22.7.2021:
We left our homeharbor Woudsend at 6 pm and sailed to Stavoren where we spent the night. In Stavoren we found out that our batterycharger was not working. A bad start of the trip, despite of so many preparations. After calling the boatyard in Den Helder we could book an electrician, who made a provisional solution, so we were able to continue our 4 week trip. The next day we sailed via the locks of Den Oever to Den Helder, where we met the crews of the other boats, with whom we would sail the next 4 weeks. This trip is organized by a dutch sailing club (de Toerzeilers). In total we are 9 adults and 9 children in the age of 12 to 19 years old. The boats vary in length between 10 and 12 meters.
Saturday 24.07. we left the harbor at 11 am and sailed close hauled with 6 Bft in north east direction. After approximately 6 hours we decided to make an extra stop in Terschelling to wait for better weather on the next day. On Sunday we started the long trip to Tyboron, at the entrance at the Limfjord. Long nights with only little wind were lying ahead of us. On Tuesday at 2 pm we arrived in Tyboron, where we waited shortly because of lightning and then continued to Lemvig. After 54 hours at sea and totally 270 NM finally the boat was not moving anymore and we could spend a quite night.
Wednesday 28.7. because we had sailed a lot under engine power we all had to fill up our tanks. Under perfect windconditions we sailed to Nyköbing, where we spent the night in the local marina.
After visting the small town of Nyköbing we continued again under great windconditions to the isle of Fur, where we anchored on a quiet spot and went to the mainland with our dinghies. The next day we sailed to Aalborg, where we spent two nights in a marina in front of the local Street Food hall.
In Aalborg some parts oft he other crews have been exchanged and we continued to Hals, the end of the Limfjord. Again with perfect winds between 4 to 6 Bft from behind.
The next day we sailed from Grenaa to Ebeltoft. After arriving in Ebeltoft we noticed that our engine room was filled with 10 liters of water. After checking the engine we found the cause: the cooling water pump was leaking and a seal had to be renewed. At this point the engine can only be reached by removing one of the enginemounts, we needed to call a mechanic to get this done. After calling at least 5 companies (no time, no time, no time..) we finally found a company south of Aarhus who made the repair a few days later. In the meantime we kept the seavalve closed as long as we were in a marina. The next day we sailed to a beautiful anchoring spot and spent the night here.
On Friday afternoon we left the anchoring spot and sailed with great winds to Aarhus, where we stayed for two nights, so we could discover this beautiful city.
On Sunday we left Arhus again we sailed to Hov/Hou where the coolingpump was repaired the next morning. The other boats in the group sailed to Tunö.
On Monday we would have had windforce 6 full against us, so we decided to stay in the harbour, which gave me the opportunity to write this first part of the summerholiday blog.
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