Nordic Sailing
На русском. 🇷🇺
After an oceanic journey in the Canaries earlier this year, closer to autumn, I felt the call of the sails again. I wasn’t alone in this. Dima started planning a trip from Gothenburg to Großenbrode, but as the crew came together, he decided to downshift from captain duties to first mate. This time, the captain was the seasoned sea wolf, Sasha.
Besides the three of us, the crew included Zhenya and Vova. The team was so rugged that we sailed day and night, covering 293 nautical miles in a week.
Dima and I flew out from Berlin the day before the trip, planning to spend the night in Gothenburg, stock up on provisions in the morning, and then meet the rest of the crew at the marina to pick up the boat.
At the airport, everything went quickly and relatively smoothly. Dima checked his luggage, and then we leisurely drank a can of Red Bull each, which he had in his carry-on and couldn’t take through security.
The flight passed quickly, with the sun setting beautifully, illuminating the clouds outside the window. We flew over the Øresund Bridge, which we were later set to sail past.
Upon landing, a surprise awaited us. Dima’s large bag was missing from the baggage claim. After about 15 minutes, we started to suspect something was wrong and ran around the airport in confusion. After futile attempts to check every corner of the baggage area, a local employee determined that the bag had been left at Berlin Airport. As it turned out, the bag had caught the attention of security, and while they were inspecting it (finding nothing), the plane took off.
It wasn’t the most pleasant situation. The bag contained items Dima was counting on, and we were set to leave the city the next day, so “delayed delivery” seemed unlikely. Fortunately, the most important items and documents were in his carry-on, and after taking the airport service’s phone number, we headed to the hotel.
The town was small, and we quickly reached the central area by bus. We checked into our room, dropped off our things, and went for a walk around the neighborhood to grab dinner. On a Friday evening, the place was buzzing with people in bars, but there were far fewer spots to eat.
In the morning, we had a hearty and delicious breakfast at the hotel and continued on our way. Due to the missing bag, our plan included a visit to a sports store to replace some of the essential items that were lost.
We had enough time, so we strolled through the city. Along the way, we stopped by a church and listened to an organist rehearsing, playing secular melodies. One of them reminded me of a theme from "The Lord of the Rings".
After the sports store, we stocked up on groceries and took a taxi to the marina. There, we decided to wait for the rest of the crew to join the captain in inspecting the boat.
Near the marina, a festival featuring retro cars was happening. While the boat was being checked, I went to take a look. Then, we realized we didn’t have any coffee, so I ran to the nearest store to fix that oversight.
The boat was in good shape, the crew was assembled, and we set sail. By evening, about 15 miles later, we reached the island of Kungsö. Anchoring took four attempts because the anchor kept slipping on the grassy seabed.
In the morning, we sailed to the island of Anholt (about 100 km or 54 nautical miles). There was no wind, so we used the motor. By around 5:30 PM, we arrived.
It was still sunny enough to take a dip in the not-so-warm water at the beach near the marina. Then we went for a walk around the island. The island has a small village with a school, surrounded by low-growing forest and sandy dunes. The pre-sunset sun played with light and shadow.
We returned to the boat at dusk.
From Anholt, we went to Helsingør (104 km or 56 nautical miles). There was no wind again. The main attraction is the fortress near the harbor; we went for a walk late in the evening when it was already dark.
The next morning, we sailed to Copenhagen. The journey was short, 39 km or 21 nautical miles, so we were approaching the marina by midday.
There was enough time to stroll through the city and visit a museum. The city turned out to be very beautiful, sunny, and summery, with lots of canals and waterways.
We ended the day with a delicious dinner at one of the restaurants and returned to the boat.
The city's metro trains operate automatically, without a driver.
The next day, we dedicated to Copenhagen and went for a walk in the morning. The weather was great again.
We visited several museums; the war and maritime museum was particularly large. Dima split off and visited the medical museum.
Throughout the city, we often saw wooden platforms and decks along the canals where relaxed locals were sunbathing en masse.
The delayed luggage finally caught up with Dima at Copenhagen Airport.
Closer to evening, we returned to the boat and set off on a long overnight passage to Hårbølle (141 km, 76 nautical miles). As we left the city, we witnessed a real regatta, with numerous sailboats racing against each other.
The wind finally picked up, and we sailed mostly under sail from then on.
After the overnight passage, we stopped at Hårbølle marina to sleep, rest, and refill water.
Then, after lunch, we continued on and reached Gedser marina by evening (52 km, 28 nautical miles). In the evening, we took a walk around the area.
On Friday, we set off for our final destination, Großenbrode (78 km, 42 nautical miles). The wind was strong, so we sailed with reefed sails.
At the harbor, we refueled the boat, moored, handed it over, and went to explore the area.
It was still very windy, which was perfect for the many kite surfers out there.
After spending the night on the boat, we packed up in the morning and headed to Lübeck. From there, we took trains home.
As usual, the sailing trip was enjoyable and exciting!