Time and tide wait for no man, nor guest schedules neither and today we were due in Denmark's capital city to prepare for the arrival of our first guests of the season. The weather had improved dramatically over the past day or two and suddenley it seemed like summer, with a hot sun already up as we prepared to leave at 7am. Today's would be a more straightforward passage, retracing our track out of the Præstø fjord and then crossing Fakse Bay before turning north round the chalk cliffs of Stevns Klint towards the main shipping route to Copenhagen. The view was very peaceful today but often the waves pound against this section of cliffs, undermining the lower layers of chalk, and every once in a while a section crumbles into the sea.

It was a beautiful clear day and we could see the huge Øresund bridge between Denmark and Sweden from more than 20 miles away. Opened in 2000, the bridge-tunnel crosses the 12 mile strait which has separated Europe and Scandinavia for the last 8,500 years and completes the series of bridges from Jutland to Malmo. To get to Copenhagen's main yacht harbour we went close to the east of Amager island, where we watched planes landing and taking off from Kastrup International Airport every few minutes, and entered the inner harbour canal via the Lynetteløb channel.

We had chosen the Christianshavn Canal as the best central mooring spot and were lucky to find an alongside berth which had been vacated by historic sailing boats departed for a weekend rally. The moorings are mainly taken by resident boats, and free spaces are indicated by the red/green card system. Christianshavn is a prime destination on the tourist circuit and sitting on your boat you are very much part of the scenery. Canal trip boats passed by regularly and although the tour guide appeared to be pointing out our boat in fact it turned out to be the Danish Naval Museum which was just next door. On a warm sunny evening all of Copenhagen seemed to arrive with beers, wine, BBQ's, picnic tables and the like and set themselves up on benches or just on the quayside.

Cruising Statistics

Distance: 49 nm

Total to date: 842 nm

Avg Speed: 5.4 knots

Duration: 9 hours

Diesel: 49 litres

Wind: V 3

Mooring: Kr.130/night

Electricity: Included

Water: Included

Charts

NV Serie 2 - S20

S23

S21

S22A