Last night we arrived in Sønderborg after almost 24 hours at sea. Mild winds and dry weather made sure we had a good night on board, where the off duty watch team warmed themselves under the wool blankets. We sail with a starboard/port watch system that changes every four hours. We can only use wool blankets and the sail covers on board, if it is raining, but on land we can use our sleeping bags and inflatable sleeping mats.
At one point during the day we were hit by very hard rain; the boat swayed from side to side and we had to reef in twice to make the area of the sail smaller.
From the quay in Sønderborg we could see the royal yacht Dannebrog, and the good people on board arranged that we could bunk at the military base. That’s the best night sleep since Sunday!
We left Sønderborg at 10.00 this morning and experienced action-packed sailing towards the Slien fjord.
The rain was constantly threatening but didn’t get us, but the wind that followed did. All morning we have reefed the sail in and then out again – great training for both the new crew members and us old ones, who haven’t been sailing the Sea Stallion since 2009.
The course is set for Arnis, five nautical miles into Slien Fjord. Tomorrow we leave for Schleswig and Haithabu.
