October 2024
We’re still sailing through the night towards Hals. Friends recommended a good mooring and a nice anchorage to us, but we are eager to cover distance, and want to get on as quickly as possible and so we sail through the night.
Bridges, Bridges, Bridges…
Exploring new waters at night is always a bit of a challenge. On this river in particular, it is necessary to recognise currents and wind shifts, but also to classify noises and lights. We reach Aalborg at around three o’clock in the morning, sailing quietly. We have to wait until five in the morning to cross the drawbridge. So we lie down on the pier on the south side and use the two hours for a quick bike ride.
After a good round trip, we are back at Sindbad on time. Just before five, it’s time to call „All lines off!“, and the bridge keeper is contacted by radio. The two bridges of Aalborg are quickly behind us, and we continue under engine power for about half an hour until the first wind sets in at dusk, allowing us to sail slowly under full sail. We reach the next bridge at lunchtime. Unfortunately, we have to wait here for just under an hour, so we take down the sails for the time being and wait for the bridge signal.
Finally, the time has come, and the sails are set again in no time at all as we pass the bridge. Mainsail, light wind genoa and mizzen fly out and are opened; the engine is stopped. We can continue with the power of the wind.
An injury, an island, and impressive nature
A clonk and a quick „ouch“ is all we hear. We are in a brief moment of shock when Noemi returns to the cockpit covered in blood from the manoeuvre. She had sustained a laceration to her head. After a careful treatment of the wound and a little bit of rest in bed, the shock is overcome, the wound is closed, and Naomi is slowly feeling better, never mind the throbbing ache that reemerges from time to time. But that could not break her fierce spirit!
In a light breeze, we cruised through the fairway into the small lake, in the centre of which lay the island of Livø.
When we finally arrive here in the evening, we are greeted by the beautiful, quiet harbour. We take a walk around the island and enjoy the views through forests with deer and beaches lined with stones, each with its own story to tell. It was to be our first overnight stay in the harbour, and it was good to have some time to phone home and not have to get out of bed regularly at night.
There is one more thing to do the following day. Noemi’s passport has been sent to Struer by post. So Noemi sets off on the ferry at midday, and we leave the harbour shortly afterwards with Sindbad. After a mixed trip with light to moderate winds, fog and thunderstorms, we reach Struer around midnight and are reunited there.
Just four hours later, the alarm clock rings, and we are ready to continue.
One more bridge and a new destination
With the first bridge out towards the North Sea, and then heading for Lerwick. Shetland Islands, here we come!