Helsingor - Ebeltoft (11 June 2019)

We returned to Whileaway on Monday 3 June. A very speedy trip, leaving home at 0720 We boarded the boat in Helsingor just under 7 hours later. We reprovisioned and walking to athend from the town we noticed the many posters of candidates for the forthcoming  General Election.

Mural on house recalling Helsingor's shipbuilding past

Small town garden by cross roads

Our passage from Helsingor in orange

Our first passage was a relatively short one of 13nm, NW to Gilleleje and it was a warm sunny day with light winds, so an easy start! We have been to Gilleleje before. It has a substantial fishing fleet and ship maintence services but the town has developed with some smart restaurants and specialist stores to attract people from Copenhagen and elsewhere. During the summer it has jazz bands on Saturdays as we found out when we arrived at a crowded harbour a few years ago. This time it was a Wednesday - and a meet for vintage cars and other vehicles in the early evening. Naturally, given the location, we ate at one of the many fish restaurants!

Thatched and other old cottages

Flower shop in main street

Busy fishing harbour

Classic car evening- not sure about the coffee pot!

The next morning was sunny with temperatures of 25C forecast. It was also Denmark's Constitution Day, so a public holiday. To this had been added the General Election. There were posters with photographs of the candidates everywhere. Under Denmark's fair electoral system there is a wide choice and about a dozen parties seemed to be contesting.
We had a good SSW F4 breeze behind us as we headed 22nm SE along the coast to the town of Hundested. Unfortunately the wind slowly reduced so after a couple of hours we had to motorsail and then for the last hour just motor.

Arctic explorer Rasmussen lived in Hundested

Hundested is very much a holiday town and on a warm public holiday it was very busy. We wandered around the various craft shops and the harbour area and then decided that we would walk about 2km south to the village of Lynaes which is on the fjord which leads to Roskilde. Fewer people here and we walked back along the beach and then through some woods.

The harbour at Lynaes

Our possible next destination was again W at Odden, about 20nm. However Andrea and I agreed to keep open the option of going further if we had favourable weather. This was the case as we had a SE wind for a passage that required first heading N, then W, then NW and finally SW. There was a complication in that we had to skirt an active military firing range. We knew that it was active as on passage to Hundested we had heard announcements on VHF Radio and also a Danish warship calling ships (yachts or motor boats I suspect) who were entering the prohibited zone. Inspecting the charts showed that it was not possible to completely avoid the zone but by staying within a couple of miles of the coast we thought that we would be in the clear. The wind started off at a brisk F4 and we were soon making good progress and so opted to head to Sejerby on the island of Sejero. During the passage the wind gradually increased to become a minimum of F5 gusting F6 and then into F6 most of the time. Towards the end it reduced a little but we still made the journey of 37nm in just over 6 hours, so a good average for us.
We arrived in a very quiet harbour, a complete contrast to Hundested. This is a small island with a ferry service four times a day. The timetable suggests a journey time of about 85 minutes, so not a commute!

The Sejero ferry

It is a lovely quiet island generally although on Friday about 10 Danish yachts and cruisers arrived, all from the same club. They were a little noisy as they consumed plenty of alcohol! We had the bikes out and cycled about 22km round what is a very pretty island with little traffic to interrupt the bird song!

The town church prominant on the hillside

Traditional Danish church with 15th century paintings

Oystercatchers in the countryside!

Plenty of hares, deer, pheasants and other wildlife

We had a decision to make for Saturday. The plan was to go roughly due W about 18nm to  Ballen on the island of Samso. The forecast was for S winds so good sailing, but first thing in the morning F4 gusting F6 and strengthening to F6 gusting F8 as the day progressed. The winds would decrease from early Sunday morning so if we stayed it would probably be until Monday.We decided to make an 0800 start with the plan to be in Ballen  by lunch time. All went according to plan for the first couple of hours although the wind did veer to WSW. At this stage we had to cross a traffic separation channel and there was a steady stream of shipping both ways so we had to slow down and heave to for a while whilst we picked our time to pass between the ships. When we arrived in Ballen it was to find a very full small harbour because it was a weekend; the weather forecast meant that people were not keen to leave; and there was a Najad yachts rally with about 15-20 boats! A kind Danish sailor waved us in to tie up alongside him. He in turn was tied to an Icelandic yacht against the quay. Boats were rafted two or three out along all of the quay so very cosy!
We walked around the harbour and along the coast during the afternoon, holding on to our hats as the wind became very gusty as forecast.

The busy harbour at Ballen

 On Sunday morning it was still windy but we got the bikes out and cycled around 25km around the E and central part of the island.

Bird breeding grounds on a reef spit - but water level down about 0.6m because of the gale

Typical seashore on the island

A Morgan garage which included a museum of old cars etc

Traditional Samso village

On Sunday afternoon we had learnt that the Icelandic boat on the inside of our raft wanted to leave at 0400 on Monday. I began watching the few departures and saw a chance to move to a single berth which we did.
Nevertheless by 0800 on Monday morning the harbour was emptying quickly and a little while later we set off heading directly into a stiff NNE F4/5 wind under an overcast sky. We motored for 90 minutes to clear a headland surrounded by shallows and rocks and were then able to start sailing very close hauled down at first but then more comfortably as the wind became NE as had been the forecast. We were heading for Ebeltoft which sits in a big bay on the W side of Jutland and offers shelter from the N. In well under 5 hours we had covered the 27nm and were tied up in the sailing club harbour.
Ebeltoft is a charming small market town with narrow cobbled streets and interesting historic buildings particularly from the 18th century.

Cobbled town centre street

The old Town Hall in the square, open to visitors

On Tuesday morning we visited the historic ship Fregatten Jylland which is in a dry dock. The frigate was launched in 1860 and was one of the first to have a coal fired engine and propeller as well as sails. It only participated in one battle, that of Heligoland in 1864 and then became a royal ship before being retired from sea duties in 1887. Worth visiting but cover your ears at noon and 1500 when they fire a cannon!

Fregatten Jylland in its dry dock

Fine figurehead

After this we returned to the town and visited Farvergarden, the old dye works. The oldest part of the building dates from the 17th century and it was operating as a dye works until around 1925. All the old equipment and household furnishings have been retained.

The courtyard within the dye works

One of the dyeing rooms

In the afternoon we rejoined the 21st century with a visit to the modern decorative glass museum Glasmuseet, partially housed in the old custom house. A couple of very interesting special exhibitions complemented the permanent collection.

Window glass by American artist reflecting the commercial world

Special exhibit "Sale of a death man"

Surreal - room with coloured glass on walls and mirrors on ceiling and floor

All very interesting again but now we were museumed out! Our next port is Aarhus, Denmark's second city and we hope for a favourable wind to get us there.