The new facilities for the harbour. Sauna etc, the whole works. Tomorrow the naval museum!

Made it to Karlskrone (the approach from the south). 9.5 hours for 60 sm. A fine wind but a bumpy ride. 

More song. I cannot leave her.

Maritime architecture. Interesting materials. Could not see the EU sign but looked like it. Think on't ye Brexit Boys.

A fine wind for the hop round to Simrishamm

50 miles over to Ystadt. Forecast southerly, actually easterly so used a bit of fuel.
At least the next firing range (Kabusa ) is not operating tomorrow so will probably slip round to Simrishamm.

A wee nip in the air.

Rødvig midday als the Storm begins to abate. Thursday should provide a good slot for Ystadt. 

30 miles NE on to Rødvig, the last port before Sweden. Ice on the pier this morning, gales forcast for the next few days. Still it was a good sail over.

The last few days in Vordingborg much brightened by Theresia and Phil on their 11m Prout cat.

He spent 7 years fitting it out, an absolute encyclopedia of technical and material science.

Theresia even produced an indian meal one evening on board of at least 6 side dishes. Awesome.

Slightly embarrasing to bungle harbour manouver after I had failed to keep main anker switch on so bow thruster batteries were flat. It is the same each year, takes a while till crew has remembered how everything works.

Another attempt on the Navionics WebApp. Not sure why it now works but you can now zoom in to check the coastline. All except for Denmark where there is some issue with Navionics!

The remains of Valdemars castle, and a hint of change in the sky.

Still in Vordingborg, wondering where to cope with the snow forecast for next week. Meanwhile taken aback by deserted streets:

Store Brededag or Great Prayer Day on the fourth Friday after Easter. A consolidation of various previous minor holy days established in 1686.

"Under the law, all trade, work, etc were forbidden from 6 pm on the day before Store Brededag, to ensure that nobody would be late or drunk when they had to attend the next day's obligatory church service."

So no more fish till tomorrow.

Yacht transport. This is how he drove in. 5 mins. later boat afloat and he was gone. Wonder what the regulations say about securing loads.

Back in Vordingborg. Motored out of Guldborgsund against NW 4-5 but then fine reach round to Vordingborg. Cold and clear which explains why most of local boats still high and dry.

And inside the cloister church. Survived better than the castle but do not nail me down on relative construction dates.

The remains of the large castle here in Nyköbing. Demolished in 18 th centuary for local houses. Behind, the cinema.

Nyköbing: thought this might be a good place the shelter from west 7-8 bft. But famous Anne's Fish Shop not open till Tuesday. 

Kühlungsborn getting ready for the visitors. The main arcade sweeps down to the pier. In the second and third rows accommodation for those that labour. Distinctive style, accents, and flair.

A little detail on AIS (automated identification system). Commercial vessels operate on class A, always visible, powerful transmitters etc. Pleasure craft on class B, generally a lot less. So we occasionally are lost by the shore stations which pass the data on to marine traffic. If you want to explore further there is a wee app from marine traffic. Sign up, add Matilda (MMSI 211196710) to your "fleet" and you are off!

Finally off. 36 nm over to Külingsborn. A pleasant reach till rain set in midday and wind died. 

The new tensioning unit on the fore stay. Slides inside the Furlex drum.

Fore stay down and waiting to be shortened.

Watched this Tuesday evening. Worth seeing.


Timbuktu, the film

The massive replacement parts! No more dripping I hope. Thank you to Sirius Boat Yard for quick service.

For those interested in technical details, a surprising detail of german maritime installation. The hot and cold water system includes distribution blocks of plastic. The copper connectors which take the hoses can only be screwed in once or twice and then the trouble starts. We hope for a more traditional solution tomorrow. Details to follow.

Left hand distribution block (plastic!) drips.

 

Just to show that we are afloat:

Still in Neustadt. Pottering about. Stocking up on Merlot.
Once we are off, hit the "Track" button to follow our AIS
(should be on most of the time!).

Back on board. One or two issues before we set off. Hope that by Monday the WC has ceased to leak and that the fore stay has been shortened for perfect trimming.