Mon 17th - Sat 22nd June - Korsør

The wind finally died down and we left Svendborg – and the jellyfish! – in a flat calm … there are so many jellyfish, they sometimes look like water lily pads from a distance and a thick soup from close up.  Apparently the transparent ones don’t sting, and people are so used to them appearing in their hundreds at certain times of year that children play with them in the water and throw them at each other – ugh!

This area is known as the Danish Riviera and it was certainly very attractive with some interesting-looking houses with private jetties …

Here’s another one …

The wind was virtually non-existent so we motored the whole way in sunshine …

… and tied up in a ‘box’ mooring in Korsør Marina.  This involves lassoing two wooden posts as you go into the space, then tying the bow to the jetty, so that all the boats are parallel to each other with the wooden posts behind them and you get off by clambering over the front (the pulpit) …

In most marinas in Holland and Denmark, they fly the flag of all the nationalities currently staying in the marina …

In fact, they’re very patriotic and keen on flag-flying here – many houses have their own flagpole and fly a Danish pennant …

When we went for a walk around the town on the first evening we found it completely deserted and it seemed quite dull.  However, we ended up being ‘stuck’ in Korsør for quite a few days due to very windy weather and another business trip to Italy.  So we had time to discover more of the attractions of the town, helped by some sunshine!

Nice little beaches and lovely clear water for swimming, with a view of the suspension bridge over the stretch of sea called the Storebaelt in the background.  It’s the third longest suspension bridge in the world and joins the islands of Fyn and Sjaelland ….

Walks along the coast, pretty wildflowers …

Attractive town centre, nice café where we had lunch, more Danish flags …

An art gallery in the historic Kongegården, or Great Hostelry …

… which displays local art and a collection of Harald Isenstein’s (a Danish/German artist) paintings and sculptures …

… and has afternoon concerts in its grounds.

This is the local cemetery, which looks more like a park or formal garden.  Each family seems to have a little square garden surrounded by clipped hedges with memorials within, but it really looked quite attractive, not at all gloomy …

Then we discovered what happens in the evenings – at least every Tuesday evening in the summer – there’s a free open air concert in the grounds of the historic fortress, which attracts people of all ages, from those on zimmer frames to babes in arms …

In fact, every man and his dog was there – literally!  This golden retriever really seemed to be enjoying the music …

It was actually a very pleasant way to spend the evening.  The music was good and easy to listen to, and everyone brought beer, wine and a picnic – and cleared it all away and took their rubbish home with them afterwards!  The only trouble was that it only lasted from 6.30 to 8.30 pm, so we still don’t know what the Danes do in the evenings.

It was a lovely sunny evening so it was warm enough to have supper under the bimini back on the boat …

and watch the sun go down over the town …

However, the next morning it looked like this!!  What a contrast!

It rained most of the day and was at least 10 degrees colder.  Later in the afternoon we had thunder and lightning and lost the wifi connection for several days – hence I’m a bit behind with the blog.  By the evening the winds had increased to gale force 8 and you could feel quite seasick even tied up in the marina.  You certainly get plenty of variety with Danish weather!

Wed 12th – Sat 15th June – Changeable Weather!

Sønderborg to Svendborg

The wind really hasn’t let up, despite being quite sunny sometimes, so we’ve been in Sønderborg for a few days and unable to move on …

But there’s plenty to catch up on – laundry (3 loads!), shopping (3 loads – carried back in rucksacks and on the fold-up bike!) and cleaning the boat inside and out!

I took the opportunity to visit Sønderborg Slot, a medieval fortress with walls 5 feet thick …

It has a lovely and beautifully restored 16^th century chapel …

It also gave us a chance to meet up with Rob Whittle, who lives in Sønderborg, and whose parents, Mike and Wendy, live in Bosham – it’s certainly a small world!  We had a pleasant chat and refreshments on board …

Eventually the wind died down and we had an evening stroll along the beach …

The sunset was quite spectacular and promised better weather for tomorrow – red sky at night ...!

We left Sønderborg the next day and had a pleasant sail down the Als Sund …

However, it became more and more blustery and rough, and we quite suddenly found ourselves in the middle of a thunderstorm with hail stones.  It was quite exciting and only a little scary!  People often say that it looks as though we’re having wonderful weather, but the fact is that grey, wet weather doesn’t make good photos!  Nor was it easy to take pictures while steering through the rough seas and dodging the lightning!  But this is an attempt at showing how wet we were …

Once the storm had gone through, better weather started to catch up with us …

… and the sun lit up the green countryside really brightly …

The wind was still force 6 or 7, and we had a rip-roaring sail with a reefed jib and no main, but still making 8 knots …

By the time we got to Svendborg, it had calmed down, the sun had come out, and everyone must have wondered why we were wearing full oilskins!

Svendborg is a pretty little town …

… with some attractive old buildings …

… but was completely deserted by 9pm on a Saturday night, as many small Danish towns seem to be!

Sun 9th – Tues 11th June – Copenhagen

I spent a couple of delightful days exploring Copenhagen, staying with Mike Kallaway and his daughter Alice, friends from Bosham …

… while Charles went on another business trip to Italy.

I walked all round Kastellet, a star-shaped fortification surrounded by a moat, which is still used as a military base today.  This is looking at one of the points of the star as I walked round …

These are the barracks inside with their original cobbled streets and typical Danish red buildings …

This is St Alban’s Church by the moat in Kastellet ...

... and here is the famous Little Mermaid on the sea front nearby.

Typical buildings in Copenhagen …

… and fancy, patterned brickwork …

The royal palace, Amalienborg, with the famous Marble Church in the background …

… and the Changing of the Guard.

The new Opera House …

… and then lunch overlooking Nyhavn …

… followed by a wander through Strøget, supposedly the world’s longest continuous pedestrianized shopping street … I did actually get tempted to buy some summery clothes, but of course it's turned grey and blustery since then!

Down to the Rådhus, or Town Hall …

… past the Tivoli Gardens – I’ll have to leave that for my next visit – to the Round Tower and Trinity Church, which had an impressive interior …

… and to the fairytale castle of Rosenslot, which contains the Danish Crown Jewels – not as impressive as ours, perhaps, but you can get a lot closer.

The next morning I went to the Hirschsprung 19^th Century Danish Art Collection, which was very interesting and I recognised quite a few of the paintings, even if I didn’t know many of the artists’ names.  This is by P. S. Krøyer …

… and this is 'Spring' by Harald Slott-Møller, for which he also designed the frame with small blue flowers to match those on the girl’s skirt …

Then it was back on the train to Sønderborg, which looked very pretty in a lovely soft evening light …

Fri 7th – Sat 8th June – We’ve arrived in the Baltic!

It’s lovely sunny weather, so we’re spending a day or two in the Als Sund and Augustenborg Fjord.

We passed the attractive town of Sønderborg …

… sailed up the Als Sund …

… and anchored in a little bay called Ketting Nor …

Caroline set off to explore in the dinghy …

… and took some nice photos of the boat – what is Charles thinking of … ?!  The sea was absolutely full of jelly-fish – it was like a thick soup – ugh!  He didn’t actually dive in!

Caroline and I went for a walk ashore …

… and enjoyed the wildflowers and lovely views of the fjord.

Later we motored up to Augustenborg, just to have a look at it – you can’t see the big, ugly disused grain silo in this picture!

… and anchored for the night in a small inlet called Sebbelev Noor which was flat calm.

However, by the next morning it was grey and windy … so we got the anchor up …

… and sailed back to Sønderborg.  Caroline and I went for a walk to the Dybbøl Windmill …

… around the redoubts and fortifications of 19^th century Danish-German wars …

… along the coast path – a lovely walk in warm sunshine and blue skies with fabulous views …

… and back to Sønderborg …

… where we treated ourselves to an icecream, which came with a very sweet, soft meringue topping available in lots of flavours – I had passion fruit – which covers the entire cone like molten lava.  Apparently it’s called ‘guf’ and no icecream is complete without it in Denmark!

We then left the boat in Lystbådehavn Marina for several days, while Charles went off to meetings in Italy, Caroline returned to UK and I went to Copenhagen.