Finally, Augustenborg

The Danes call this area the ‘South Sea Islands’ and it is a delightful cruising ground, full of bays, harbours and anchorages on islands large and small, all with their own character.

We spent a few days exploring, then a night in Dyvig, which the guidebook said was the prettiest bay in Denmark.

It was indeed lovely, with birds flying and hunting fish, and an old hotel offering berths for the night and showers and fresh bread in the morning. We treated ourselves to a delicious meal in the hotel in the evening, and celebrated the last night of our summer afloat.

In the morning, hundreds of swallows had been practising on our rigging for their flight take off to Africa which must be soon. And we took off for Augustenborg.

Anders Dahl runs the yard there where Melodrama will spend the winter in a heated shed. He is a larger than life character who manages to be both charming and insulting in the same sentence. But his customers think the world of him and rightly so. He runs a very professional outfit. Albeit loudly!

So we have spent the last few days clearing out, cleaning and making sure the boat was ready for lift out.

Now the mast is down, and the boat is out and off to the shed. Easy! If only it was like this at Fahan……