Klintholm, Denmark

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We reached Denmark the day after transiting the Kiel Canal, and anchored for the night at the west end of Smalandsfarvandet. The next day we passed through eastbound to Klintholm, where we rode our bikes out to view the famous Mont Klint chalk cliffs and enjoyed touring the area. Being early in the season, we were the only pleasure craft there, and and it’s been a long time since we have seen another US-flagged vessel.

Below are trip highlights from March 22nd and 23rd, 2019 in Denmark. Click any image for a larger view, or click the position to view the location on a map. And a live map of our current route and most recent log entries always is available at mvdirona.com/maps

3/22/2019
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Fog
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.
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Steering Fluid Leak
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.
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German Flag
Lowering our German courtesy flag as we leave Germany. You can see behind us that we’re still in a pretty thick fog.
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Danish Flag
And raising a Danish courtesy flag as we enter Danish waters.
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Positive Current
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.
3/23/2019
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Storstrom Bridge
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.
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Faro Bridge
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.
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Town
The fog has lifted slightly, giving us a view to the town of Stubbekobing to our south as we pass through Gronsund.
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Klintholm Havn
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.
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Paying
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.
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Biking
Out on the bikes to visit the famous Mons Klint chalk cliffs.
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Mons Klint Visitor Center
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.
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Stairs to Beach
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”.
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Mons Klint
A first view to the spectacular chalk cliffs of Mons Klint.
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Recent Fall
The chalk cliffs are constantly crumbling and we noticed several very recent-looking falls.
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Break
Taking a break to enjoy the view beneath the cliffs.
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Cliffs From Above
The view east along the cliffs from above. The waters below reminded us of the South Pacific.
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Beach
Beautiful beach view just north of the harbour after we returned to Klintholm Havn.
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Memorial
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.
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Portofino
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.
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Offloading Fish
Walking back to Dirona after dinner, we stopped to watch a fishboat offloading their haul Klintholm Havn.
Show locations on map Click the travel log icon on the left to see these locations on a map, with the complete log of our cruise.

On the map page, clicking on a camera or text icon will display a picture and/or log entry for that location, and clicking on the smaller icons along the route will display latitude, longitude and other navigation data for that location. And a live map of our current route and most recent log entries always is available at mvdirona.com/maps.

   


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