterwards made a tour through the village and on the beach. We returned back to the boat to have an early night.

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Logbook Day 11

Wednesday, May 1^st 2019

Vitte/Hiddensee (D) – Gustow (D), 21nm

We left the dock at 10am and raised the main sail. We had good wind but it was a difficult course through the waterways of Rügen. We reduced the sail a bit as there was 27Ktn wind. We arrived in Stralsund at 1:20pm and docked to have lunch while we waited for the bridge to open.

3:20pm, the bridge opened and we passed through. At 4:20pm, we accidently touched ground but all was okay. At 4:30pm, we finally reached Gustow. Home sweet home. We made a total trip of 312nm, very impressive. Everyone at the dock was happy to see us, as Steffen knows everyone knows everyone in Gustow, and they could not believe that we had gone so far. It was a wonderful first sailing trip for me.

I have to mention that we ate the freshly caught cod fish that night for dinner, wonderfully prepared by Moni. It was delicious and even more so because we had caught the fish ourselves.

One week Germany, Denmark and Sweden and 320 nm Sailing trip ends!

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