Loosening our belt! Part 1

We had arranged to meet Anne’s sister Lorna, in Nyborg as there is a fast train from Copenhagen airport. She was going to join us for a week. So we were keen not to be late as we needed to do lots of washing and to tidy and clean Grace to make her acceptable for visitors!

Leaving Svendborg in light airs

We left Svendborg at 1000 in a light F2, it seemed as if we would have to motor sail all the way as it is a 25 nm trip and we were barely making 2.5 knots under sail alone. The channel out into the Sund is also quite complex with plenty of opportunity for disaster. As usual our departure coincided with that of the ferry, this time the Helge, an old steam ferry dating from 1905, but she soon slipped away from us as she cut across the sandbanks in a way we dared not risk.

The steam ferry Helge

The channel to Langeland snakes out between the islands of Thuro and Tasinge for 4 nm. There are some really nice houses on the side of the Fjord with waterside moorings.

This is the best place to live in Svendborg

Valdemar’s Slot

We then sailed past King Valdemar’s castle and out to the South Cardinal, turning on a bearing of 025 and then on a very broad reach past the Elsetroval Lighthouse and up to Lohals on Langeland. The Great Belt Bridge piers came into sight despite being still almost 20 nm away. It really is a monumental piece of engineering! The wind had built very nicely and Grace was now running under full sail in a F4 south westerly and we were gybing our way up the Langeland Sund. We are going to buy Grace a present of a pole to hold out the genoa on a run this Christmas! My efforts with a boat hook, although effective was a bit crude!

Crude but effective!

After about 12 nm miles we reached the safe water buoy marking the start of the Nyborg Fjord. Then after about 4 nm miles we were through the entrance of the marina. It is very large and we had plenty of time to get our mooring lines ready while we found a box mooring. What we did not realise was that for a short stay, mooring at the town quay is more fun and saves a bit of a walk!

Safely moored up in the marina

The town quay, the rain started and we had to find refuge in the distillery!

Nyborg

Views of Nyborg, a pretty and very quiet little town

Nyborg main claim to fame was that it was a massive ferry terminal for the link between Fyn and Sjaeland. Then in 1998 they opened the Great Belt Bridge and railway tunnel, this virtually killed the place off overnight! In the marina they have a memorial to the crew the of a Stirling Bomber which was shot down in 1943 laying mines across the Great Belt. Although the wreck was a war grave they had to blow it up before they could build the bridge as it still had 16 mines on board and was in the direct path of the the bridge foundations.

Memorial to Stirling bomber crew

However it does have a great beach (with no jelly fish) to go swimming from and a distillery. They have only just opened this year so visitors are more like guinea pigs as you sample everything! By the end of the visit, some 5 hours later, with which we combined with great cocktails and lunch our resistance (good sense?) had completely been eroded and we ended buying a bottle of 62.5 degree proof cask strength rum for the boat! It was eye wateringly expensive and equally eye watering to drink without diluting it first! But it does keep the cold out of your bones!

A great beach and lovely clear water

Samples and cocktails!

The stills

Refurbished port casks for colour and flavour!

Filling my own bottle, most of it ended up on the floor!

Ships rum to keep out the cold!