Well I should be typing this in Sweden, or at least Denmark, but instead here we are still in Burgstaaken, Fehmarn. The reason? The weather. Basically the wind has been blowing hard from Northerly quarters for some days and as I sit and type this at 14:30 in the afternoon, the weather is now most definitely showing signs of improving. The wind has dropped to a reasonable 15 -18 knots and the sun is out, so sheltered from the chill breeze it is very pleasant indeed. Moreover, if the forecast proves accurate, we should be getting much the same winds tomorrow but from a better, from a sailing point of view, SW direction. If this occurs and if we don't sleep through the alarm, then we will start our odyssey at 07:00 tomorrow, either sailing about 30 miles to Gedser, on the island of Falster in Denmark or, if the sailing is good and we’re up for it, we press on to Klintholm, on the tip of the island of Mon, a further 30 – odd miles and the last Danish landfall. We shall see.

So, what have we been up to since last Thursday? Well, the short answer is not an awful lot . We’ve deliberately slowed down in order to recharge our batteries and we’ve very successfully done that (!) and we’ve passed the time very peaceably, pottering about doing final preparations for the boat (a bit like the Forth Bridge, one never actually finishes), a bit more shopping and of course, socialising. Tonight it’s Andy & Pauline Smith’s turn to host, on Odile. As she’s opposite us on the same pontoon, we won’t have far to go! We might then watch another episode of 'The Killing’ (ii), those of you that read my blog last year may recall my raving enthusiastically about the original, well this one is pretty gripping too.

Skype has been a real Godsend for us over the past few days. We’ve had long chats with my sister & brother in law over from the US, also my niece who also visited my mum albeit after my sister had left (they were over for the wedding of Jo, Rachel’s old friend from her Worthing days and I gather that it was a super occasion and that everything went well). We’ve also been able to keep up with another friend, Pete Answer, who’s found himself in hospital. We’re delighted and relieved to learn that he is progressing well and should be home after the weekend.  

Actually, I must confess that typing a blog entry when there is nothing much of general interest to say is hard work, so I’ll stop now! I’ve just included 3 photos taken here in Burgstaaken earlier today, which is fish market day ( an annual event and a misnomer, it’s basically just a bunch of stalls selling the usual stuff, but a nice atmosphere all the same).