Fram's Voyages

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4 August 2021

Helsingborg - Skanör North Beach

N55 25.346 E12 50.032

Distance Travelled - 41.2 NM

Time Travelled - 12 hours

Weather - Sunny and clear. 20C. Winds NW-NE 4 m/s

 

A beautiful day and a good sail. We left the harbor at 13.00. Winds were light so the going was slow but ever so comfortable. We sailed along the Danish coast. The wind died at 20.30 so we motored, this time at 12.500 reps and all good. As dark descended upon us, we saw more and more stars. One in particular bright star over Skanör that we thought might be a plane, but turned out to be Jupiter. Amazing. The big dipper was right overhead. Cassiopea on port, The milky way was bright and clear as if it was just a few km away. 

 

At 00.30 we approached Skanör beach slowly and carefully seeing some unfamiliar lights which turned out to be boats at anchor; 5 of them. We picked our way in, getting as close to shore as we could and dropped our anchor. It caught right away so shut down the engine and breathed out.

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3 August 2021

Mönster anchorage - Helsingborg

Distance Travelled - 83.2 NM

Time Travelled - 20 hours

Weather - Cloudy until midday then sun came out. 18C. Winds WSW 0-4 m/s

 

Cloudy morning. The sun came out later in the afternoon. We left at 06.00 raising our sails as soon as we got out of the bay. Winds were fickle and came and went. We finally got exasperated and rolled in the jib and started motoring. Can you believe it! The motor started overheating. Dan could not figure out how this was possible after all that was done in Marstal. As luck would have it, the wind came up just then so we shut down the motor and rolled out the jib again, set both sails and sailed on a nice course until about 16.00 when the wind totally died. Unfortunately, the waves didn’t go down as well. So we had big waves and no wind. Very bad combination as you just slam around bouncing off the waves. We started the engine and rode gingerly at 11.000 reps. We had 40 NM left to go with no wind in the offing. So there we were rocking and rolling doing 3 knots for 10 hours to Helsingborg. What a slog. You’re probably wondering what we do for 10 hours doing 3 knots. Well, mostly we hang on and try to keep our seats with all the rolling. We scan the skies and water looking for some sign of wind. We check our phones for weather when we have coverage; which we didn’t. So we compare notes of what we remember from the last time we checked the weather maps. “Didn’t PredictWind show 5 m/s after 16.00?”. “Nope, said no wind after 16.00, we’re fckd”. We chat, we have a cup of tea. We take turns keeping watch so that the one off watch can read. We listen to podcasts. We have another cup of tea. At 22.00 we finally put Kullen behind us and entered Öresund. We were very lucky here as the current was moving southwards with us. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have reached our destination till next day. Öresund is a very busy place with lots of boat traffic coming from 3 different directions. As one nears Helsingborg, it gets very narrow and there are buoys, cardinal markers, and ships everywhere. We go mostly by GPS plotter and use auto pilot to change course as it’s very difficult to steer just one sight alone. Land lights are everywhere, confusing the shipping lights that we need to see. We were very good sailors this time around; keeping just outside the shipping lane. Finally at 00.30 we motored in through the harbor entrance at Helsingborg. We took the first available slip and got tied up within 15 minutes. 

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2 August 2021

Fiskebäckskil - Mönster

N 57 21.616 E 11 59.608

Distance Travelled - 63.7 NM

Time Travelled - 13 hours

Weather - Sun, 18C. Winds N 4-8 m/s

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We left 05.00 and had coffee underway as we motored out of Gullmarsfjord, rounded Skaftö and into the inner coastal waterway south. We had following winds so had a lovely flat sail the whole way down the coast. We had been holed up for almost a week due to a gale that just wouldn’t blow out. Thunder storms were quite spectacular, especially when they could be enjoyed in the comfort and safely of a harbor. But today the water everywhere was hideously brown and cloudy due to the torrential rain that Bohuslän got over the past few days. 

We ran on the main only until the wind started to decrease; then rolled out the jib for a butterfly configuration. That means that the main is one one side and the jib on the otherside. Looks quite pretty but It’s always a bit stressful with this sail setup because you have to be very careful to keep the wind exactly behind so as not to send the spinnaker pole banging and flying about and the main boom flying. Dan puts a preventer on the main boom to keep it from jibing. And we did make better speed with it so it was all right.

We arrived at Mönster in Kungsbacka fjord and dropped anchor in a protected bay. It’s chillier and a bit darker at night now.

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28 July 2021

Viks Kile anchorage - Fiskebäckskil

Distance Travelled - 18.4 NM

Time Travelled - 4 hours

Weather - Overcast, sunny, 20C Wind SW 5 m/s

 

Today was the loveliest sailing day so far. We were traveling north with SW winds at 5 m/s, flat water and were able to sail the entire way up the intercoastal waterway protected from the swells at sea by a string of rocks and small islands. This is one of the most beautiful passages with narrow channels through small hamlets like Mollesund and Gullholmen. The skies were partly dark grey threatening rain and patches of sunshine. We got in to Lyckans Slip marina at about 12.00 but it was full, believe it or not. I’m not surprised, the sky was really threatening. We found a place on the end of the guest dock and approached the outer pontoon to tie up. Dan was having some kind of trouble with the bow thruster and couldn’t get quite close enough to the pontoon arm, so being the girl of action that I am, I took a wild leap of about a meter with the bow line in my hand, landed on the pontoon arm and as it dipped under my weight, as they do, I lost my balance and fell backwards into the water. I still had a grip on the bowline of course, and swam to the pontoon arm and tried to haul myself up. It was about 40 cm high and there was only one cleat to grab onto. I was wearing my foul weather jacket and a hoodie which got really heavy with water, and for my life, I couldn’t pull myself up. All my clothes were in the way.Dan was shouting instructions to me that I could hardly hear. I looked at the other boats docked there thinking “someone has to be watching this, can’t they help me??” But no one came so I moved up the arm and found a ladder that I could climb up onto the dock. We got everything worked out but it was a not very nice feeling to realise that one can’t rely on one’s strength to get out of the water. Now we’re here for the next 3 days due to weather. Thunder and lightning flashing everywhere and gale winds coming over the next 48 hours.

 

27 June 2021

Långedrag - Viks Kile anchorage

N58 03.320 E11 34.184

Distance Travelled - 34.3 NM

Time Travelled - 6 hours

Weather - Sunny 25C Winds SW 0-2 m/s

 

A Raymarine technician was working on a boat in the harbour and he came over to help us with our plotter, depth and wind meters. We now know that the plotter is the Master and the wind and depth meters are slaves. So all adjusting has to be done on the plotter. Now we can figure out how to get the information we want at our fingertips. On the chart page we now have depth, speed and compass bearing. We sailed as soon as we got out. We sailed across Göta älv, between Björkö and Öckerö, passed outside Marstrand and then the inner coastal way up the narrow channel of Kyrkesund. We motored past Björnshuvud and turned into Viks Kile which is a very nice deep bay with good protection from everywhere but north. Dropped anchor in 3.5 meters of water and settled in for the evening. I rowed Varga to shore for her business while Dan got drinks ready. Had a lovely quiet evening at anchor; really the best way to spend a night on a boat.

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26 June 2021

Grenå - Långedrag, Gothenburg

Distance Travelled - 90NM

Time Travelled - 15 hours

Weather - Sunny mixed with overcast, 24C, Wind E/SE 7-15 m/s

 

We got an early start intending to sail to Læsø about 55 NM away. Big swells were coming into the harbor entrance necessitating full engine power to get out of there. Once out in open water it calmed down a bit and we put up sails and sailed on a reach on SE winds of 6-8 m/s. We were making incredibly good time, doing 7-8 knots. Before we knew it, we were approaching Læsø’s east coast. It was only about 12.00 and the wind was holding so we decided to take advantage of the wind and go for Gotherburg. Varga got her first bout of seasicknesss and threw up on Dan’s arm. Poor thing, she cuddled into a corner of the cockpit and fell fast asleep for the remainder of the journey. Around 15.00, the wind died and came up from the E so we couldn’t make our course of 40 degrees, the best we could do was 20 degrees, so we kept with it until about 18.00 when the wind died again. The skies were looking very dark over land and we wondered if a storm would hit us out here in Kattegatt. We were floating along at 3 knots for about 2 hours when all of a sudden, we saw ripples coming across the water very fast. We jumped up and started battening things down, and while Dan was trying to reef the main to 2nd reef, 14 m/s winds hit us. All was pandemonium until we got things under control. The main came down completely and we were doing 7 knots on the jib alone. It was crazy. We could now do about 30 degrees which got us almost to the lighthouse Trubador, which is the entrance into Gothenburg. We had to tack around several ships in the shipping lane and it was getting dark, making inner coastal sailing sketchy, so we rolled in the jib and motored across all the remaining shipping lanes and docked at Långedrag at 22.30, thoroughly exhausted after 15 hours of tough sailing. We had a beer and some antipasti before conking out for the night.

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25 July 2021

Grenå, sitting out bad weather gives me time to correct all the distances we've recorded this season with our new Raymarine Plotter that was set on a default that was not correct. We discovered this on the way to Æbelø. The distances were just not enough for the hours we were spending enroute. So today I have recalculated everything using iSailor. We have been very dissatisfied with our Raymarine stuff. The plotter is going better now that we are learning by pushing every button we can put our fingers on. But the 2 meters we have up over the hatchway; wind meter and depth/speed/log meter are not working well at all and no amount of button pushing, manual reading and help from ray marine customer service is getting them right. The wind meter is calibrated with an off-set wind direction. We followed all the instructions to calibrate it but it doesn't work. The depth meter shows a different depth and speed than our plotter which means that the log is also off. Speed is off by about 1-2 knots too slow and depth can be off up to a meter. As of Friday, we are still waiting for the guy at Raymarine to call us back and help us get things calibrated. We make do when sailing, but it's annoying to have spent so much money and not have the stuff work.

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24 July 2021

Ebeltoft - Grenå

Distance Travelled - 26.8NM

Time Travelled - 5 hours

Weather - Sunny 26C, Winds NE 6-9 m/s

 

We left a calm quiet Ebeltoft and motored out over the shallow water of the bay. The wind didn’t come up until we got round the eastern-most udder of Jutland and headed north. The plan was that the wind would shift to East around 11.00 and we could then sail the last 20 miles to Grenå. But as so often happens with wind, it didn’t shift, but stayed at NE and freshened to 7-8 m/s with gusts to 10 m/s. Fram is not a great tacker, so we motored the whole way. As we entered the harbor entrance round the mole, a German boat appeared right behind us speeding in and more or less pushed us to the left side of the entrance and horned his way in to the first dock. Some boaters are just not real sailors. There were loads of slips available as this is a big place, 400 guest spots. We glided into our chosen slip without incident and then settled down to watch all the other sailboats streaming in and jockeying into a slip. It was dead calm in here so difficult to see how anything could go wrong, but wrong it goes. For instance, the sailboat that came in next to us was doing fine until the stern line that they got round the port pole caught on their mid cleat and when it tightened, it stopped the boat in its tracks and made its bow veer over into our boat. We fended off and pointed out the mid cleat catch and they quickly righted it. This just shows how incredibly easy it is for things to go wrong, even in the best of conditions. Another great big Bavaria came in and backed into its slip. The skipper was bumping into the stern poles as he backed in shouting instructions at his wife at the bow. She was very blasé and just said “Ja ja ja” rolling her eyes and carrying on in her own fashion.

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We went for a walk into town, which turned out to be almost 3 km up a very quiet street on very hot pavement, leading away from the ferry terminal. When we finally got to the centre of town, it was completely dead, all shops closed and no one about. We walked down one of the shopping streets before coming round and heading back to the harbour. 

We spotted a Kvickly grocery store on a side street so we nipped in and got some antipasti stuff for dinner. Enjoyed a quiet evening onboard Fram, our favourite place to be. 

We will in all likelyhood stay here 2 nights as a gale is coming through tonight and tomorrow with East winds. There will be a lot of fetch causing big waves. Exciting!

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22 July 2021

Samsø anchorage - Æbeltoft marina

Distance Travelled - 26.8 NM

Time Travelled - 7 hours

Weather - Sunny, 24C, next to no wind SE 0-2

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The sea was like a mirror; not a ripple as far as the horizon. We hauled up the anchor and set off by motor; no surprises this time, we could see the anchor lying on the sand bottom. We motored up the east coast of Samsø with it’s beautiful coastline of beaches, yellow fields of grain and green woods. When we got up to the north tip, we had to take a very narrow twisting channel through the shallows and sandbars. We came out on the northern end of Samsø and headed towards Århus. We would be travelling farthest west to get there and then turning around and sailing back east to get around the Jutland hump to Grenå. Both of us started thinking that was a long way to go. We looked at the chart and our eyes fell on Æbeltoft. “That looks nice!” So we changed course and headed due north for Æbeltoft marina which is half way up the western side of a sort of udder underneath the eastern hump of Jutland’s coast. A tiny bit of wind appeared around 14.00 and I could see that Dan was getting very itchy to sail, so we stopped and put up the sails and then crept along at 1-3 knots.  We had to take a very large detour round a sandbar as we approached Æbeltoft and the way in was shallow even then; 3 meters. We took down the sails and motored; I was steering and Dan was putting out fenders and bow/stern lines in preparation for docking. I had the plotter in front of me so could see where I was going and I knew it was 3 meters. This is a bit shallower than we like, but it was the way in so, what the heck, I thought, we only draw 1.7m. Dan happened to look over the side as he tied on a fender and could see the bottom looking very close to our keel. He suddenly dropped everything and yelled over to me, “what are you doing? We’re going to hit bottom!!” I tried to tell him that it was 3 meters but as my unluck would have it, just when he looked at the depth meter it read 2.6m. He commanded that I take a sharp left turn out into the deep water. I pointed at another boat same size as ours that was going full speed over the shallows right behind us with no worries, but he wasn’t having it. So off we went into the deep water, until we got close to the marina and had to go over that shallow water anyway to get to the marina. Dan was kerfuffled and thought it very irresponsible to have a marina in such shallow water. Meanwhile the boat that was just behind us in the shallows, got to the marina first. It was pretty full in there and difficult to manoeuvre but Dan did it brilliantly and we went down first one row then the next. Empty slips are marked with a red or green square; red for not available, green for available. Everything was red (It was 16.00 mind you). Then a Dane on a sailboat shouted over to us that there was a spot farthest in down the last row that would fit us. Such a nice thing to do. So we got a great spot near the showers/bathrooms and the shops. In some Swedish harbours and most Med harbours there are staff in a dinghy that come out and meet you and guide you to a slip, so you don’t have toodle all over a harbour looking for a spot. The marina is nice and well-kept. You have to buy a harbour card here to get electricity and showers but it’s an easy process once you get over the rip-off of not having such things included in the harbour fee.

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Æbeltoft is a lovely town, boasting the oldest and only wooden 3-masted frigate in Denmark. It’s a museum now much like the one in Åland with the Pommern that we saw 2 years ago. We walked along the water and found a gourmet food store, a ship’s chandlers, a fish store, smokery, and a mobile butcher’s. We bought some food for dinner and then went for a swim. I made Varga join us in the water this time because otherwise she barks and feels she has to rescue everyone who jumps into the water. It was very shallow, of course, but it was nice to cool off in the water. Water is cooler here by a couple degrees. 

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21 July 2021

Æbelø anchorage - Ballen, Samsø anchorage

N 55 49.216 E 10 38.462

Distance Travelled - 20.8 NM

Time Travelled - 4 hours

Weather - Chilly 18C, Winds SW 4-6 m/s

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We got a very strange gift from the sea when Dan hauled up the anchor this morning; a big rock that fit perfectly into the scoop of our anchor. It probably weighed about 30 kg and did not want to leave the anchor. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it. Dan had to tie a rope round the back of the anchor, leaning dangerously far over the bow of the boat, then pull on that rope to tip the rock over the edge and back into the water. The process took about 45 minutes with me moving the boat idle forward, trying to keep out of the wind and waves. Luckily for us, it tipped right out and returned to the sea bottom. Once it was loose, we were on our way, raised the sails and had a beautiful sail the whole way to Ballen. This marina is known as a party marina and one of the most frequently visited marinas in Denmark. It’s very charming with restaurants, cafés and little shops. Boats are packed in like sardines during the summer season. We were using our new Danish strategy of getting to a marina early in the day, before 14.30, in order to be assured a slip. We got here at 13.30 entered the marina, took one look at the boats piled up on each other and backed out again. Not a chance did we want to go into the chaos. We anchored just off the beach outside the marina and dinghied in to take a comfortable look. It was so crowded that if your boat was farthest in, you wouldn't be able to get out. It must be a dreadful fire hazard as by the end of the day, there is no room to manoeuvre a boat more than a few decimetres in any direction. The last boat in has to be the first boat out in order to get the process going. The restaurants looked and smelled lovely. each one was full of people eating and drinking. I finally got Dan to try something new, fiskfrikadeller (fish cakes) We had them with Danish potato salad and remoulade sauce. They were delish, Dan thought so too:) We drank Tuborg classic beer and looking around at all the people drinking beer everywhere we figure Denmark must consume the most beer of any European country.

From our anchorage back on Fram, we could hear the music all afternoon and evening until the wee hours of the morning. Can’t imagine having to endure it in the marina; where we were it was audible but not disturbing. The night was warm and completely still. A full moon peaked out of the clouds every now and then shining so brightly it lit up the sea. The mast lights from over 40 boats anchored in the bay looked like fairy lights. It was magical.

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19 July 2021

Middelfart Marina - Æbelø anchorage

N55 38.346 E10 11.674

Distance Travelled - 25 NM

Time Travelled - 7 hours

Weather - Sunny, 22C, Wind N 2-3 m/s

 

We woke up to a beautiful day. Got ourselves ready for sailing after a nice weekend in a harbor protected from very windy weather. We got some good entertainment when a German sailboat came in on Sunday afternoon and docked next to us. It took several attempts mostly due to the high winds blowing them sideways but also lack of experience, looked like. We helped them once they got into the slip but the crew kept dropping the docking lines or just didn’t know they needed to tie them down on the dock so the boat wouldn’t blow into our boat. I was fending off on our side and Dan was trying to help them on the dock with the dock lines but they couldn't get them untangled enough to throw to him. Someone grabbed the leeward stern pole with a rope, but should have taken the windward pole, of course, to hold against the wind. When the German Dad yelled at the kid, he dropped even that stern line and the boat was more or less loose again. They were all shouting at each other and just had no idea how get the stern lines back on. The boat was blowing into us and everyone was shouting. Dan finally had enough and jumped into the water with a line that he tied onto the windward pole so they would stay in place. The skipper’s wife shamefacedly admitted they were not so used to this charter boat. We were very understanding  This is one of the perks of being safely moored in a marina. Everyone watches the boat coming in to see how they maneouvre it and get it in or out of a slip. We have all been that source of entertainment at one time and another so appreciate seeing someone else screwing it up. Anyway, they all came up to watch us leave this morning. We did fine and they said goodbye and thanked us for teaching them some lessons in docking. 

Out in Middelfart waterway, we had to motor until we got around a corner where we could sail with the jib. But we were barely moving, barely 1 knot. We looked over towards shore and could see that there is a mighty current here! We rolled the jib back in and turned on the motor again and motored the rest of the way through the straits. Going under the train bridge was kind of scary because the current was running so fast and there were whirlpools all over pushing one way and another. Steering was difficult with a current of about 4 knots against us. The Middelfart strait is about 6 NM and we saw 3 small whales swimming along our boat. These are the smallest species of whale and actually look more like porpoises but are classified whales. They are the densest population of whales in Europe. Once we were out of the currents of Middlefart, we set sail again but it was very slow going, the wind came up then died and was very light. We took advantage of the slow pace and went for a swim off the back of the boat. The water here is so clear and lovely. No jellyfish or algae, just clear smooth water with low salt content. That’s been one of the nicest surprises about sailing these waters. Another nice surprise is all the places you can anchor here. 

We finally gave up sailing and motored the rest of the way to Æbelø and anchored on the east side, protected from the strong winds that were going to come up in the evening. Dan has rigged a new setup for getting the dinghy into and out of the water. With a set of ropes that attach to the extra genoa halyard, we winch it up and down and it works like a charm. 

Next day we took a hike round the island. Æbelø is largely uninhabited; it’s been a hunting grounds for centuries and has amazing Oak trees that look hundreds of years old. We walked along mowed paths as this is a popular hiking route. At low water you can walk here from Fyn, but be careful because the water can go up again and then you will have to swim. The last bit we walked on the beach which was challenging as the beaches here are made up of small to large stones that move when you walk on them. Varga was a little mountain goat and scampered all over the place when we let her off the leash. The total walk was 6.9 km. We were all happy to get back on Fram.

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16 July 2021

Toro Huse anchorage - Middelfart

Distance Travelled - 19.8 NM

Time Travelled - 3 1/2 hours

Weather - Sun 30C wind 0-1 m/s

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Dan sat up most of the night doing anchor watch. The wind had come up from WNW at 8-10 m/s giving us no land protection and he felt the need to keep watch in case our anchor dragged. At 04.30 the wind came down and he went to bed. Varga and I got up at 6 and rowed to the beach for our morning walk. We had a swim and then came back to make breakfast. We picked up anchor at about 10.00. Dan wanted to try to see how much he could bring up himself without using the anchor windless and to his surprise he got the whole thing up with little effort. Was anchor just lying down there on the bottom? Who knows. Anyway we motored off for a few minutes till the sails were up and then sailed. We were only doing less than 1 knot so after an hour of peaceful floating, we took down the sails and motored the rest of the way. The wind died completely and didn’t come up again until we had tied up at Middlefart Marina. There are several marinas in Middelfart, we are at the one on the south side of the town. There are some lovely anchorages outside the marina with good protection from N and NW. It was extremely hot so we took several walks to the beach to swim. Even Varga couldn’t wait to get in and cool off.

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While travelling the last week or so, we noticed that the log on the plotter doesn't seem to be quite correct. I have been reacting to too many hours for the nautical miles we've travelled and felt, we didn't average such a low speed. On closer inspection I found that indeed it was on some strange default, so corrected it. Which means that now I have to recalculate all our distances since we left Vindö marina on 10 June. Ugh.

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14 July 2021

Marstal - Toro Huse anchorage

N55 14.181 E09 53.970

Distance Travelled - 37.8NM

Time Travelled - 8 hours

Weather - Sunny, 26C, Winds NE 6m/s

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We spent the whole morning with the mechanic Daniel. He got the new circulation pump from Volvo Penta (8000 DKK) and installed it, but engine was still overheating. So he started searching for air pockets along the water lines. He found one in the hose going to the water heater, got rid of it but engine continued to overheat. Finally, he disconnected the water heater totally (read, no warm water showers anymore) and then it worked perfectly. Hurray! We can continue sailing.

We left after lunch, said a fond good-bye to Harvey, our English friend and a very fond farewell to Marstal. It was lovely to be stuck there for the week it took to get the engine fixed. I took excursions in town every day, so much to see, the houses are the cutest little cottages of various colours, and many of the streets are cobblestones. Foxglove grows outside practically every house. Roses are also very prolific here. Dan and I rented bikes and rode along the southern coast one day with a picnic.

 

As we motored out of the harbor and then the channel southwards we kept checking the temp gauge assuring ourselves that all was really well. As soon as we were out of the channel we rolled out the jib and sailed on just that along the south coast of Ærø. The wind was directly behind us. When we rounded the light house on the southwest corner, we raised the main sail and had a fabulous sail, past Ærø’s west coast, past Avernakø, Lyø, and Helnæs. We dropped our anchor among several other sailboats at about 20.00. First order of business was to blow up the dinghy and take Varga to the beach for some well-needed relief. We had a swim back at the boat and dinner of Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe and salad. We’ll stay here tomorrow night as well. There’s a very long beach and a small hamlet. Swimming is amazing now; the water is very clear and about 20C.

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8 July 2021

Bagenkop - Marstal, Ærø

Distance Travelled - 8 NM

Time Travelled - 3 1/2 hours

Weather - Warm 25C and hazy. Wind SE 1-2 m/s

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Normally we would have motored this short distance with such light winds, but because we have an engine that overheats after 15 minutes, we sailed. It was very slow but comfortable and peaceful. We swam off the back of the boat and had our breakfast underway. There is a steady stream of boats both leaving the harbor and entering the harbor all day. We got here around 12.00 so had plenty of slips to choose from. Right here, I have to admit that I have a head-fault in that I get stressed when boats start passing me into a harbor where I know it's a popular place and slip numbers are limited. After the 4th boat passed us on the way in, I started to sweat. "All the slips are going to be taken!!" Dan saw my agitation and calmed me, saying, "it's early in the day, there's lots of room at the inn." I took a deep breath and tried to do the laissez-faire mindset, but it was a struggle. We turned our engine on just as we were approaching the turn into the harbor basin, when a huge Dutch schooner came barreling out and we had to quickly veer to the left so that it could make the right turn out into the channel. The boat behind us had no such good manners and was making to pass us all and get ahead of the queue. Well, I was not having it, I stood up from my place at the wheel and gave him the "Not a chance, stay where you are" signal with my pointer finger, much to Dan's mortification, but to be perfectly honest, I'd had enough of taking the high road. Order was restored and we prooceeded into the harbor basin. We didn’t want to use the motor more than necessary so took one of the first docks and ended up beside an English flagged boat.  Otherwise, there are 3 docks for visiting boats providing about 100 extra slips.

First order of business was to find a mechanic to come and look at our engine. The harbormaster was very helpful and gave us the name of a guy. I called him and he said he could come bright and early next day. Once that was settled we could focus on seeing Marstal.

I’ve wanted to come here for years since reading Carsten Jensen’s book “We, the Drowned” which is about the town of Marstal and the men and women to lived here. Marstal was a maritime town and once upon a time Denmark’s leading maritime town. There is still a navigation school here, one of only 3 in all of Denmark. In 1890 Marstal was home to 300 merchant sailing ships most of which were built here. Marstal seamen sailed these ships to every continent trading goods back and forth. The entire town was based on shipping, trade and fishing. In 1928 a maritime museum was started and it is still flourishing today with a treasure trove of maritime artifacts, paintings and tools, etc, many of which have been donated by Marstal families.

 

Marstal is not built around a town centre or square like most towns; rather its streets led from the jetties in the harbor,  and when they got too long, streets were put across the long streets. The effect is higgledy-piggledy but very pretty. Marstal’s citizens were and probably still are a very independent people who take matters into their own hands. For instance, in 1825 the townspeople requested a new break wall from the municipality to protect their ships. The municipality refused, so the people decided to build their own break wall. All the townspeople pitched in and collected stones from both Ærø and neighboring islands and built a great break wall that stands today. They also requested a church and after many refusals were finally given permission in 1736. Their argument was that Marstal citizens had to walk too far to the island church which was several km away and being seamen, they did not own horses and carriages to make the journey. Now there is a lovely church in the middle of town, very simple in design but with 7 model sailing ships hanging from the ceiling signifying the importance of shipping in Marstal.

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9 July 2021

Sunny nice day. The mechanic Daniel, came this morning as agreed and set to work on the engine. He started by dismantling the thermostat so that water would continue to flow through the system and keep the motor cool. It didn’t work unfortunately, so he will come back on Sunday or Monday to go through all the hoses to see if any of them are clogged. 

In the mean time, we’ve been enjoying Marstal. We went to the maritime museum which is an amazing treasure trove of maritime artefacts. We spent 3 hours there and came out cross-eyed and exhausted. We walked through town which is very charming with cute houses, masses of rose bushes and colourful foxglove plants.

 

10 July 2021

We had rain all night long but today was sunny. Wind has gone over to West and is a stiff breeze. We rented bikes and rode to Ærøskøbing which is about 12 km of small roads and paths along the sea with fields of grain inland. Ærøskøbing is more geared towards summer residences, shopping and restaurants than Marstal. One of its main characteristics is the doors of the houses which are very colourful and full of creative carpentry. Varga rode in my bike basket, ears flapping in the wind. We saw signs for “Jætte stue” on the way there but largely ignored them. One the way back however we decided we’d best check it out, so veered onto a cowpath which we gingerly negotiated for at least a km. We became so focused on keeping our balance biking on the tiny path that we soon discovered we’’d blown right by the Jättestue which we have subsequently learned is an ancient burial mound from about 3200BC. It's covered in tall grass with a stone door that is broken revealing the cave inside.  Ah well. We made our way back to the boat for a very late lunch.

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7 July 2021

Kragenæs - Bagenkop

Distance Travelled - 47 NM

Time Travelled - 10 1/2 hours

Weather - Overcast in the morning clearing up in early afternoon, Winds SW-SE 6-8 m/s

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We left the harbor at 07.30 and followed the channel westwards. The winds were SW so we had to tack down Langeland’s east side. The wind slowly veered to S and then SE which gave us a good reach down to Langeland’s southern point. Bagankop is just around the corner on the SW side. Our boat is a great boat but one thing it does not do well is point into the wind. We generally try to avoid having to tack, but sometimes it’s necessary and then it is an exercise in patience. We were on a course of 240 degrees until we got close to Langeland’s coast, then tacked and couldn’t do better than 120 degrees. We should have been able to do at least 140-150. At times like this it feels that we are just going back and forth in the same place, but of course, we did make some distance. We were both very happy when we felt the wind veering round to S and the SE. The rest of the sail was a breeze with lighter winds. When we approached the harbor entrance we took down the sails, put on the engine and tooled in to a harbor completely overcrowded. It was 18.00 and not a slip to be had. We ended up rafting on to a big catamaran. And good thing too because the alarm went on the engine telling us it was overheating so we needed to shut it down.

Once settled, we took a walk around, it’s a great big resort for German campers and boaters. We were the only Swedish vessel and there were only a few Danish vessels, otherwise it was all Germans. Behind the harbor were camping grounds with even more Germans. There was even live oompa-oompa music in the evening. A big old school- schooner came in loaded to the gills with adolescent German kids. The skipper was a big fat jolly German who for his life could not get that ship docked. They had to go out and approach the pier about 4 times before then got it right. Then all those kids jumped ship and started running amok. I happened to be in the shower, having left Varga tied outside the shower. Just as I was getting dried off I heard her shriek and throwing on my clothes and running out found the German boys teasing her. I gave them a good yelling at in Swedish and they backed off. 

Anyway, can’t say I will remember this place fondly.

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6 July 2021

Stubbekøbing - Kragenæs

Distance Travelled - 25

Time Travelled - 51/2 hours

Weather - Sunny, winds SSE 6-10m/s

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We had a very nice sail to Kragenæs, getting very brave and taking shortcuts over the shallow areas, shaving 10 NM off our planned route. We tried out the reefing system just for fun. It certainly makes sailing more comfortable when it’s a bit windy out. We don’t lose much speed but we gain steering ease and comfort. 

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We docked and settled in at the harbor and 15 minutes later a big thunderstorm raged over us with torrential rain that lasted about 45 minutes. I made tea and our favourite cookie of digestive biscuits and peanut butter and we sat high and dry and watched the storm pass.

When it was finished we took a hike out to the countryside. 

Kragenäs is mostly a camping resort, there’s not much town there but there are a couple streets with cute cottages and some lovely forests. They have good showers and you can order fresh bread and sweet rolls for morning delivery. We hiked out to a field about 1.2 km away where there was some kind of Stonehenge looking monument. On closer inspection we learned that it's only about 20 years old and there were faces sculpted on the tops of the great stones situated in a circle called a Dodokalitten and when you stand close to the stones you can hear music created from the wind. We took a circuitous route back to the boat, so all got good exercise.

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5 June 2021

Klinthavn - Stubbeköbing DK

Distance Travelled - 19.1 NM

Time Travelled - 5 hours

Weather - Mostly overcast, 22C, wind SE 7-1 m/s

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We departed Klinthavn at 10.00. Wind was 7-9 m/s when we came out so put up sails right away and got moving. It was pretty rough and as the wind/waves were on our port stern quadrant, it was very rolly. We watched a great big black thunder cloud coming along and hoped it wasn't heading for us. As luck would have it, for once, it went behind us. It packed quite a bit of thunder and rain so happy to have avoided that. As we entered the channel between Mön and Falster, the wind dropped to dead calm so we motored through the channel. We have a pilot book for all the Danish seas and looking around, found a nice looking harbor called Stubbekøbing. It has some history having been Swedish at one time and had a flourishing herring business in the Middle Ages  The church is from the 1100's, renovated in 1880. The countryside is beautiful with lots of farming. We felt it was a bit early to stop for the day, but then decided we need to change our routine and do more sightseeing and enjoying places we visit. There were lots of slips available when we arrived but they filled up in no time. After an hour the whole guest dock was full. Note to self.... get to harbor in good time.

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4 June 2021

Skanör - Klinthavn, Mön Denmark

Distance Travelled - 34.6 NM

Time Travelled - 11 hours

Weather - Sunny Wind SE 2-4 m/s

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We finally sailed off after over a week of enjoying being in Skanör, our home harbor. Dan changed the impeller and checked that there was enough Glykol in the water system flushing through the engine. We took her out on a test run and although the temp gauge showed 80 (should be 50-60) it was stable there and didn't go up to red.

It was a great relief to get back to sea, we really had too little wind but didn't care, just wanted to get out there. We sailed along at 2 knots which occasionally went up to 4.5 knots. The water in Öresund had a lot of algae floating around so did not swim off the back. Nelson worked really well and did most of the steering so we could relax in the cockpit and putter around. We motored the last 2 NM in to Klinthavn arriving at 21.30. The place was packed so we were able to raft up to a French boat. Had cocktails and a lovely dinner.

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22-23 June 2021

Långedrag - Skanörshamn

Distance Travelled - 152 NM

Time Travelled - 37 hours

Weather - Sunny, 23C, NW 2-5 m/s

 

Due to the light winds and thankful direction of NW we had a waveless smooth sail all the way down to Skanör. The going was slow but it was very comfortable. The new mainsail made by Albatross is beautiful. We did 3 hour night watches, Dan took the first from 22.00-01.00. The wind died at 21.00 so we were motoring. 

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During his watch he noticed that the engine was overheating. It was up into the red on the temp meter. So he turned off the motor and we sailed again at about 2 knots. There was a good deal of traffic during the night, most ships were in the shipping lanes and we stay out of those lanes. But sometimes ships cross out of the shipping lane and then they can be a problem for us. I had 2 encounters with ships going very close to us. The AIS is great in identifying them and following their path to make sure we are not on a collision course. 

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In the morning we sailed past Kullen lighthouse and entered the Sound. For once the current was with us, moving in a southerly direction. We tried to keep the little wind we had in our sails and meandered along the shipping lane, sometimes just inside and other times just outside them. There were very few ships out so didn’t feel it was a problem. When we got to Helsingborg, the wind was really too light for sailing so we tried to the motor again. It started heating up again so we set a course across the shipping lane and closer to the island of Ven. 

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There we are relaxing in the cockpit, autopilot on and drinking a cup of tea when a big Coast Guard boat comes up to us and tells to throw lines to them so they can talk to us. We were both clueless as to what we could possibly have done wrong. They told us we had been in the shipping lane since before Helsingborg and south of H transgressed into a TSS (Traffic intersection area). We had no idea and we definitely had no idea that it was a punishable violation. The fine is 1200SEK but they said they were going to let us go this time but not to do it again. Then one of them asked us if we had taken any boat courses to which we replied rather indignantly that Yes of course we had taken the boating course. He said “well, traffic rules in shipping lanes are part of that course”. Dan said sheepishly that some things get forgotten.

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They admired our boat for a few minutes, chatting easily and then wished us a nice day and took off again. We motored off until the temp gauge showed red again as we were motoring along Ven’s east coast and then turned it off and sailed the rest of the way home. Got home to a full welcoming party at 21.30. Madeleine, Kimberly, Oscar and the boys. 

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21 June 2021

Andeholmen - Långedrag

Distance Travelled - 22 NM

Time Travelled - 5 hours

Weather - Overcast, winds SW 2-6m/s

 

Wind quite light today so mostly motored though we did get in 2 hours of sailing. Dan got Nelson set up and tried him out. He held course somewhat but needs some fine-tuning.

We got to Långedrag around 16,00 and waited for Albatross to deliver our new main sail. Bengt arrived around 18.00 and gave us some quick instructions before leaving us to it. We got right to work, taking down the old main and getting this one ready. The battens were not marked right so had to fiddle a bit to get the right ones in the right places. The top 2 battens go in from the opposite direction of the other 2; from the front of the sail closest to mast. They have metal plates that lock the batten in with 4 screws. We did the top batten and all worked just fine. The second batten didn’t fit in the metal plates for some reason so Dan had to shave off a bit on each side. -when it was finally of a good fit, he put the plate on but before we could get the screws in, it slipped out of his hand. We watched in stupefication as it slid along a fold in the sail, then silence followed by “plop” as it fell into the water. Argh!! Dan was distraught. It’s so frustrating to drop something on a boat as it invariably goes into the water and we were being so very careful with the screws and plates. He sent a text to Bengt and he came back and said he had to go to the loft anyway so would take an extra plate with him and drop it by in the late evening. True to his word, he came by Långedrag around 22.00 and gave us a new one. We continued putting the sail on and getting the reefing lines sorted out so it would be ready for our sail home to Skanör tomorrow morning.

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20 June 2021

Gullmarsstrand - Andeholmen at Instön SXK buoy

Distance Travelled - 28 NM

Time Travelled - 5 hours

Weather - Overcast, 20C, no wind

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We left the dock at 07.30 and had coffee underway. No wind so motored. We’ve been trying to learn how to use our new Raymarine GPS plotter. It’s a lot different from our Garmin. Dan tried out the automatic routing. It gave an OK route but stuck to the major shipping lanes and we knew lots of short cuts so took them and then jumped back on the routed waypoints. There are 4 SXK buoys at Andeholmen, 2 were available. We took one, and once settled took the dinghy to shore to take a hike but it was very inhospitable landscape.

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18 June 2021

Södra Usholmen SXK buoy - Gullmarsstrand marina, Fiskebäckskil

Distance travelled: 3.5 NM

Time travelled: barely an hour

Weather: overcast, fog and then some sun. Winds SW 6m/s

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We enjoyed a leisure day, swimming and puttering. Dan shortened the jib so it fit better on the furlex and we unpacked and blew up our new dinghy. After lunch Dan realised there was a European Championship Soccer game between Sweden and Slovakia and the only way he could watch it is with shore power so we left our mooring and sailed on the jib only to Gullmarsstrand. Being in Fiskebäckskil is always a bit like coming home after so many years spending summers here with the family. Dan watched the game with a Swedish victory of 1-0 and we went for a long walk. Dinner was a late affair up in the cockpit enjoying the view.

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17 June 2021

Vakuumteak - Södra Usholmen SXK buoy

Distance travelled: 15 NM

Time travelled: 4 hours 21 min

Weather: Sun and clouds, SE 1-6 m/s

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We waved a fond good bye to our friends at VakuumTeak and Carl's Boat Service. They were an amazing team, nice to work with and really did a super job on our boat. There was next to no wind so motored for about an hour before the wind came up and we could sail. What a feeling! Sailing again! Experienced the most amazing feeling of freedom and joy to be on the water again. We sailed the rest of the way except through Malö canal. Found an available SXK buoy (Swedish Cruising Association puts out these buoys all over the west and east coast of Sweden for members to use). The wind came up to 10-12 m/s soon after we got settled. A big sailboat came in to take the last buoy just as the wind was at its worst and we proceeded to watch in horrified fascination as they grappled with the wind pushing the bow away and towards the rocks as the skipper revved the engine to bring the brow back round. It was heart-in-mouth for a few moments there before the crew managed to grab onto the buoy and stop the boat. This is called sailors' entertainment; watching someone else having a hard time. We all do it and it happens to all of us at some time or another.

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10-16 June 2021

VakuumTeak Väst, Vindö, Bohuslän

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We spent a very busy week getting Fram all set for the season of sailing. The weather was sunny almost all week, though not terribly warm, about 16C. 

Fram was in the water when we arrived with her mast on sawhorses on the dock beside her. The deck looked beautiful, smooth brown teak with black caulking. We were so happy to see her. 

On Friday morning 11 June the mast went up using a crane truck and 4 of the boatyard men who worked quickly and efficiently. All was done in 20 minutes. The rest of the day was spent getting the rigging set up properly, and tracing an electric glitch in our shore power. The trail led to the hot water heater that was throwing the switch every time the pump got started. So a new switch was put in and the hot water heater disconnected. Now we have shore power. 

On Saturday we went to Uddevalla train station and picked up our daughter Madeleine who will drive the car that brought us here, home again. Dan bought a new faucet for the deck shower at Bauhaus. We had a lovely walk and shrimp dinner with Madeleine and waved her off on Sunday morning after breakfast. Dan and I put on the main sail and jib as well as the lazy jacks and sail pack. We have ordered a new main but it hasn’t come yet, so using the old one for now. The jib we bought from a friend in Skanör. It was made for a HR 352 and proved to be a tad longer than our furlex so Dan will adjust that somehow in his usual McGiver fashion. We tried out the new bimini too. It took a bit of time figuring out how it was supposed to go on, but eventually we got it and it looked great except that it is too high, cannot possibly come under the boom…

In the evening we invited the only other live aboard here, Heinz, from Switzerland, for a drink. He had a bunch of pilot books and tidal books for Scotland that we were interested in seeing. Afterwards we all decided to take an evening swim. Heinz wanted us to film him jumping in for his friends to see. When he was climbing back up onto the pontoon dock, he cut his feet on barnacles that were under the pontoon. He severed the tendon under his big toe and Dan had to drive him to the emergency room in Trollhättan. Sunday dinner went on the back stove and we didn’t eat until 23.00 when Dan got back. Heinz was still at the hospital, and had to have surgery on Monday. Dan picked him up in the early afternoon. Dan and Kjetil (vakuumteak) worked on readjusting the bimini so the frame will fit under the boom. Didn’t go so well, so more fiddling and adjusting and it finally worked. 

The hot water heater was installed on Wednesday so now we have hot water too and the deck shower is working perfectly. Dan spent all his spare time during this week getting the wind pilot ready for use. It took a lot of looking, inspecting that all parts were right, fiddling back and forth and a couple calls to the manufacturer, Peter Foerthmann in Germany. When he was doing that I was rubbing and waxing Fram topsides to make her sparkly clean and shiny.

On Thursday morning we said good bye to everyone at the boatyard and sailed out in light winds.

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This is what we’ve had done on Fram at VakuumTeak Väst:

New Teak Deck and cockpit

Sun panel mounted on a post on port stern

New GPS plotter with AIS and 3 slave meters mounted on teak platform over cockpit hatch; wind direction and speed, compass, depth meter

Deck mounted hooks to tie down dinghy and for safety lines

Antifouling painted on 

Windpilot mounted on stern

New teak step down to bathing platform

Realignment of instrument panel separating some of the buttons to make more sense

Repair of mast lights; tricolor, mast light, deck light and anchor light

New water heater

New shower faucet and temperature regulator for deck shower

New bow thruster button and joystick on pedestal

Fault search and repair of shore power outlet

All new halyard lines; main, jib x 2, reef lines, downhaul lines, spinnaker boom line, you name it, we got it

New spray hood and cockpit tent

New bimini

New main sail

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2 June 2021

We got word from Kjetil up at VakuumTeak that the deck was finished, so drove up for the weekend to wash and wax the boat and clean up the mast. Dan did all the math to find a way to get the wind pilot mounted on the stern without removing the bathing platform, and Bamse followed Dan's instructions and it worked perfectly, with just a few cm to spare. We cleaned the mast, used Autosol to shine it up and then put a protective coat of paraffin on mast spreaders and rod rig. The mast was in pretty bad shape, so even though a lot of stuff didn't come off, it looks much better now. Kjetil will do the anti-fouling this week. She will go in the water at the beginning of next week and the mast will go up on Friday 11 June. Then we'll load her up and be on our way, somewhere, not sure where.

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Covid-19 changed our plans in 2020 and threaten to continue to make things difficult for us to sail off to the Med in 2021. Stay tuned.