We met with Claire in Copenhagen for a pleasant evening and a short morning walk before catching the train from Copenhagen across the Øresund Bridge and on to Karlskrona.
CopenhagenArrival at Trinovante in Karlskrona
Exploration of Karlskrona
We set sail from Karlskrona at 4am the next day, arriving 12 hours later at Gudhjem on the island of Bornholm – a Danish island which is SE of Sweden and almost as far east as one can go in Denmark.The Ertholme ferry which links Gudhjem with the Ertholmene (Christiansø) islands.The awkward little harbour, with rocks outside and an awkward turn once inside for John to negotiate last nightLucy and I went for a little walk along the sea frontLater, a walk up into the town, finding both ice cream and some pastries for later. The triangle is the second of the two leading marks, showing the line of approach into the harbour.
We then went for a visit to Baltic Sea Glass, with a demonstration of glass blowing.
Some of the finished itemsWe set sail late afternoon, heading east and then south around the coast of Bornholm before heading for the Polish coast overnightSafely arrived in Świnoujście, which some of the crew re-christened Scarborough, after a 90-mile overnight sail in light winds. It was hot: 32° but we felt much more refreshed after going for a swim in the sea (more challenging that you might think as it was shallow for a long, long way out) and then a shower (again more challenging than expected as I had to break one of the female members of the crew out of her shower when she got locked in, leading to me being dubbed as superhero “Showerman”).
In the evening we found a restaurant and all ate out – our Polish being non-existent and their English being almost non-existent, we had to rely on my use of German as a lingua franca, which was something of a challenge, but we coped.We head along the Swina river through Świnoujście…past some of the Polish navyTwo canal sections bypass the river to make access easier for ships…like this one, as we reach the end of the canals and emerging into the open Szczecin LagoonClaire relaxes while John is at the wheel
Looking out for channel markers and fishing areas. The lagoon covers an area of 687 km², but its depth is an average of only 3.8 metres.Looking towards the lights on the coast as we are anchored for the night in the north-eastern part of the lagoonAfter sailing south across the lagoon, we make our way along the Odra. Just visible on the right is the yacht station where we are greeted with a cannon and the British national anthem at high volume – the first time anyone has played it for me.Kitted out in our Trinovante uniform for the greetingSafely moored in Szczecin. Time for a bit of exploration this evening and in the morning, then it’s time to go home again already.
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