We wanted to be on our way by 07:30 as once again, the forecast showed a deterioration in the weather as the day progressed. Consequently we were in the showers at 06:00 and were comfortably ready to depart by the agreed time. Richard & Gill were patiently waiting for us to go before them as our lines were over theirs, and Gill helped us with our windward bowline as we carefully extricated ourselves from the very tight box that we were in. It was marked as 4.3m and that is the width of CW so it really was tight! There was a breeze of 10-12 knots blowing from the SW which made life a little more challenging but we managed the process without too many problems and were soon on our way, motoring down to the clear water buoy and the entrance to the buoyed channel northwards, a couple of miles away. Once there we were able to turn the engine off and sailed downwind down the channel under genoa alone. Calypso, with a mizzen (sail that is used on the second, aft mast )and a large genoa went like a train on this tack, touching 7.5 knots at times, against our more modest 6.5. Once out to sea the course follows the land in a westerly direction, which meant that we were now sailing, with both sails, close hauled ie all the sails pulled in tight. Calypso is not so good in this direction so Richard used the engine to augment the sails, whereas at least initially, we were able to just sail. However the wind veered a little to the west which meant that we couldn’t make our harbour called Odden so at 09:15, we too, started the engine and motor sailed the rest of the way, arriving at 11:00.

We have been here once before in 2015, on August 19^th to be precise and then we decided that the boxes were too narrow for us and we opted to go alongside. Today we thought we might just fit in to a box so we had a go, even though the wind was blowing at an angle to it. The reason for attempting this manoeuvre was that it is quite a long walk to the shower block from the harbour wall, where we could tie up so it was sheer laziness. All went well, sort of as we had to push the poles apart a little to get in and we were pretty much in to the box when the liferaft, which is attached to the port rear quarter on the outside of the pushpit, caught the pole and instantly swung the bows to port, such that we were now pointing into the harbour and away from the pontoon. I don’t believe any damage was done other than to my dignity as we extricated ourselves from the mess we were in and retired over to the harbour wall, tails well between legs. I HATE Danish boxes!!

We had anticipated being in in plenty of time to assist Calypso as we had more than a mile lead on her by the time we were entering  the harbour but after all our messing about we were still manoeuvring when she arrived so they had to mostly fend for themselves. By now it was a pleasant, sunny day but there were some ominous clouds forming and the forecast did promise thundery showers. We agreed to meet at 14:00 to go for a stroll and find the supermarket, which is up the hill and a little out of town and when we did so, we discovered a museum that I never expected to find, dedicated to, of all things, a Bluefin tuna fishery that existed here! We were keen to learn more and as soon as we’d deposited the groceries, we headed there. The clouds were looking more and more threatening but we felt we had enough time to explore the museum before it rained. We had had one torrential, short shower with lightning and thunder over lunchtime and we certainly didn’t fancy being caught out in one, it really does pour when it is in full flow.

The museum occupies a whole building but it is a small one and it is all one room. There were story boards with pictures, usefully with both English and Danish text and a few exhibits, including a model of the head and tail  of a tuna caught during the 1980’s and finally a small area with a film screen, with two short films running sequentially which were filmed during the 1920’s or 30’s I think. What we learned was that the Bluefin tuna is a migratory species but that there are effectively two main populations, one which breeds in the Mediterranean and one in the Gulf of Mexico. They do intermingle so that these fabulously impressive fishes cover huge mileages during their lifetime, which could be as much as 30 years. They are streamlined, fast, effective predators with a secret that gives them the edge over they prey – they generate enough heat in their tissues that they can out-perform their cold blooded prey which don’t really have a chance. Herring and mackerel and garfish are the three principal prey items that attracted the tuna to these parts and they were to be found in quite significant numbers, so much so that fishermen and sport fishermen would be out there, vying to try to catch the largest fish. They are large, whopping in fact, mature specimens can weigh over 700lbs and be 10’ long! Sadly, these magnificent creatures are a rarity nowadays and indeed the species is threatened due to the age old problem of over exploitation by man, both of the prey species and the Bluefin itself. When you realize that a single Bluefin was sold in an auction in Japan for well over a MILLION dollars, you can begin to appreciate the pressures that the species is under. Shame on us, shame.

By the time we’d watched the films and read all the storyboards, it was evident that we only had minutes before the next deluge. Luckily we got back to the shelter of our respective boats in time but I did take a chance and stopped to take a couple of photos. By the time we were due to meet (1800) on board CW for one of Julie’s magnificent lasagnes, the rain had passed and speaking of passing, the evening did too in pleasant company. Tomorrow we head west and south to the island of Samsø.