We left you last time leaving Flensburg and heading for Denmark. It didn’t take long to get there. The Flensburg Fjord is the border between Germany and Denmark with the Germans looking after the port markers and the Danish the starboard. A vessel tacking up the fjord should, in theory, swap courtesy flags on each tack. Fortunately no one really cares and a strengthening northerly minimised our need to tack or change flags.
It was the end of a long weekend and the entrance of the fjord resembled a busy round about with yachts heading back to their home ports. With a strong wind and occasional showers we had retired to the lounge and brewed a pot of tea. When other yachts passed close by we jumped up on deck, waved to the bedraggled skippers so they were not unduly worried by the unmanned yacht passing them, and then quickly returned to the warmth below deck.
Within fifteen minutes the forecasted weather change brought sunshine, then no wind and then light winds. We scrambled on deck and set to work raising the big red sail. Thirty minutes later big red was happily propelling us at 4.5 knots in less than 10 knots of wind. Good news as we were closing in on another yacht racing in the same direction.
After an extended tacking duel with the smaller yacht we tucked into the crowded anchorage at the island of Aero. Crowded because there was another yacht anchored. It seems most yachts in the Baltic are not set up to be at anchor. Many do not have dinghies and their anchors often look a little ornamental. As there are so many marinas/harbours so close together we suspect most charter boats and many local sailors move from marina to marina missing the endless anchoring opportunities throughout the area.
The town of Aeroskobing was a short walk away and lived up to its billing as one of the most picturesque towns in Denmark. The story goes that in poorer times they couldn’t afford to update their houses, which later turned out to be a great tourist attraction with, the now well maintained, older houses providing a step back in time.
After a couple of days, we decided to head to a town called Svendborg. It was only a short sail across the bay. We had been told there are no tides to worry about in the Baltic, but it did seem like we were being whisked into Svendborg at 2 knots more than our boat speed. The tide also rushes through the harbour which can make docking a little tricky. But on this occasion it allowed us to stop the boat a few meters off the dock and let the tide do the rest.
Svendborg was one of those places where we had unexpected great experiences and it easily exceeded our expectations.
Away always attracts some attention, but at Svendborg there was a constant stream of people walking along the dock to take a look. They usually want to know if we have sailed from Australia and then a bit about the boat. Some are dreaming of their own trip someday, some own a boat and want to chat boats and some come for look just because its different and has an Australian flag. Even the police popped over for a look using the excuse of checking our passports.
On Sunday morning we slipped out of Svendborg harbour and made good use of the outgoing tide until the wind filled in and headed north around Langeland. We had picked a little anchorage that a local had told us we would have to ourselves. As we took down the sails and prepared to anchor, another aluminum boat arrived and later we were joined by a third boat for the night.
After a couple of nights of bouncing in the gusty winds, we leave Agerso and enjoy our fastest sail to another island with lots of trolls and apple juice, and no wind.
