Last night it rained really hard but fortunately, by the time we were up and about the weather had improved dramatically and it was a nice summery day. This is such a civilized country, they even arrange the rain to occur mainly at night!

Our plan today was to make about 25 miles or so southwards towards the tip of Sweden, before it turns westwards towards Karlskrona and Ystad . The harbour we were heading for is called Kristianopel and one of the reasons we wanted to stop there was that there is reported to be a colony of about 500 harbour seals in the vicinity and we were keen to see some, if at all possible.

We were off and away by 08:15 and sailing by 08:30. The forecasts seemed to suggest that the wind would become stronger as the day progressed and as they were supposed to be coming from the southwest, ie where we were headed, we wanted to minimise the aggravation and get to Kristianopel before the winds picked up. As it transpired, we had a nice favourable breeze for the first 3 hours and then it died, so we motored the rest of the way, arriving at this pretty little spot by 14:00. No seals were spotted by the way.

Kristianopel was founded in 1600 by the Danish king, Christian IV and the intention was that this would become an important city, so fortifications of 11 metres high were built around the town . The Swedes, who naturally thought that it was about time that the Danes went back to Denmark, had other ideas and when they succeeded in winning the town back around the middle of the century, they raised the walls to a less imposing height and that is how they look today, a bit like large stone walls in Derbyshire, for instance. The church dates from around then and it has definite Danish feel about it. Later in the afternoon, after we'd helped Odile tie up, we went for a walk and were charmed by the pretty houses and lovely gardens. Apparently, this is a ghost town(village) more or less, in the winter months, with only about 40 inhabitants but there are 3 restaurants that stay open all year. I was particularly taken by the graveyard, I have never seen such an immaculate one, with lovely flowers growing everywhere, many of the graves had roses planted on or nearby. We also liked the interior of the church, the altar had trees painted either side, quite unusual.

Later on we had, for the last time, drinks on Odile. I say for the last time not because we fell out but rather our paths separate as of tomorrow, they head off for Karlskrona to pick up Andy’s sister & husband but we’ll meet again in the middle of the month in Travemünde.

It was a lovely summer’s evening and it is on these sorts of occasions that one really appreciates the aquatic gypsy life, it’s great chatting with new neighbours, hearing their plans and adventures and sharing one or two of ours. Not a bad way of passing an hour or two.