Pictures from Copenhagen where we had a really nice time:

Little Mermaid

A Palace

Nyhavn

Busy streets

Watching boats in Nyhavn

Castle

Hen party in Nyhavn?

More people.

We left Copenhagen for Denmark’s outlying eastern island of Bornholm – about 18 hours distant – as an overnight passage at Laurie’s behest… “If we’re going to screw up 18 hours sat on the boat – why not make it during sleeping hours primarily so we don’t waste any touring time?” Not able to argue with that logic, we departed at 5pm on Wednesday!

It was a beautiful evening – once again, sunny, dry and cool – and we headed out of the harbor into a 15 knot breeze. Unfortunately the tide was against us and as soon as we tacked to the south, we found ourselves in an adverse current and not making much progress at all. The engine went on and pretty much stayed on the rest of the trip – other than a couple of half hearted attempts to sail in 5 knots  later on.

We watched a beautiful sunset – and Laurie got to see a green flash once again. The sun sets in the north west up here and rises north east – but in reality it never really gets completely dark – this photo was taken at midnight and you can see there is still light available and 3 hours later the sun is rising.

Sunset

And the time is… Midnight. Still light in the sky.

There was even more traffic here than in the north sea – and we had to dodge various vessels from time to time as we crisscrossed the shipping “Traffic Separation Zones” – which we’re only supposed to enter at right angles…

We arrived in Bornholm at 10am and made our first attempt at mooring in a ‘box.’ This normally involves going between two pilings and bow to the pontoon, using ropes secured around the pilings to keep one’s bow from creaming the pontoon. We decided to outdo the Danes by coming in stern to – so we could get on and off easily using our swim platform…  As it happened, when we arrived there was very little wind or current and it was relatively easy to get into the box and secured – but coming in stern to was a major mistake – the pontoon is 4ft high and rigid (no tides here), so we had a difficult time getting on and off the boat. Next time we’ll know better, we’ll come in bow to and clamber over the pull-pit and anchor.

On the dock we met Lars Byder who ended up giving us a tour of the island with his wife Claire – we had an opportunity to visit a really pretty little island that we otherwise would not have seen. Lars is possibly something of a celebrity – he makes custom motor bikes. Guys back at Checon – let me know if he comes up someplace, the pictures he had of some of his creations were pretty spectacular. Claire on the other hand was commissioned to do a couple of cabinets for the Queen!!!

We cycled our tandem around too and have to say Bornholm is a very nice little destination.

Enjoying a beer on Bornholm

This morning (Saturday) we’re leaving for Gdansk, Poland on an overnight trip of about 180 miles, expecting to arrive Monday morning – though we might stop off at Christanso, a small island just off Bornholm for a quick tour.