Kiel to Augustenborg

We stayed at Möltenort for a couple of days - the boat seemed rather quiet with the lads missing! However, we were keen to press on to Sonderborg on the island of Als, from where it would be a short trip to Augustenborg where we were basing ourselves for the summer.

It was rather a grim morning: NW force 1, foggy and wet. We delayed our start, hoping that it would clear, and by mid morning it had cleared sufficiently for us to make a start. The wind increased steadily during the day until by 18:30 it was up to force 6, and, yes, on the nose again!

We reached Sonderborg Marina by about 19:00 - the last hour had seemed very long and we were grateful to moor and get something to eat. It was tricky mooring with the wind, and several other boats came in after us, also having problems. Luckily there were several people on their boats to fend off and grab lines.

By the morning the wind had dropped to a rather more gentle SSE force 3-4. It certainly made getting away from Sonderborg Marina easier. Around the corner and in to the old harbour, we found that we could have moored in much more sheltered conditions against the harbour wall. Sonderborg slot and the harbour area close by is very pretty.

The bridge opens (2007) at about ten past, half past and ten to the hour. We flew our code N flag just to make sure they knew we wanted to got through. There were a few other boats on each side and we were soon through in to the Sond. This is a very pretty area with trees and low sandy cliffs.

However, the weather started playing tricks again and the visibility became very poor. Going around the ‘corner’ at the entrance to Augustenborg Fjord, we found ourselves heading straight in to a strong wind again; it seems to have dogged us for the whole trip! To add to our experience it also began to rain. Approaching the bottom of the fjord, the channel becomes very narrow and swings towards the north east. The banks to port are tree-covered and then become more tended as you reach the parkland around Augustenborg Palace. There is a bench near the edge of the water that is said to have been used by Hans Christian Anderson whilst writing his stories.

The sun came out almost as soon as we had moored, and it became quite warm, only for the sun to go in again almost immediately. The marina is very tidy, and well run by the Dahl family. The following day was fine and even warm - no doubt because we were not sailing!

We finished this part of our trip with a very comfortable train ride from Sonderborg to Copenhagen. It took around four hours but took us all the way to Kastrup airport.