Copenhagen – Aalborg

There’s a special feeling in the boat and skipper when they both venture out on long passage. 140 nm is hardly close to a world record, and at a table of sailors it would properly be scuffed with a “nahh”. However this is one of the longest passages me and the old girl can put in our log, and I approach it with a sense of respect. I’ve done much longer passages on other ships; you go through your mental checklist over and over. You cannot help to check every detail of the ship, from rigging, keel bolts to pots and pans in the pantry; even if you are not designated to those roles.

Between me and Frigg (the old girl) there is a pact. She will carry us safely to Aalborg from Copenhagen. This will be a bit challenging since her engine, the mighty yellow Wern, is having some tough times with an air leak. New parts have been ordered to be delivered to Aalborg. I know im asking a lot of the engine to maybe push through hours after hours with air in the 

mix. But I trust my ship, and living on her for 3 years now, we have a connection. There is a feeling when something is not right. It can haunt me at night and be an earing sensation in the stomach.

7 am, 3 crewmembers and they old girl dock off. With me are 2 friends who have never sailed before, but they have not hesitated nor jammered when i said it was 140 nm in 24-36 hours. 

The main is up and stretched out, ready to let some calm breeze in, then the jib. We clock a soft 3-4 knots through the water as the course is turned to North from Copenhagen.

We round the famous strait of Helsingor and Helsinborg around midday. At 3 pm in the afternoon we are at the northern part of Sjælland and we bear to open sea. 86 nm of open sea is lying ahead of us now. The wind is stable, although a bit in the wrong direction, but as the hours pass it straightens up and at 7 pm we are flying 5 knots with full sails over a calm warm lit Kattegat. What a start to a sailing vacation with the final destination being West Coast of Norway

The skipper, me, is asleep…or at least im trying to. The two crew members are speaking softly so that i won’t hear it. We are losing speed and a discussion of how can they increase speed is going back and forth. Lying snug and warm i already knew it. That connection i talked about before? I can sense that Frigg is lacking wind and she is behaving like 6 tons in a lumpy sea with nothing to push her forward. 

When my crew finally decides to call on the captain i am met with a glassy Kattegat and flapping sails …We wait for 20 minutes, because i know the engine is hmm sketchy.

It must be a form for torture for sailors to be becalmed. Not going forward or back; just softly bumping around on the sea. 

We decide to give the engine a shot, and at 1200 rpm it seems to work fine, pushing it mores just turns into nothing as it tries to rev up. 

By magic we continue with the engine for 7 hours, interrupted a few times with it dropping in revs or even stalling. The cure? Restart, and give it some high revs without being in gear. With no resistance and nothing to pull a diesel can go to high revs with no problem. When you add resistance and give it something to work with, then it gets hungry. With air coming into the system the combustion mixture is bad and therefore it cannot push over a certain resistance.

As the engine have gotten us through a becalmed night, the wind fills our sails at the dawn of a new day. The engine is put to rest…hoping it won’t be needed till we dock in Aalborg.

We have some beautiful sailing, after we have laid the distant contours of Anholt island in our wake. A soft breeze from the aft, giving us 5 knots. The wind vane is in control and everything is quiet and perfect sailing conditions. We race with a polish sailing vessel and that gives a  morale boost. The morning after a night sail is always a bit dull until coffee or a challenge have been served.

My crewmembers are doing well, although one of them have found that the fresh sea air is very good to sleep on.

There is absolutely nothing to complain about going through Hals Barre, a dug out inlet to Limfjorden, and going past Hals and continuing up the first miles of some of the best scenery Denmark has to offer from the sea side. 

To make a sailing trip memorable; add problems. As if running with a leaky engine is not enough, we run into the first howls of a western gale. Having 10 nm left till we reach Aalborg we are hit with a brutal wind straight on our nose and sails are reefed. The last miles are narrow and tacking back and forth is pointless, adding that we have a current against us as well. All 3 of us are baffled of how strong the wind suddenly picked up and instantly the sea have gone from beautiful dark blue greens to muddy brown with froathy white tops. 

As the skipper I am not happy, and I am met with feeling blame. I have set out with a compromised engine and with 2 new people onboard. Now i really need the engine, and I more of its before then before. 

The pact is intact. Frigg in all her glory, engine and all will get us to Aalborg. That was the deal; and my part would be to fix her engine issues when we get to Aalborg.

The might Wern, a Vetus 33 hp 4 cylinder, jumps into action and after some negotiations we settle on 1600 rpm. With a bad tempered blow straight in our faces and a current under our Keel, we make between 2-3 knots the rest of the 10 nm miles to Aalborg. On a few stretched we can close haul the Jib as a turbo mode. Pushing 4 for a few minutes. 

As we dock in Aalborg, i can sit back with a happy crew, a trusty ship and engine…and proud as a captain. The next days we will be “galed in” due to heavy wind; which suits me fine as I like Aalborg and is waiting on the spare part anyway.