Gedser, Denmark.

We have learned how hard it is to leave Denmark! We sailed south to Rødvig, about 35 miles south of Copenhagen, on the same island of Zealand. Our docking was very smooth, although to be fair, the marinas at this time of year are basically empty. But it still felt good to finally get the hang of the docklines coming in for a landing. (Finally, Beth!😂 ) Rødvig is a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its stunning chalk and clay cliffs, like the cliffs of Dover. The excellent museum there (in the middle of nowhere) enlightened us to the catastrophic explosion 66 million years ago when an asteroid hit the Earth, setting off firestorms, tsunamis and a “nuclear winter” type of sudden global cooling that killed half of all species, including the dinosaurs. It turns out that the chalky earth and limestone layers were formed by the skeletons of tons and tons of micro-crustaceans. What is now Denmark was previously a huge sea. Who knew?

After two nights in Rødvig we sailed south to Klintholm, another stunning spot sailors love (thank you Heleen van Tholen!). But, the weather was mixed. Each day, Apple weather said it was sunny, but the sky was covered by a blanket of gray. Holes of blue appeared, taunting us. We found Klap Hesten, a bohemian bar/cafe at the marina. When we asked the owner, “Ole,” if we he knew whether we could access wifi in the marina, he gave us the password to the bar’s wifi and invited us to use it on the terrace when we wanted to work in the morning. As we thanked him and walked toward Star Mist, the elegant, white-haired former yacht racer ran after us with a key in his hand. “Just let yourself in tomorrow morning and make a coffee for yourselves,” he said. “I have to take care of some horses but I’ll be there later.” Ole barely knew us, but having learned of our voyage to this point, turned over the keys to the kingdom. How often does this happen in the modern world?

Friday we sailed south to Gedser, the southernmost point in Denmark, another 35 miles. We used almost no fuel. Winds started out at 15-20 knots, so we put two reefs in and unfurled the genoa conservatively, shoved along by the easterly wind as we sailed southwest. Even though we’re so excited to be back on land, back home, you could say we are dragging our feet, or dragging an anchor, not wanting this beautiful summer to end. The weather has turned summer-like again, akin to what we experienced in June in the Netherlands, so the sunshine seems to beg us to keep sailing. But we must get to Neustadt to turn over Star Mist to Sirius Yachts for some green energy upgrades and TLC, so tomorrow we will sail 53 miles to heimat Germany. On our last day in Denmark, we walked to the southernmost rocks of the country. On our way, a sign pointed to a smoked fish shop. Unbelieveable! So we will enjoy a last mouthwatering mackerel and eel as our “last supper” in Denmark before crashing in preparation for our final sail of the summer. Waaah!😭😂🇩🇰❤️