This time it was Geraldine who was up first and all of us were showered etc by 06:30, more than enough time to have breakfast and get to the station. We spent the remaining time we had together chatting and relaxing but time passed and we left the boat around 08:40 to walk the half kilometre or so to the station. Owen stopped to buy some cakes for the journey (they are both gold star cake and chocolate eaters!) and we got to the station just before 09:00, with time to spare for the 09:26. Julie and I were not planning on staying with them as we had over 20 miles to go to our next harbour and the weather was forecast to deteriorate later in the day. However, a Helsingør train arrived just then and it made sense for them to catch that one, so with hasty goodbyes they were off. It had been a lovely week with them, our oldest friends, Owen and I have been friends for 57 years, I have just worked out.

We had nothing to do on the boat other than cast off so we were on our way by 09:15. We were due to meet up with Calypso (Richard Baker and Gill Worthy, last together in Ystad) at a harbour called Lynæs 25 miles to the west of us. The forecast was for SW-W winds, increasing later in the day and with rain showers developing. This meant that a) we would be motoring and b) it made sense to get there asap before the wind picked up and the sea became lumpy, as short sharp waves can slow the boat down markedly. As it happened, we got to Lynæs without any drama, apart from two showers which reduced visibility markedly and we arrived, as predicted, at 13:30, mooring in a box berth next to Calypso.

It was nice seeing Richard & Gill again but we didn’t chat for long as we had a mission, or at least Julie had – we have 6 loads of washing to do, including the two guest sleeping bags so we wanted to get 4 done so that was the priority, we could spend time together later. After about an hour, when Julie was in the room which houses the washer and dryer, the skies darkened dramatically and the wind started blowing and then it rained and HOW it rained, it was real monsoon stuff and associated with this was wind – it had increased from around 6 knots to 37 knots ie a full gale. I tried to catch the moment on camera but it had fallen to 36 knots by the time I got the camera ready. Very dramatic whilst it lasted and it kept poor Julie trapped in the washroom! Still, no harm done and by 17:45, all 4 washes were done and dried with us £15 poorer but worth it. The sleeping bags can wait until we have a day that we can dry them on the line, rather than tumble dry.

That evening we had dinner together on board Calypso. Gill, reckoning that the weather would not be suitable for a barbecue, had kindly cooked enough spaghetti Bolognese for us all and we contributed a salad, drinks and nibbles. It was a very pleasant evening when we caught up with the last week or so’s events and enjoyed Gill’s excellent dinner and we parted company at 09:45, tomorrow we head further west and again, the forecast is for worsening conditions later in the day so we will make an early start.