Fram's Voyages
28 April
Roam was launched on a cold and windy April 28th. We thought we wouldn't make it because the spring has been so cold that Dan hasn't been able to paint or work on the hull to widen the depth sound hole for the new Garmin GPS/depth sounder. But in the last 2 days before launch he got it done, even had time to paint anti-fouling on the keel. We were forced to use the small crane truck. Not happy, but it went all right; a lot of creaking protest from Roam's hull. The engine was very slow to start, sort of like last season's starter motor problems but she eventually kicked in. Once Roam was in her slip we cleaned and waxed her and made her shiny pretty.
7 May
Mast went up
17 May
Maiden voyage
Beautiful day. Sailed out in light easterly winds. All sails went up, all working fine. Motor still slow to start.
18 May
New Garmin up and running, has lots of colors and a bigger touch screen. Dan doesn't like changes but he is quickly adjusting to this one.
19 May
Skanör - Stege DK
Winds S-SE 4m/s
Sunny
Distance: 40
Time to destination: 8 hours
Harbor fee: 130 DKK
We left rather late; 11 or so. It was sunny but the wind died completely at 15.00 so motored to the channel leading to Stege. We were circumnavigating a big bay that is extremely shallow, so followed channel markers that wove a very twisty path. It took almost 2 hours to get through the channel to Stege. Stege harbor has 2 basins; we chose the south basin as there were fewer boats there. Took a walk and looked at the town. Stege is the capital of the island of Møn just off the Danish Zeeland east coast. It's a relatively large island made up of farmland and the high lime cliffs that look much like those in Dover England. Due to herring fishing, Stege was one of Denmark's wealthiest towns during the middle ages but when the herring went elsewhere, Stege dipped and became a small provincial outback. Today, it's main income is from tourism. It has very charming winding cobble stone streets and old houses. You can still see the moat around the center of town though it's all covered in green grass and flowers and one of the watch towers is still standing; in fact it is now in the middle of the road so they've had to move the road so cars can go past. Pedestrians can walk through it.
20 May
Stege DK - Skanör
Winds S-SE 4m/s
Sunny and warm
Distance: 40
Time to destination: 9 hours
Much warmer today. We got up early to go to the local bakery and get Danish pastries for breakfast. Took a walk past the summer houses down by the water and came back through the village, there was already a long line outside the bakery. So we got our place and slowly inched forward. Once we got our treats, we went back to Roam, threw off the docklines and headed out into the channel to retrace our steps. This we did quite simply by pushing the backtrack button on the Garmin. How simple can it get? We ate breakfast underway. Tasted delish. 2½ hrs later we could raise our sails and enjoy a calm lovely sail home.
9 June
Skanör - Dragør DK
Crew: Olivia and James
Winds E-SE 4 m/s
Distance: 12.6 NM
Time to destination: 3 hrs 36 minutes
Harbor Fee: 155 DKK
Olivia and James were very excited for their first destination sail. We chose Dragør because of the wind and because it's relatively close. Didn't want them to get bored. Even so, James thought we should turn around after an hour and go home to his Mommy. We managed to distract him by teaching he and Olivia to tie knots on the fenders. After that James fell fast asleep down below while Olivia and I went for a swim off the back of the boat. It was very brave of her, she only dared a half dip first but then tried it again and this time went in down to her neck holding fiercely onto the ladder. Once we were docked at Dragør, we took a walk to the village, another lovely old Danish village that used to be the ferry station for ferries going to and from Malmö in Sweden before the bridge was built. We bought ice cream cones and watched kids fishing for crabs. After dinner we took a night walk up on the fortress battlements. Varga loves this kind of terrain, she races all over up and down looking for rabbits.
10 June
Dragør - Skanör
Crew: Olivia and James
Winds NE-SE 0-2 m/s
Distance: 13 NM
Time to destination: 4 hours
Cloudy and some raindrops but nothing that lasted. Sun came out and we tried to sail but wind died. Olivia learned how to steer with the tiller. More lessons in knots by Captain Dan/Grandpa. It was a lovely day, though could have used a bit more wind. Olivia and James were very proud of themselves and had lots of stories to tell their parents.
30 June
Skanör - Møns Klinthavn DK
Winds SW-S 4-6m/s
Distance: 38 NM
Time to Destination: 8 hrs 35 minutes
Harbor Fee: 130 DKK
The engine started up immediately today! Relief!! It was a sunny gorgeous day, sailing was lazy and light until it completely died and we had to motor. Got in quite late so just took a walk, and then had dinner. We did go to the new bar in the harbor though for an Irish coffee. We always like to help the local business people but not sure we'll go here again. It was the worst irish coffee we ever had. Nice ambiance though...
1 July
Møns Klinthavn - Skanör
Winds NE-SE 7m/s
Distance: 39.7
Time to destination: 8 hrs 48 minutes
We got an early start and motored past the steel fishing nets on long wooden poles sticking up out of the water. We are used to them now, but when we first saw them we thought they looked terrifying. Once we got past the high lime cliffs on the southeast corner we set course and raised our sails. Nice sailing until we past Falsterborev lighthouse, then we needed a reef to sail more comfortably. At 13.30 the wind died completely. Ugh! Now we had to contend with the waves kicked up by the 7m/s wind with no where to go. So pulled down the sails and started the engine. No sooner had we done this than the wind came up from the SE with a vengeance; 10-12 m/s. It was crazy. We rolled out the Genoa and sailed on that the rest of the way back to Skanör.
10 July
Skanör - Dragør
Winds NE 0-3 m/s
Distance: 12.3 NM
Time to Destination: 2 hrs 35 min
Crewlist: Caroline, Olivia, James
Harbor Fee: 155DKK
We dithered for a long time whether to go or not. Weather was very iffy, big black clouds all about, but not much wind so decided it was now or never as Caroline and kids have to go back to Brazil on Friday. So we stocked the boat with blankets, pillows, James' matchbox cars, Olivia's "mobile phone" which is a card box filled with chalk, several little girl bathing suits, and some shells. Oh, and also food and drinks;) We had some sprinkles of rain a few times on the way over but nothing serious. Olivia helped with steering and docking. James slept and missed tea-time, for which he was very angry with us until his Mom bought him a smoothie. We only sailed for the first hour, then wind died and we had to motor. Dragør was easy as always to get into. We were in the south basin as the north basin is always so crowded. Took a walk in to the old town and marveled at the cute cottages, all painted light yellow, thatched roofs, and cobblestone streets. Dan and I bought some micro brewery beer called Amager Pale Ale. Caroline and Dan bought old mortar molds, made of wood. Dan is excited to use his as a condiment holder in the kitchen at home. Back at Roam we had cocktails and dinner. Caroline and Dan took off to the nearest bar to watch the Belgium/France game on TV. I stayed with the children and told stories.
11 July
Dragør - Skanör
Winds NE-SE 0-5 m/s
Distance: 13.9 NM
Time to Destination: 4 hours
Crewlist: Caroline Olivia James
Nice sunny day. Took a morning swim then went to the bakery and bought fresh bread and pastries. Breakfast of yoghurt/fruit/musli, fresh rolls and juice/coffee. Winds looked to be turning to SE by noon so we got everything ready and left our slip at 09.15. Good NE winds about 5 M/s. Kids had never experienced a boat tipping before, so there was much talk about that and James didn't like sitting on the low side. I told him I understood exactly what he meant. After an hour, the wind totally died. We waited and waited. We got bored and went swimming off the back of the boat. I tied a line off the stern cleat and Olivia jumped to it from the swimming platform. After a while the wind came back and we had the most wonderful sail to Skanör. Hotdogs for lunch underway. Everyone helped clean and tidy the boat.
18 July
Skanör - Ystad
Winds - W then NW 0-5 m/s
Distance: 44.5 NM
Time to destination: 9 hrs 45 minutes
harbor Fee: 200 SEK including electricty
Overcast day but very warm. Winds from West at 3-4 m/s when we left the dock. We sailed southwards along Falsterbo's beaches giving a wide berth to Måkläppen's sand bars. Eventually turned eastward with the winds behind us. We rigged a butterfly rig with genua on one side and main on the other. Dan ties down the main boom so it can't gybe and uses a spinnaker pole on the genua to keep it filled with air. It works brilliantly when the wind is from behind. We had a nice lunch of ham/salami wraps as we sat reading our books and watching the coastline of southern Sweden. Nelson did the steering, giving us the ability to do other things. Dan got out his brush/mop and cleaned the decks from all the spider ka-ka that collects when at the dock in Skanör. Our part of Sweden has a hideous amount of spiders. They are everywhere, in every pocket, nook and cranny you can imagine. Big ones, small ones. I have always had a phobia about spiders but over the years living in Falsterbo I have had to deal with it in order to keep from going stark raving mad. Now I just swish them away when they get too close to me or in my way. But believe it or not, they leave a very big mess behind them. And their poop is next to impossible to get off the surface of the fiberglass. Needless to say, Dan was very pleased with his job and once again our topsides are shiny and white again; at least for now.
At 15.00 the wind totally died so we took down the genua, left the main up but sheeted in and turned on the motor. I made tea and our favorite cookies when sailing; English digestives with peanut butter.
After an hour the wind came up from NW so we could sail again. This is the best kind of sailing; good wind of about 5-6 m/s and wind coming off land so no waves. We breezed along at 5-6 knots and reached Ystad at 19.00. No slips available but we found a place right near the fuel dock and since we need to refuel, we thought it was perfect. Rain came and stayed most of the evening.
19 July 2018
Ystad - Simrishamn
Winds W NW 5-7 m/s
Distance: 28.2 NM
Time to destination: 6 hours
Harbor Fee: 220 SEK not including Electricity
After an overcast morning, the afternoon shaped up beautifully. We left the dock after filling up on diesel fuel (48 liters for 818 SEK) and headed out the main entrance looking behind us the whole time because it is also the entrance/exit for the big ferries going to Bornholm and Germany/Poland. They are big and they move very fast so we didn't waste any time getting out of there. We motored out of the shipping lane and set our sails in same fashion as yesterday; butterfly. The winds were perfect; enough to move us along at over 5 knots, no tipping, no jostling or rolling, just smooth sailing. We had our Swedish Fika of coffee and cinnamon cake while underway. The sun was shining and i lathered myself with sunscreen so I could enjoy it without getting burned. Dan, as per usual, used olive oil for maximum exposure. Varga found a soft safe spot in the cockpit out of the sun, the only sensible one among us, it seems.
When we rounded Sandhammaren the wind had shifted to WNW and we changed our course slightly to the north. The genua was moved over to the same side as the main and we were on a reach as we sailed towards Simrishamn. Simrishamn is a big harbor that used be quite busy with merchant sailors. Now it's mostly fishing boats and pleasure boats like us. Most Swedish harbors have a system of marking slips either red (not available) or green (available) easily visible for passing sailboats to see. This makes it very easy for visitors like us to find a place to dock. But for it to work, the holders of the slips (members of the yacht club) need to move their red marker over to green when they leave on their holiday sailing trips which we are finding alot of people don't do. So when we came into Simrishamn today, we passed at least 20 empty slips that were empty, but marked red. Eventually we found a spot on the end of a dock that no one owns but Dan is determined to get to the bottom of this. So he duly took a photo of a whole row of empty berths that he will check tomorrow; take another photo and send it to the harbourmaster of Simrishamn asking WTF.
We got ourselves settled and then walked into the village. It was lovely, old townhouses in stone, each with a different color, gossip mirriors on most windows and roses everywhere. A very quaint old village. The church is from the 1100s and is called St Nicolai. The church boasts 2 statues of angels by the artist Carl Mille, a well-known Swedish sculpter. The residents of the cemetery are mostly fishermen and their families. It's 22.30 as I write this and the sun has just gone down leaving a red glow. The wind has died completely. We will see what tomorrow brings.
20 July
Simrishamn - Karlskrona
Winds NW 8-12 m/s shifting to SW 10-12 m/s
Distance 62.6 NM
Time to destination: 11 hours
Harbor Fee: 225 SEK all inclusive
We got up early as had a lot of miles to cover to reach Karlskrona and wanted to get in early so we could go out on the town. Karlskrona is Sweden's Naval Base and has lots of military museums, maritime museums etc. The weather was sunny but NW winds made it a bit chilly at the start of the day. We hoisted sails immediately and set our course for the closest entrance to Karlskrona, 50 NM away. There are over 1000 islands in the Karlskrona archipelago so you have to pick your spot to enter and weave around rocks awash, underwater military obstacles and such. The sailing was brilliant, though a bit rough, not easy like yesterday. No one wanted to go below so we didn't eat much. At 14.00 the wind died down to 3-4 m/s and then half an hour later came up from the SW and equally strong, which was not forecast. We thought we would be motoring inbetween all the islands with lots of time to see the sights. Instead we were reefed to nr 2 reef and screaming along at 7 knots. When we arrived at our entry point into the islands, Dan saw that there was a bridge in our way. WHAT???? Never saw that on the Garmin, so got out our paper charts and lo and behold a bridge that is only 4 meters high. Our mast stands 14 meters high. So quick change of plans and headed back out to sea to sail to the east entrance instead. This was about 12 NM longer. We had to navigate past several cardinal markers to avoid rocks underwater and then entered the shipping lane into the harbor area. We entered on just our genua and had a nice breezy sail in to the harbor, sailing past the fortress Godnatt which is a round fat low tower standing on a rock in the middle of the harbor entrance. It is from 1640 and looking strong! The harbor here is lovely with saunas, showers and clean tidy docks. We only had time for a short walk around the old military academy but found a place where we can rent bikes so will see tomorrow.
21 July
We chose to stay an extra day here in Karlskrona. The weather continues to be sunny and hot; 28C, unusual for Sweden. After breakfast while still sitting in the cockpit, friends from Skanör; Kenneth and Vidiya Pettersson arrived on their Allegro 33. After helping them dock and shooting the breeze, they invited us over for happy hour in the evening.
Dan and I went to the Maritime Museum. Free entrance and they have done an amazing job with it. It was very interesting and the exhibits include the HMS Neptun, a Swedish battery-driven submarine of about 50 meters long. There were little video clips of life on board, safety measures that were taken for the sailors and paraphernalia. One could also go onboard and have a look. It was fascinating. Such small spaces! Dan felt closterphobic, I thought it would be really fun to run the galley. The rest of the museum showed life on board the old ships from the 16-1700s. How they lived, how they ate, what their jobs were, all on scaled models. The last room was all glassed in right near the water and had figureheads taken from various Swedish ships through the ages. They were beautiful.
Karlskrona has an active naval base and there are tunnels under the city with enough room for about 6000 people. The navy used it during WWII to keep their operations up and running in case of any interference from Germany. Beyond that, it is just a very pretty city, well kept with lots of parks and nice walks.
In the afternoon Dan went for a run while I did some grocery shopping with Varga. Felt very stressed about leaving her tied up outside the store. Dan says I’m foolish, but I think people think she’s so cute, that someone will steal her. I raced through the store, forgot half of what I had on my list and got back out to her as fast as I could. She was sitting there being admired by a bunch of middle-aged ladies.
22 July
Karlskrona - Tjärö, north side anchorage
Winds SSW 5 m/s
Distance: 22.5 NM
Time to destination: 4 hrs 38 min
Another beautiful sunny day with very light winds in the morning, We left the dock around 11, rounded Godnatt Kastell and set our sails for the bridge that we avoided 2 days before. We were making good time and figured we could be there at 12.00 when it opens, but then the wind slackened and suddenly we would miss the bridge opening by 15 minutes, so we took in the sails and motored over there. Got there just in time, passed through and then set our sails again and sailed the rest of the way to Tjärö. Apparently a lot of boats had the same destination on their plotters because we were a whole slew of boats sailing into the same bay. Dan and I got discouraged by the crowds so motored over to the other side of the island where there were hardly any boats and dropped our anchor. Went for a swim and than sat in the cockpit reading our books and watching the antics of a sailing camp nearby. At cocktail time we took our beer, some nuts and a dram of rum and rowed over to the closest land which was a rock cliff with benches up on top where we sat and looked out on Roam and enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere. Varga got to run around on the rocks which she loves; she is a little mountain goat. Back on Roam we had a lovely dinner of beef tenderloin, sautéed onions and mushrooms and béarnaise salad with a glass of pinot noir. The wind died completely by 20.00 and we had a very peaceful night.
23 July
We like this place so much we decided to stay another day/night. Took a morning swim, dried in the sun on deck and then had breakfast. Dan took Varga to shore to stretch her legs and do her business. The clouds came in around mid-day giving us some needed shade from the sun. Dan has rigged up a canopy cover to give us shade as well. Today is a day to read books and eat good food. Dan might go running. I’m nursing my knee which is much better today.
24 July
Tjärö Anchorage - Gudhjem Bornholm Denmark
Winds SW 5-6 m/s
Distance: 62.7NM
Time to Destination: 12hrs 45 min
Sunny and hot, we hoisted our sails, lifted anchor and were gently pushed out of the bay on a NW breeze. We drifted along the coast towards the west until the wind shifted to SW and pushed us out to sea. We continued on a course of 160-175 degrees which took us to Bornholm's east side to a place called Gudhjem (God's Home). The sailing was good the whole way; we got a bit stymied when we passed through the shipping lane which was quite broad and runs north of Bornholm; eastwards up to the north Baltic and westwards to the Kiel canal or up between Sweden and Denmark to the North Sea. Typically, just as we entered it, the traffic increased until there were ships coming and going in both directions. We had to change course for one of the last ones by coming about and sailing westwards for a while. It was sunny and hot all day. We would love to have taken a dip but the swells were too big for any pleasure. The sun set just 45 minutes before we got to Gudhjem. It was another red sun so good weather tomorrow too. The harbor is tiny and boats were crammed in every which way. I have no idea how they will untangle themselves tomorrow morning. We had a full moon and with the lights from the restaurants on the quay we could see pretty well. We chose to stay in the outer basin rafted onto a bigger Danish sailboat. They had fenders out so figure they were expecting company. I took Varga for a quick pee-pee walk; we met a very tall thin man who looked like a viking, walking what looked like a wolf. He (the wolf) was very interested in Varga but she was a scaredy pants and wanted nothing to do with him. We paid the harbour fee and went back to Roam for a rum nightcap and listened to a singer that was performing at the café across from us. Saw the most amazing view of the full moon right above the town's church steeple. Looked like a disney picture.
25 July
Gudhjem
Sunny and hot again today. We found the cutest bakery called Café Rosa on the quayside and bought our morning bread and pastries. It was a tiny cottage with tree stumps for seats and odd teacups decorating every window. Everthing was homemade right there on the premises. We spent our breakfast in the cockpit watching all the boats in the inner basin scramble to get out of their moorings. It was very entertaining and quite amazing how they all manage to get by each other and out to the freedom of the sea. The boat we were rafted onto, A 50-foot Danish ketch with steel hull, left at 10.00 so we got our engine going and were planning on taking his spot on the quayside, but then a boat came out of the inner basin, leaving a spot just past the entrance which was perfect for us, so we slipped through the narrow entrance and took it. Once we were settled, we went for a walk in the village which is very pretty. The waters around Bornholm are so deep that when they wanted to build a harbor, they had to dynamite into the rock face instead of buiding long pier arms out into the sea. There are several restaurants and cafés on the waterfront and then the rest of the town climbs steeply up the hill. We had tuna salad for lunch with a little ezmé salad I made with my new food processor; it runs with a pullstring so no electricity, just my elbow grease. Worked out really well so now I have all kinds of plans for things to make with it. thinking of making hummus tonight though it will take a lot of pulling!
When Dan got back from his run which I could not join him in because my knee is swollen and hurting, we went for a swim. To get to the swimming place you climb over the breakwall onto very unfriendly granite rock formations. It's about 50 meters of stepping on and over the rock face very diligently so as not to trip and fall down into a fissure. Once out there you can jump into the deep water and swim. There is some algae on the water that looks kind of like pollen. Thick yucky bits of it collect in pools between the rocks as you walk out to the edge. We took Varga with us because she loves climbing over rocks and cliffs. She was racing everywhere ahead of us, happy as can be, when we heard a splash and looked down to see Varga 's head just coming up out of a cesspool of algae; she had jumped into it thinking it was solid ground. She came up all yellow and gasping for air. Dan picked her up by the scruff of her neck and hauled her out. After much spluttering and shaking off the thick water, she continued on with us out to the water's edge. We both jumped in and swam around while she stood whining on a rock. I think she was worried about us. There was a rope attached to a metal ring that we used to pull ourselves back up onto the rocks. I handed Varga down to Dan so she could swim and get herself cleaned up. We sat on the rocks and sun dried then came back to Roam for tea.
Dan took me to Gudhjem's Røgeri, a restaurant that smokes its own herring. We went for a beer and a herring sandwich. There was a musician playing guitar and singing all the songs we like. Dogs are welcome in outdoor restaurants in Denmark so Varga was sitting at our feet looking at another dog nearby. We sat up on the terrace looking out over the sea. It was lovely. Lots of people and the food looked fantastic. They had wooden rowboats filled with buffet food; primarily seafood of course and primarily smoked. The herring sandwich was delish and while we were eatiing we got to talking about night sails and how we haven't done one this year. We looked out over the sea, then looked at each other; why not go tonight? The weather was perfect; light winds from SE. Where could we go? Germany. So when we got back to Roam we looked at the charts and decided on Lohme which is near Sassnitz on a giant nature preserve. We ate dinner, readied the boat and took off at about 21.30.
26 July
Lohme
Winds ENE 0-3 m/s
Distance 72.1 NM
Time to destination: 17 hours
We had a very slow crossing, but very comfortable. The sunset was beautiful, blazing red. We watched Gudhjem disappear and Allinge's town lights appear on the coast as we moved north around the tip of Bornholm. Dan took the first watch from 23.00-02.00. Then I took the next watch from 02.00-05.00. We had to cross a shipping lane but it wasn't very busy, mostly saw ships off in the distance. The AIS (Automatic Identification System) showed where the ships were, how fast they were moving and in what direction. That is a great help during the night. It got light at 03.30 and the sun rose around 04.30 to a beautifully clear morning. We weren't doing very good time but it was very relaxed and easy. We took a morning swim off the back of the boat and layed on deck. and drip dried. We finally took down the sails when we were doing less than 2 knots (our finger rule) and put on the engine for the last 2 hours to Lohme. We had a hard time finding it in the binoculars because it's so small and there are so many trees on the shoreline here. Once inside the breakwall, it's a very nice harbor with lots of slips. Only 5 or 6 boats were here when we got here so we had our pick of spots. My favorite direction is the stern facing east; that gives us sunshine in the cockpit in the morning so everything is dry from the dew by the time we have breakfast. We got here at 15.00 so Dan took Varga for a walk around the place. We are at the bottom of a very steep hill that leads up to a hotel and some restaurants. There is a beir stube down here by the harbor so we went there for a German bier. We asked if they had any snacks to go with the bier and got a firm NO! Why do Germans always have to sound so brusque?
27 July
Lohme Klinthavn, Møn Denmark
Winds NE 10-12 m/s
Distance: 47.65 NM
Time to Destination: 8 hrs 33 min
We got up at 08.00 slightly disgusted with ourselves because we had planned on getting an early start. Dan ran off to the harbor office to pick up the breakfast rolls we had ordered the night before and we had breakfast and discussed how we would get out of our slip with a strong wind hitting us broadside. In the end, a sailor on a neighboring sailboat came over and held our bow line as we backed out. We waited for a lull in the wind and then Dan gunned the engine and we backed out like a bat out of hell. I barely had time to lift off the starboard stern line as we flew past. We waved thanks to our helper and then brought in all the fenders, docking lines and got ready to sail. It was another gorgeous day and we could already feel that it would be a scorcher. Sails were hoisted as soon as we got out of the harbor and we set our course for Møn in Denmark. Møn is a beautiful island with lime cliffs reminiscent of Dover. It's part of the Copenhagen-Berlin bike path for cyclists.
We made good time with the wind in our starboard-aft quarter. We sailed past and left behind us the lime cliffs of Puttgarten, the northern most tip of the nature preserve Rügen. Out into the Baltic the waves grew very quickly. The Baltic sea has a reputation for unpleasant waves that build up quickly and are very steep and short(distance between waves) making for a very rough ride. We were lucky though, we were moving with the waves instead of across or against. Neither one of us wanted to go down to the galley to make lunch so we ate Swedish knäckebröd with tube cheese up in the cockpit. Varga had found a cozy place in the corner of the cockpit and slept the whole way. We arrived in Møn's Klinthavn at 17.00 after avoiding the steel fish nets that the Danes use. but took a while to find a slip. It was very crowded and mostly Germans, a couple Swedish boats and some Danish boats. We finally rafted up to a German boat chartered out of Kiel. A very nice family on a 2 week vacation in Danish waters.
We got things tidied up and settled then I took Varga on a walk to pay the harbor fee and take a shower. Spent a quiet evening on Roam listening to the whistling in the rigging from the wind.
28 July
Klinthavn, Island of Møn, Denmark
We took the day off today to wash Roam's deck, swim and read our books. Lots of boats seemed to be doing the same thing, there was very little movement all day but we did manage to move to an empty slip at around 10.00. It was a nice sunny day...again. About 28C. Our boat has been infested with spiders which come from Skanör harbor. For some reason spiders love it there and they cover all our boats with webs during the summer. We managed to get rid of most of them during our sail, but their poop remains and it is so difficult to get scrub away. So we got out the soap and water, buckets and brushes and spent 2 hours scrubbing. We were very gratified to see our shiny white topside when we were finished and treated ourselves to a well-deserved lunch of tuna salad and shandies. We chatted with our neighbors; to port a Swedish boat from Malmö and to starboard a German sailboat from Bremen, though the wife was Swedish. We played backgammon before dinner and then ate a great dinner in the cockpit watching the black clouds roll in. Could it be rain?? We haven't had rain in over 2 months. We took everything inside and around 21.00 the wind and the rain pelted down. It was lovely. I sent an SMS to Kimmie to tell her that rain was on the way. We enjoyed sitting inside reading and listening to the thunder and rain pattering on the deck above us.
29 July
Klinthavn - Skanör harbor
Winds SE 2-3 m/s
Distance: 38.6 NM
Time to destination: 9 hours
Everyone was up and scurrying to get ready to leave the harbor this morning. We said good-bye to our new friends and backed out of our slip, rolled out the genua and sailed eastwards. When we looked back threre was a steady stream of sailboats leaving the harbor and hoisting their sails. Some followed us, some went south. We headed for one of our favorite places; Rødvig which is just 20 miles up the Danish coast. But half way there, our very pregnant Kimmie sent a text showing on the map where all her people were while she was sitting all by herself at home, so we got the message and veered northeast towards Skanör. The wind was pathetic so it took a long time but we enjoyed taking swims off the back of the boat. We got home in time to meet Kimmie Oscar and Arvid for dinner.
Little Fritz Gerhard Dölling was born on 4 August.
Total distance for 2018: 813 NM