Position: 54°29.21’N, 10°20.06’E

We departed our anchorage off Strande, just north of the Kiel Canal, in a thick fog. Heavy ship traffic was visible on AIS but visibility was so poor we never saw a single one.

Position: 54°29.86’N, 10°23.13’E

The pilot house steering pump has developed a minor seep at the steering wheel shaft. Hynautic SeaStar steering systems are designed to operate at atmospheric pressure, but when the boat was new, bleeding the steering system was a real struggle. Hynautic recommend an overflow container to make it easier to bleed and less prone to pushing oil out the vent. The overflow Hynautic supplied was from one of their other systems that do run pressure. They said it was fine to run a small 5 PSI positive pressure to make leaks easier to detect. We’ve done that for 9 years. With a nearly 10 year old seal at the helm pump, any positive pressure now will seep oil. We’ll plan to change the seal but, for now, we relieved the pressure and this appeared to correct the problem.

Position: 54°36.47’N, 10°42.17’E

Lowering our German courtesy flag as we leave Germany. You can see behind us that we’re still in a pretty thick fog.

Position: 54°36.56’N, 10°42.30’E

And raising a Danish courtesy flag as we enter Danish waters.

Position: 54°48.44’N, 10°52.31’E

The Baltic Sea has no appreciable tidal exchange, so we were a little surprised to be in a 2-kt positive current. At 1800RPM we were making 10.1 knots, when normally we only do 8.25 knots at that RPM.

Position: 54°58.40’N, 11°52.09’E

After a peaceful night anchored off Vejro at the western edge of Smalandsfarvandet, we got underway in overcast condtions. Here we are passing under the Storstrom Bridge that carries road and railway traffic over the Storstrommen between Falster and Masnedo islands and is on the rail line between Copenhagen and Germany.

Position: 54°56.83’N, 11°57.58’E

The elegant southern span of the Faro Bridge disappearing towards Faro Islands. The bridge was completed in 1985 to reduce congestion on the Storstrom Bridge that we just passed under.

Position: 54°53.89’N, 12°1.86’E

The fog has lifted slightly, giving us a view to the town of Stubbekobing to our south as we pass through Gronsund.

Position: 54°57.25’N, 12°28.01’E

Moored for the night on the commercial docks at Klintholm Havn. We’re pretty early in the season and are the only visiting pleasure craft here. And certainly the only US-flagged vessel.

Position: 54°57.18’N, 12°27.91’E

James paying for our moorage in the automated machine at the harbour office. The price is a very reasonable DKK 284 (USD 42.75) per night, including power.

Position: 54°57.73’N, 12°32.46’E

Out on the bikes to visit the famous Mons Klint chalk cliffs.

Position: 54°57.93’N, 12°32.85’E

It took just under a half-hour to reach the Mons Klint Visitor Center from the harbour. We’re too early in the season for visitor center though—it doesn’t open until mid-April.

Position: 54°57.98’N, 12°32.92’E

Walking the extensive stairs down to the beach below the cliffs. Several dozen visitors still were here with us on this sunny and calm Saturday afternoon, but nothing like the summer numbers. According to Lonely Planet, the area is so incredibly popular with visitors on midsummer weekends that “it’s surprising the whole island doesn’t tilt eastwards with the sheer weight of visitors”.

Position: 54°57.95’N, 12°33.12’E

A first view to the spectacular chalk cliffs of Mons Klint.

Position: 54°58.03’N, 12°33.07’E

The chalk cliffs are constantly crumbling and we noticed several very recent-looking falls.

Position: 54°58.33’N, 12°33.04’E

Taking a break to enjoy the view beneath the cliffs.

Position: 54°58.11’N, 12°32.99’E

The view east along the cliffs from above. The waters below reminded us of the South Pacific.

Position: 54°57.32’N, 12°27.76’E

Beautiful beach view just north of the harbour after we returned to Klintholm Havn.

Position: 54°57.23’N, 12°28.08’E

On May 5th, 1945, the day of the Liberation of Denmark, a barge washed up ashore in this spot carrying 370 prisoners who the Nazis set adrift from Germany. The prisoners were near death from starvation and illness, but a remarkable 351 survived, due to Mons islanders who risked their own lives to save them. The memorial was erected 50 years later to remember the 19 prisoners who did not survive and to commemorate the selfless actions of the islanders.

Position: 54°57.23’N, 12°28.15’E

An excellent pizza dinner with a wonderful bottle of Barolo at Portofino Italian restaurant at Klintholm Havn. We were lucky to get a table—the place is popular and was almost completely booked.

Position: 54°57.19’N, 12°28.04’E

Walking back to Dirona after dinner, we stopped to watch a fishboat offloading their haul Klintholm Havn.