Sweden and Denmark 4

It was a short trip across the Sound to Sweden in heavy rain. We tied up in a “box” at Raa Yacht Haven, which is very close to Helsingborg. There was a chandlery on site. Danish kroner were welcome, so a few purchases were made. 

Midsummer's Eve at Odden

Odden Harbour

The damp, cold weather persisted. We decided to try to reach Limfjord in Denmark, leave Sal Darago in a yacht haven and fly to Scotland for Dodo’s funeral. The westerly wind would not let us do that, so we ended up in Odden for Midsummer Eve or St Hans Day, as it is known in Denmark. It was our third choice of destination but proved to be a good one. The weather improved, I felt better and we found ourselves joining most of the local village on the beach, where a huge bonfire was lit. When the sun went down everyone clapped. Sometimes effigies of witches are burnt on the bonfires.

The bridge across Roskilde Fjord opens on the hour

We now had a date for Dodo’s funeral. Simon booked tickets for us on EasyJet. We’d fly from Copenhagen to Edinburgh. We decided to return to Zealand, after talking to fellow yachties. They recommended the harbour at Lynaes. Jeremy phoned the harbourmaster and made enquiries.  The next day, we sailed east with the genoa poled out and a brisk, following wind. We stayed at Lynaes and made arrangements for Sal Darago to be left there for 9 nights. We had a weekend free before we flew to Scotland and decided to go up the fjord and visit Roskilde, which was once the main town of the Vikings.

Preserved Viking ship

It took us an hour to anchor outside the yacht haven in the designated anchorage. Our anchor kept dragging in the soft mud and finally held on the fourth attempt. We had time to go ashore and wander round the outside section of the Viking Ship museum, where replicas of Viking ships had been built using traditional methods and materials.

Roskilde Cathedral

The following day, we went ashore and spent the morning in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Roskilde Cathedral, where 37 kings and queens of Denmark are interred in various chapels. The cathedral is unusual as it is constructed of brick in French Gothic/Romanesque style.  It was very light inside with much of it painted white, although some of the side chapels had decorated walls. It felt more like a mausoleum than a church, but it was impressive.

Ancient and modern altar

After lunch in a rib house, we visited the indoor part of the Viking Ship Museum. Here five original Viking ships, dating from1064ish, were recovered from the fjord and had been painstakingly pieced together. Our guide told us the ships had been deliberately sunk and used to form a barrier in a narrow part of the fjord, probably to protect the town from an invasion in Viking times. We’d had a dry day but the rain began as we left the museum and we had a wet dinghy ride back to Sal Darago.

St George kills the dragon every hour

The following week from 29^th June to 6^th July we were back in the UK. We stayed with Simon and Erin in Edinburgh, hired a car and drove to Mull for Dodo’s funeral. It was a moving service with many members of the Spencer family present, supported by friends and neighbours in Tobermory, Isle of Mull. Jeremy hurt his back during the week and could hardly move for the pain by the time we returned to Edinburgh.

Back on Sal Darago, after shoppping and doing a load of laundry, we motorsailed 25 miles back to Odden. The weather had been hot and sunny while we’d been away. Now that we were back gales were forecast and we remained in harbour for the next four days. This gave a little bit of time for Jeremy’s back to ease up and for us to finalise our plans to return home.

Clearly, there was little point in beating against the westerly winds to Limfjord. We would have to go south down Store Sound as soon as the weather was suitable and through the Kiel Canal.