Copenhagen

After I prepared another of dishes to put in the refrigerator for later, took a shower and wrote an earlier post today, I left the boat to explore Copenhagen. Peter had left after lunch to find a chandlery and get some parts and supplies.

I crossed the bridge from the island of Amager to the island of Zealand, which is the main island where Copenhagen is situated. From the bridge, I could observe some of the swimmers participating in the two-day TrygFonden Copenhagen Swim (also know as the Christiansborg Rundt since the course circles around the the islet of Slotsholmen where the enormous Christianborg Palace is. This weekend there will be over 5,800 participants. This afternoon and evening includes a 4 x 500 meter relay and a 10,000 ultra distance swim and later a 2,000 meter night swim with glowing buoys. Tomorrow throughout the day there are 1,000 and 2,000 meter races. Our British friend John and his daughter Phoebe are participating in one of these.

Swimmers in the event

Christiansborg Palace

More swimmers

As I walked through the palace grounds and to the other side of Slotshomen, I stopped again to watch the swimmers while admiring the architecture and ambiance of downtown Copenhagen. I walked passed Tivoli Gardens to get to the tourist information center where I picked up a helpful map and some hints of things to see in a short time.

Strolling along pedestrian streets, I peeked into shops and looked at architectural details high up on buildings. I stopped into the Lutheran Church of Sankt Petri for a Baroque concert featuring viola de gamba, violin, cembalo and organ. The acoustics and the music itself were amazing. Inside and out it is a simple building, with the nave dating back to 1450, making it the oldest church still functioning as a church in central Copenhagen. The church was enlarged in 1557. In 1585, Frederick II presented the church to his German-speaking subjects, and it has been the parish church for the German-speaking Lutheran community in Copenhagen since then.

Buildings along Nybrogade

Copenhagen City Hall

Church of Sankt Petri

The concert in Church of Sankt Petri

Walking back to the boat, I passed more brick facades with traditional gables, enjoyed the ambiance in Højbro Plads and watched the beginning of one of the relay races by Nybrogade.

Jorcks Passage

Amagertory Square

Statue of Bishop Absalon on Højbro Plads in Copenhagen
with the green copper spire of St. Nikolaj Church in the background

I returned to Mantra by way of interesting streets in Christianshavn, passing many enticing restaurants. Peter's brother Rob is arriving soon to join us for our trip to and through the Kiel Canal and perhaps for the North Sea crossing. Whether we go out to eat or dine on board depends on the rainfall.

Building facade in Christianshavn

The Baltic Sea; Ystad, Sweden; Dragør, Denmark; and Copenhagen

After a great first day of sailing from Kuressaare, Estonia, averaging 8 to 9 knots under sail (95 nautical miles in less than 12 hours), the wind died on us, and we were forced to motor-sail the rest of the way west across the Baltic Sea. Two day, two and half hours after leaving Estonia, with Peter, constantly alert for strange sounds, changed the fuel filter, we docked at Ystad, Sweden, at 10:30 a.m on Wednedsay, August 26. We spent the rest of the day there before continuing toward Denmark.

Ready to get off the boat, we set off to explore the small city, the old part of which is right by the docks. Our first stop as we walked along the cobblestone streets was Sankta Maria Kyrka, which was first built in the 14th century. Originally constructed in the Romanesque style, it was expanded around 1275 in the Brick Gothic style, but a single mural-decorated vault is all that remains. During the 1300s and 1400s it was rebuilt and the current structure consists mostly of these reconstructions. 

The walls and vaulted ceilings of this Lutheran church are simple in design and decoration, but the main altar is Baroque, with numerous carvings, colors and gilt-covered surfaces. There is an intricately carved side altar which was built in Germany in the 15th century. Two medieval crucifixes are prominent features; the one hanging above the entrance to the high altar is adorned with real human hair.

High altar and crucifix with human hair

High altar, Sankta Maria Kyrka

Detail of German-carved side altar

Exterior of Sankta Maria Kyrka

The organ was being played while we were in the church, and we sat and enjoyed the rich sounds for a while. Afterwards, we went in search of a place for lunch. We continued to walk through the historic Old Town, admiring the medieval architecture and squares and the 16th and 17th century half-timbered houses. Groups of these buildings were built around shared central courtyards, and we found a great place for a meal at one of these. 

Main square

Half-timbered buildings from a courtyard

Peter at a restaurant in a courtyard

Sated, we took other streets back to the marina, viewing the 13th century Greyfriars Abbey and the more recently constructed lake and fountain across the street from it. The museum was closed for the day, so we continued on, finding other visually fascinating buildings of brick and timbers. One large building had particularly distinctive carvings above the windows. 

Garden and half-timbered houses

Greyfriars' Abbey

Lake and half-timbered house

Half-timbered building with Sankta Maria Kyrka in the distance

Details of half-timbered structure

The next morning (Thursday, August 27), we were awake before dawn and cast off from the dock before 7 a.m. It was calm in the harbor, but large and frequent swells made sailing uncomfortable in the open sea. Going downwind, sailing wing-and-wing, we averaged just under 6 knots of speed. Fortunately, the swells decreased some en route, and we tied up longside to the wall of the old harbor in Dragør, Denmark, at 3:45 p.m. As we were bringing gear below and settling in before taking off to explore, the police came by just to check our passports. They were quite friendly and welcoming.

Ystad marina just after sunrise

First we walked along the waterfront looking for the harbormaster's office. On the way, we passed an open building, a former shipbuilding shop, where artwork, mostly paintings, was on display and for sale. Local artists are allowed to us the leaky building for studio and exhibition space until the city determines another purpose for it. Nearby was the harbormaster's building, where we paid for the docking at an automated kiosk.

Local art for sale

The small city was lovely in the late afternoon light. We did not find any restaurants that appealed to us, so we walked back to the waterfront and had a very good meal at the sail club's restaurant.

Lovely golden houses

Town square

Cobblestone alley

We geared up in full foulies before casting off. Leaving the dock this morning was quite a challenge. A 20-knot south wind was driving us directly unto the wall. We tried pushing off with our feet at the beam unsuccessfully, then attempted to get the bow away from the wall pushing off with an extendable boat hook. but this also failed. Finally, Peter unlashed the ice pole from the port deck and he spent several minutes pushing with it. I was at the wheel. As soon as he had pushed as far as he could, it was full speed ahead and hard to starboard to the narrow opening of the harbor, where the current was flowing in. Casting off the stern line, Peter took the wheel while I held a walking fender, which we fortunately did not need. At 10 a.m., we were free, and we only lost one fender, which was ripped off against the dock.

Peter starting to push the bow away from the dock with the ice pole

The wind was not favorable for sailing, so we motored the 12 nautical miles to the Wilders Plads Marina in Copenhagen. This was also a new experience, moving slowly between docked boats on either side of the Wilders Canal and turning right angles before slipping in lengthwise to the wall between boats at noon. It started raining hard just after we got the lines fixed, so we have spent the last couple hours on board. I have prepared a lot of meals and taken a shower. Now it's time to see Copenhagen!

Wilders Canal

Saaremaa Island, Estonia and the Baltic Sea Crossing

I am on watch. The sun rose about an hour ago. Conditions are benign and boring. We set off from Kuressaare, Saaremaa Island, Estonia, two days ago, at 8 a.m. Monday, August 24. It was very calm, so Peter left me sleeping and let Mantra slip off the dock at Kuressaare on his own. I was up by 9 a.m., though. After we motored out of the long, dredged, narrow channel for the harbor, we were able to set sail by 9:15 on a deep broad reach with 18 knots of wind from the northwest and only a slight chop in the sea. The plan was to sail for two days and two nights to reach either southern Sweden or Denmark. It has been 48 hours and we are still heading west on the open sea.

The wind remained steady all day on Monday, and the seas increased up to 5 feet. By mid-afternoon, we were sailing on a close reach and it was just a bit too rolling to play games or read, even for me, and I had to lie down a couple times to counter the early queasiness I felt when I spent more than half a hour reading. Peter also took some breaks during the day. Here is how my watch goes under sail with steady conditions and long distances on the same bearing:  Look at the instruments, checking for wind speed and direction, boat speed, depth and other vessels on AIS.  Adjust angle to the wind slightly as necessary to maintain course. Listen for luffing, look at the sails and tell-tales, and adjust sails as required. Look all around, seeing only water and sky. Repeat ad nauseam. 

I fed us French toast for breakfast, grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch and corn chowder for dinner. After a couple naps during the day, with the rocking of the boat quickly lulling me to sleep, I was ready for night watch again just after midnight. By then, the wind had dropped to 8 knots and continued to lessen over night. Amazingly, I stayed on watch for six hours, until Peter took over after dawn. 

Sunrise

On Tuesday morning (August 25), after I slept for a while, I started with household tasks, thoroughly cleaning the forward cabin (even the entire ceiling, which was showing a bit of mold in a few places) and doing five loads of laundry in the washing machine. A sure way to get the bright sunshine to disappear is to hang clothes on the life lines to dry! The atmosphere turned misty at times, but at least the sun broke through for periods of time, allowing the laundry to become less wet. Only a few items were actually dry enough to fold and put away. 

Before nightfall, we collected the laundry in a basket before the clothes and towels starting taking in rather than releasing water. After the sun gets higher in the sky and not obscured by low clouds on the eastern horizon, I will hang it all up again and cross my fingers! Right now, there is still condensation on the outside of the pilot house windows on the far side from the sun. 

We amused ourselves by mending shoes, watching a little bird who visited, playing games and reading.

Warbler hitching a ride

Peter mending his slippers. I also repaired a pair of shoes.

Now I will go back to our brief time on the island of Saaremaa off the west coast of mainland Estonia. On Saturday, August 22, around 3:30 p.m., with heavy rain and wind gusting to 25 knots, we dropped anchor at Sutu Laht.(Sutu Bay). Bundled up in our full foulies, we kept our inner clothes dry. We closed ourselves inside to ride out the storm, which lasted through the night. The wind howled in the rigging at 35 knots with gusts up to 45. We are not certain of the exact numbers because thunder roared and lighting flashed near us as I was making dinner, and we put the boat's navigational computer, our laptops and a couple handheld electronic instruments in the oven, a Farraday cage, and turned off the main electronics, hoping to avoid a lightning strike. 

Peter after anchoring

Sherri is in there

Wind instruments before we turned off the electronics

It was still gloomy and rainy on Sunday morning (August 23) when, after breakfast, we pulled up anchor around 10:20. Once out of the bay, we were sailing at 7 knots with over 20 knots of WNW wind. The wind increased up to 27 knots as we made our way to Kuressaare Marina, and we had to put three reefs in the mainsail. Arriving at Kuressaare, we were met by the dockmaster, who helped us tie up in in the strong wind.

With the days ticking away on our Schengen visas, we tidied up the boat quickly and went off to see the castle, not bothering to have lunch. On the 10-minute walk there, we passed a large and interesting statue depicting a bulky man and woman carrying a dory overflowing with fish. These two legendary characters are guardians for the fishermen on the island. According to the plaque, these heroes "had warm hearts, they were hard-working and righteous as the islanders used to be. The islanders, wherever they stay and whenever they need help, always keep the heroes Töll and Piret in the minds."

Töll and Piret statue

Kuressaare Castle is a plain rectangular stone structure from the outside surrounded by a star-shaped fortification and a sizable moat. All the grounds outside the castle walls are now an attractive public park. Our first destination inside the castle was the cafe at the top of a defensive tower, offering great views and delicious desserts (not the best late lunch, but that was all that was on the menu in the late afternoon). Fortified with food and drinks, we returned to the lowest level of the castle and began our exploration.

Kuressaare Castle and moat

Peter in the cafe

The castle was built before 1380 for the bishops of Saare-Lääne as part of the effort of Catholics to Christianize and gain control of the Estonian islanders, who were understandably resistant. Over the centuries, the island and the castle were controlled by the Germans, Denmark-Norway, Sweden, and the Russian Empire as well as the Nazis and then the Soviets during WWII. Also, much of the castle was destroyed, rebuilt, improved, restored and reconstructed during that time. 

Today, the inside of the castle with its extremely thick walls and many staircases, is not furnished as it would have been, except for one room of the bishop's quarters, but serves as a museum displaying a very small portion of the collection of the Saaremaa Museum, revealing the history of the island from as far back as the Bronze Age through the 20th century, including a lot of information and exhibits about life in the 19th century, the occupation during WWII and Estonia during the oppression of the Soviet era. Only some of the signage was in English; most was only in Estonian and Russian. Therefore, we had to discern the significance of the items based on our general historical knowledge (since our understanding of the specifics of the history of the Eastern Baltic States is minimal). Taking in museum displays without explanations is a different and refreshing experience, requiring an intersection in the mind between what is known and what is seen and making inferences and guesses. We particularly appreciated the wry sense of humor displayed on the risers on the steps leading up to cafe regarding Russian communism.

A rural parlor

Traditional Estonian women's clothing

A room in the bishop's quarters

One of several large insignia on a wall with an epitath

Chapel

Gothic passageways

The inner courtyard

Peter by the reconstructed windmill outside the castle walls

Comments on four flights of stairs

The museum/castle closed at 6 p.m., and we walked around the grounds, walls and bastions before heading into the heart of the city. The town center is attractive and colorful, with a fountain from the pavement illuminated in alternating colors. Hungry, we went to the Windmill restaurant, which has excellent reviews, to find it closed for the evening. The next two restaurants we tried could not seat us; one had reservtations for the next hour and the other was hosting a special event. (By this time, Peter was starting to get mildly hangry.) The staff at this establishment recommended another restaurant on the main street. There we were seated promptly in a pleasant atmosphere and enjoyed delicious meals. I asked for ice with my Coke Zero and the young, blond waiter brought a bowl with tongs.

Town center

My serving of ice

Afterwards, we stopped at a nearby supermarket to replenish provisions for the passage across the Baltic. 

Mute swans in the moat

Castle in the evening