Author: Dan

Prior to Bentley (VP Marketing for Sabre) and Brenda Collins joining us in Stromstad, we had done some exploring of this area. Over dinner one night we met Amanda who told us of restaurant she worked called Strandskanten, a must see.

After a quick tour of Stromstad, we headed off to find Strandskanten on the island of Nordkaster, well worth the trip and Amanda served us lunch. We then continued on down to Smorgen for the night. These are some of the best cruising waters on the Baltic with many islands and interesting passages.

Our next stop was Marstrand, the Newport of Sweden. Here we found a dozen classic J Boats that had spend the day racing docked with us. On the docks, we all pitched in to help the magnificent 75′ sailboat Braveheart of Sark get tied up with strong winds. Dan and owner Tim Aitkins enjoyed some time together taking classics.

Next stop was Goteborg, Sweden’s second largest city. Dan and Marcia had visited here previously on the ferry from Denmark and had scoped out the marina. Bentley and Brenda left us here, while Dan and Marcia took a quick side trip to Madrid to deal with visa issues.

The boating season in this part of the world seems to stop about August 15th as the temperatures drop and the days get shorter. In order to transit the Gota Canal, we needed a reservation and would be traveling in convoy thru the 54 locks and numerous draw bridges. From Goteborg, it took two days to go up the Gota River, thru the Trollhatten locks and then across Lake Vanern. At Sjotorp we were met with our first keeper who would stay with us for the day as we transited 19 locks covering only 9 miles along with a wonderful German couple on their sailboat. Verna was on maternity leave, 12 months and Dirk also had 10 month of maternity leave….sure not like the US.

For the next four days, we were a convoy of one as we basically crossed Sweden from West to East. The last two days we were in the step locks, many of them hand operated by our keepers for the trip. Given the amount of coastline, the number of islands and the number of lakes, we concluded that it would be easy for each Swede to have a mile of waterfront property.

Our plan was to winter the boat at Navekvarn, about 100 miles south of Stockholm. On arrival, we changed our minds given the remote location and the limited facilities….bad research on Dan’s part. A little better research found us an alternative boatyard on the Soder Canal much closer to Stockholm and better equipped. Headed north we stopped at Nykoping and Trosa. Trosa is a gem of small city were we lingered for a day wandering along the canal.

After stopping to introduce ourselves to Wasa Yachts, True East’s winter home, we proceed up the Soder Canal into Lake Malaren then on to Stockholm were we locked out of the lake. Much to our surprise, the marina facilities for visitors was very limited…..not up to the guesthaven facilities we had come to expect. However, we were right in front of the Wasa Museum and walking distance to a number of other museum and a ferry and tram stops. The remains of Dorian, which we missed in Florida, caught up with us here. After a rough night on the outer dock, we were able to move inside on a finger about a third the length of the boat.

Stockholm is a big city separated by many waterways and covering a number of islands. Unlike Copenhagen and Oslo, this city takes more time to explore with it’s many districts. After four days, the weather was really turning to late fall so we decided to take the boat back to Wasa Yachts for the winter and head back to Barcelona.

Once again, not as planned. Instead of starting up the west side of Norway on True East we decided to abandon that plan after our technical problems in Denmark. Instead we headed directly to Oslo where are road trip in Norway commenced. Once we arrived in Oslo, we immediately had another technical problem with the boat. Our engines are Cummins, made in USA, the shaft damper between the engine and drive unit is made in Germany, the Zeus pod drive units are made in Italy and modified in the USA….an international boat, the doors are Italian, the passarele Croatian, etc. Our problem was in the port Zeus drive, a terrible racket screaming imminent failure developed on a day trip out of Oslo. We returned to port and got on the phone. Turned out less than 10 miles away was the only guy in Europe who stocks the part we needed. This is due to the fact that he services the rescue boats in Norway that use the same part. Bad luck, good luck. We had to wait for the mechanics to return from ‘holiday’, then it took only a day to make the repair. We used the time to go the arctic circle! Having some time before our next guest arrived, we headed down to the south coast. It looks a lot like Maine, the north side of Lake Huron and British Columbia. Our first night we anchored up outside of Larvik and Dan took his first Norway swim. Swimming here year round is not uncommon and two swims a day in summer is quite standard in water 58-68 degrees. We then headed up the historic Telemark Canal built in the 1850’s and considered only of the wonders of the world at its time. First we took the east branch up to Notodden, home of a UNESCO site where Norway’s first hydro plant was built. Also the Blue’s capital of Norway with the annual bash starting the day we left. Then we proceeded up the west for thru the three sets of hand operated step locks. Senior dockmaster declared we were the first American boat he had ever seen in the locks. They gave us coffee cups, we gave them Flordia ball caps (thanks Glenn). Continuing south we stopped at Kregero and then on to Arendal, passing thru the wooden boat festival at Risor on the way. Grand nephews Chad and Kyle joined us for a night in Arendal with its great Guesthaven for visiting boats. Knowing we were not going to take the boat up the west coast, we decided to rent a car and go up the coast to Stavanger (trip described in our land travels in Norway). Returning to Ardendal, we headed a little further south to Grimstad which was the end of the line. Turning around, we headed back to Risor, a very white town with great facilities. We then headed up to Larvik which turned out to be a very industrial and not interesting town, so we went back out to Stavern. While in Stavern the high winds returned and we were pinned in for several days. Our Grove friend Bernd Meir was to join us in Oslo, instead he took a train to Stavern. With a window in the weather, we decided to head for Fredickstad on the east side of the Oslo Fjord, with a lunch stop at Tonsberg on the way. Fredickstad was the fortress on the Swedish boarder and was burned down several times over the centuries, it’s a lovely town. Docked at the Guesthaven, we were across the canal from the newspaper office. Thomas Arntsen showed up the the morning wanting to interview the folk form Miami with their boat in Fredrickstad, front page in the next issue. Next stop was Horten, near Borre that was the site of a major Viking settlement. More than 80 Viking burial site were discovered here and it is site of a major Viking museum. It is also the site of the Viking festival that was starting just as we visited. It was then back to Oslo where Bernd left us and head to the arctic circle. In Oslo, grandson Luke Yuan and the wonderful Veronica joined us for a couple of days. We once again explored this world class city and its museums and restaurants. It seems for the first time this summer, we actually have a number of days between guests and no long ground to cover. Dan took a couple of days to organize pictures and update the blog while Marcia continued to explore Oslo. Leaving Oslo, we returned to Vollen to have the oil changed in our new gearbox, pick up some spares and pay the bill. Unlike America, after all of our major repairs, each yard has said ‘we will send you the bill’ as we departed. With a little time before we were to meet Bentley and Brenda Collins, we decided to explore the coast of Sweden below Oslo. First stop was Moss, required by the weather as there was not much there. On to the wonderful city of Stomstad where Dan was able to get a new ‘temporary import permit’ for True South. These permits are available when entering the EU (Norway is not in the EU) and are good for 18 months. Last time we did this was leaving Switzerland and entering Germany on the Rhine. On to Smogen and finally a stop in Grebbestad. We then headed back up to Stomstad where Bentley and Brenda joined us for a few days of cruising.

Our original plan was to cross from the west side of Denmark to the west side of Norway on True East. As it turned out we toured most of the country by land as you can see on the map.

When we finally got the boat repaired in Fredrickhaven, Denmark the weather window for the crossing had passed and there was no way we could meet Kristi and Katherine in Bergen as scheduled. Leaving the boat, we flew up to Oslo so that we could meet our guests on arrival and rework our travels during their ten day stay. After a day in Oslo, we all took the train to Bergen, then a ferry up the fjord to Flam and the train back to Bergen. The train from Bergen to Myradal was the highlight of this day. We found Bergen to be very touristic, yet offered adventures like the cable car up to the restaurant at Ulriken where we had a sunset dinner.

With Dan’s nephew Tony and family arriving on the 12th, we decided to take a risk and fly back to Denmark to get the boat and then make a dash for Oslo while Kristi and Katherine continued down to Stavanger before flying back to Oslo. Sprinting 150 miles up to Oslo, we were fortunate to find dockage at the Aker Bryggee Marina in the heart of the city. Knowing the tall ships were going to be passing the mouth of the Oslo fjord on the 14th, we planned to take everyone down to watch the parade and anchor up for the night.

Once again, we encountered a technical problem with the boat and limped back to Oslo on one engine after only getting a third of the way down the fjord. After spending a few days in Oslo, we arranged the Bergen trip to Tony, Julie and Leah  while we stayed in Oslo to deal with the boat. Amazingly, there was a Cummins dealer ten miles from Oslo who had the parts we needed for the repair; however, the annual Norwegian vacation time had just started so no mechanics were available. Knowing we had 10 days or so, we decided to head for the arctic circle and booked a plane to Bodo, Norway. No sense in staying still.

In Bodo we took the tour of the Saltstraumen Sound maelstrom on a jet boat. This maelstrom on a King Tide is supposed to be the strongest in the world….it was blast that day. Enjoying long summer arctic days/nights we had a conversation with a local bartender who told us he had a golf tee time at midnight…Marcia woke up at 3:45 that morning and realized that he was just finishing up his game in plenty of light! Renting a car, we then headed for Narvik which was an important port during WWII. At the Resistance museum there we learned a great deal about the war in the North, a part of the war we were not familiar with. The following day we drove the magnificent Lofoten peninsula to the little village of Reine and stayed in a converted fishing camp. This area we learned is famous for its Stockfish (a form of open air dried cod fish). During January and February they fish, then hang the fish on racks that cover every available piece of land. The fish then air dries for four months before being packed or shipment, primarily to Italy and Japan. In the old days, the farmers would become fishermen for these two month. As the gulf stream runs down the west coast of Norway, the water and seashore are not as cold as one might think, being in the arctic circle.

Taking the car ferry back to Bodo, we then flew to Trondheim. This city used to be the capital of Norway. At Trondheim, we rented a car and drove to Sweden for lunch in Are, then on to a quaint hotel in Selbu. Along the way we stopped at the Helga fortress, built in the early 1900’s by the Norwegians to defend against the Swedes. From Trondheim, we flew back to Oslo to pick up the boat after it’s port drive unit was repaired by the wonderful guys at Vollenslipp.

Crusing the boat south west, we arrived at Arendal just as the wind picked up again making our return to Oslo in the near future dubious. Dan’s grand nephews Chad and Kyle had planned to meet us in Oslo, instead they drove down to Arendal were we had a short by great visit. As the boys left, once again we rented a car and hit the road. This time our travels were along the coast to Stavanger (this was to be our first port in Norway in the original plan). After an overnight, we then drove back thru the mountains to Arendal.

While we had intended a coastal tour on the boat, we ended up seeing much more to the country than we anticipated. There was nothing we did not like about the country and its people. We were very much reminded of Canada in terms of topography, moderation, and hospitality. The discovery of oil in the 1970’s lead to the development of a very sophisticated engineering culture building off their ship building experience. Oil revenues cover about half of the federal budget, but they know it will run out, and have built a Commonwealth Fund whose dividends will make up the difference in twenty years. While they export the oil, they are also developing a fossil free economy, over half of the new cars sold here are Teslas. Some of the reasons these are the happiest people on the planet.

Crossing from the Kiel Canal in Germany, our first stop was Bakenkop in Denmark where we were met by our friends Per and Sherrie Jensen. Not much to see here, but we had a great meal. On to Faaborg for a lunch stop and walk about the lovely town. We overnighted at Svenborg where we met the crew of s/v Tara and were over served. Before the night was out, we found a local policemen returning a guest to our boat….he is the first one we have seen in Denmark.

A 50 miles run brought us to Vordingborg where we were met by Per’s second cousin Jantz, great to have friends in foreign ports. Inspection of the engine room reveals an alternator that has torn itself up and needs to be replaced. While we have a spare, getting the pulley off the old one turned into an adventure. Finally, with a gear puller in hand, the job was completed. The weather convinced us to stay in port for another day, together with the celebration of the the 800th anniversary of Denmarks flag and a visit by the crown prince. 

Another 70 mile run brought us to beautiful Copenhagen, arriving at the Yacht Club at the Tuborg Marina were were met by Per’s cousin Peter. After our first day walking the city, we decided to move the boat into the Nyhaven Canal in the center of town as we planned to stay here for a week. Among our adventures here, a tourist lost a bag off the dock with phones, keys, wallets, etc. just behind our boat. Launching the tender and borrowing some long boat hooks, the bag was miraculous recovered. After a few celebratory glasses of wine with Jose and his friend, we were off to dinner. Finishing dinner, we ask for the check only to learn that the nice young couple next to us had picked up our tab just because they wanted to. Comes around goes around?

Marcia and Dan’s guide to Copenhagen can be found following this link.

Waiting for a weather window, we rented a car and drove north to Kronborg Castle Gronnehave along the coastal route featuring some very fine homes built in an era of less equality, then on to Frederiksborg Castle. This is known as the Nordic Versailles and houses the Musuem of National History. On to Roskilde were we spent the night and visited the Viking Museum the following morning. Museum tells the amazing story of these adventuresome people. Distances are quite short in Denmark so we had time to go over the bridge to Sweden and visit the fast growing city of Malmo, third largest in Sweden.

After one more day in Copenhagen we headed out on a hundred mile run to the island of Anholt in the Kattegat Sea between Denmark and Sweden, from there we continued on to Frederikshavn. With beautiful weather, our plan was to cross to Kristiansand in Norway the next day. As we approached the marina in Frederikshavn, we lost propulsion on the port engine and that ended a fine plan to meet up with visiting family on the boat in Norway.

This seems to be the summer of unplanned events. While having a transmission failure on an American boat in a foreign country would be a seeming disaster, our bad luck seems to be matched with some good luck. The transmission is actually made in Italy by ZF and there is a ZF dealer just 50 miles away who actually showed up at the boat the next day. More bad news, the part we need is not available, in fact not even from the factory. Good news, we have a an old transmission from an earlier disaster still at Philbrooks in British Columbia. The part we need is stripped off and shipped to Denmark, new seals and gaskets are ordered from Italy.

Time for some more road trips while all of this comes together. We are thankfully in a private marina with water, electric and a nice restaurant where they are delighted to have the income from the American boat. It’s a bus ride to town where there are trains and ferries. Aalborg is our first destination where we book a hotel for a couple of days. From there a train ride to Aarhus one day, and Hirtshal on North Sea for another. Back to the boat in Frederikshaven and another day trip to Skagen with it’s wonderful art museum. Why not take the ferry to Gottenborg in Sweden to get a look around in anticipation of our visit by boat at we prepared to cross Sweden. Nine days after arriving in Frederikhavn, we are ready to go on the boat again. That’s the good news, bad news is it’s blowing gale force winds for the next week. Plan z…..leave the boat, fly to Oslo to meet Kristi and Katherine for a week, then Tony, Julie and Leah for a second week.

While Norway is rated as the happiest country in the world, Denmark is right behind. Denmark developed a very strong social welfare system after world war I and has prospered despite it’s ‘socialist’ bent. The country is only 5 million people, mostly blonds. The minimum wage is about $30 US, a beer costs $7 and there are no visible police. Renewable energy, primarily wind, supplies 43% of the energy for the country and this percentages increases each year. The population is very well educated with a high proportion of advanced degrees, almost everyone speaks Danish and English plus a couple more languages. As in the US, only 2% of the population is involved in agriculture; however, the country side is very well till and Denmark is famous for its dairy products and fishing. We love this place.

Arriving in Brussels on May 14, the plan A was to rent a car and spend our first night in Antwerp visiting Tom and Veronica Janssens. We would then a few days driving north to Sneek, Netherlands to meet the boat on the 17th. After spending the weekend visiting friends and provisioning the boat we are to leaving on the 20th to head for the Baltic via the Kiel Canal.

At Antwerp, we found the hotel was not dog friendly despite a prior phone call to check. Tom and Veronique Janssens provided a pull out couch at their flat as Plan B. Learning the work on the boat would be delayed for lack of parts, we decided to change our arrival in Sneek until the 21st, Plan C gave us time to visit  Leiden, Haarlem and to spend a few days in Amsterdam. Arriving in Sneek, we got a chance to have dinner with Hans and Marine Jantzen whom we had met last summer in France.

On May 23 we were underway and headed for the lovely university town (45,000 students)  of Groningen where we stayed for a couple of days. The next leg was a 40 mile run to Borkum, Germany at the edge of the North Sea. A routine check of the engine room disclosed a problem with one of the engines that would have to be fixed before we moved on. A message went out to our support network, the nature of the problem was determined and ordering the necessary part was undertaken. By now it was Memorial Day weekend in the states, and there were a couple of European holidays added in, it was going to take a week or two go get the part. Plan C, return to Sneek where we knew the team, rent a car and take another road trip.

Knowing our stay in Denmark would be cut short, we decided to drive lower Jutland and Lower Saxony of Germany. We stopped in Cuxhaven, NL to survey the dockage we would use when passing thru. Across the Elbe river on a ferry and on to Esbjerg on the west coast of Denmark with a stop at Ribe, the oldest city in Denmark, along the way. Esbjerg is a major port city that has served as a supply base of North Sea oil operations; however, as the oil is being depleted it has become a base for offshore wind. Massive installation with huge wind turbines, the latest generation will have blades 280’ long. A day trip to Fano island with its long beaches and thatched roof houses was a treat.

On the other coast with a stop in Sonderborg for lunch then on to Kolding where our five star hotel was the highlight of this industrial city. Next stop was Kiel where we would enter the Baltic on the boat, we determined there was no need to stop there. We passed thru Lubeck on our way to Hamburg where we planned to spend a couple of days awaiting the arrival of the boat part. The absolute highlight of Hamburg was the museum of miniatures with its model railroads and scenery. Over $21 million invested so far with a staff of 30 model builders, 1,500 locomotives, miles of track, thousands of vehicles, etc., amazing.

While in Hamburg, we discover that the boat part we ordered in Europe is still missing; however, Jay Siebert has the part in Florida. Jay discovered that one of this customers and a fellow Sabre 48 owner is headed for Copenhagen the next day. Coincidently, this customer is Per Jensen who, with his wife Sherry, is scheduled to meet us in Denmark in about a week. Jay overnights the part of Per in Virginia, Dan jumps on a plane and flies to Copenhagen and meets the arriving plan the next morning. Dan flies back to Hamburg, meets Marcia at the hotel and we drive back to Sneek all in the same day. Thankfully, the mechanic agrees to work on Saturday and by Sunday am, June 9th, we are ready to head out again.  

Sneek back to Borkum, 76 miles. As there were lots of boats on the move, we decided to go to the marina in Borkum instead of the town dock we stayed at last time. After we tied up to the only available spot, we were informed that the basin went dry at low tide. Plan D, wait for high tide in the morning to leave and spend the night with the boat deep in the mud. Borkum to Cuxhaven, 101 miles….but finally out of the North Sea. Cuxhaven into the canal to Rensburg, 54 miles and on to Bagenkop, Denmark, 50 miles, where we meet Per and Sherrie again. This is the start of four wonderful days cruising together on our way to Copenhagen.