Denmark 1

Bagenkop Yacht Haven, Langeland

Jeremy on King Humble's grave

Jeremy's jet

 Did you know that there are over 400 Danish islands? It was a surprise to me and highlighted my ignorance as regards Danish geography.

Submarine at Langeland Fort

Being seasoned world travellers, we arrived at Bagenkop on the island of Langeland with no Danish kroner. Unfortunately, the nearest ATM was 10 kilometres away and with no money to hire bikes or pay the bus fare, we thought we were in for a long walk. Fortunately, the local supermarket was willing to change 100 euros into kroner, so we were able to buy food. We caught the bus to Humble and found the ATM. We had two hours to wait for the return bus and agreed that the return bus fare of 120kr (12 pounds) was quite a lot to pay for a visit to an ATM. We made use of the time by visiting King Humble’s grave, an impressive 22m long barrow said to be the burial place of a king from 3000BC, which was in the middle of a field.

Anyone for lunch!

Torpedo loaded

Minesweeper

We decided to visit Langeland Fort the next day and perhaps a carriage museum. We woke to heavy rain and strong winds. Later in the day the weather improved so we set off walking. Half way there we had to put on waterproof trousers as another blustery shower pelted us. The fort was amazing. It was a museum on the site of a Cold War installation. We were allowed to go down bunkers, raise and lower big guns and see how shells were transported on lifts. There were many displays, some untouched like the remains of fighter planes in a field and others in purpose built areas or hangars. The most interesting was a submarine, which had been in service until 2002. We wandered through the cramped space full of dials and levers leading to 8 torpedo tubes. Other fascinating exhibits included a minesweeper, a Russian single seater MIG and a Danish fighter plane with delta wings and lots of bombs, rockets and guns. We spent 5 hours wandering round the extensive site in the wind and rain. We must have looked worn out because the man on duty at the gift shop gave us cups of hot chocolate for free and a kind couple offered us a lift back to the harbour in their car.

Bombs away!

We didn’t make it to the carriage museum and left Bakenkop the next day for Aeroskobing on the island of Aero. The wind was still strong but it was only a short trip across a channel and we enjoyed the short, boisterous sail. We didn’t enjoy the wind rising to gale force as we crossed sandbanks in a narrow channel. Jeremy reefed the mainsail in record time. We anchored outside the harbour and used our dinghy to go ashore and land at some old steps in the harbour wall. At 5pm, Aeroskobing was almost deserted as we wandered round cobbled streets lined with pretty thatched cottages. On the other side of the harbour we found a Netto supermarket. Prices were very similar to the UK.

Wow! They really work.

Our main purpose for sailing to Denmark was to visit our friend, Robert and his wife, Lene and their two teenage boys, Julian and Patrick. Jeremy and Robert had been school friends 50 years ago and had not seen each other for 7 years. Robert was keen to sail with us and we arranged to meet at Middlefart on the island of Fyn. We motorsailed up the Lillebelt and anchored in a bay opposite Middlefart off the island of Feno. The next day (15^th June) we met Robert and Lene. It was Constitution Day, a public holiday in Denmark. The sun was shining and we all had lunch on board Sal Darago. Lene left us and Robert, Jeremy and I had a mixed passage to Julesminde, Sandvjerg Vig. At first it was hot and sunny. We motored. We sailed. Robert steered under one of the bridges across the Sound. Soon we had wind over current, choppy conditions and 21 knots of wind. It was much easier having three of us to manage the lines in our “box” at the yacht haven. Most marinas in Denmark cost about 150kr (15 pounds a night) and usually include hot showers. In the UK it often costs twice this amount. We enjoyed sharing the pork casserole Robert had made. He even brought the rice to go with it.

Robert and Jeremy

Robert at the helm

We had some excellent sailing the next day as we headed for the island of Samso. Jeremy took Robert down below to explain about NECO and show him how the instruments worked. Sadly, this made Robert feel seasick and later we had to pass him the bucket. Meanwhile, Sal Darago was creaming along at almost top speed of 7 knots. Robert took the helm and soon began to feel better. We used our electronic navigation system called MaxSea to help us navigate the tricky channel into Langor Harbour on Samso. We anchored in a sheltered bay outside the harbour. The wind blew hard in the night but all was well on SalDarago.

Old friends