Over the last three years, Rex, Meryl and I have explored different provines of the Netherlands, which we had thoroughly enjoyed. The land, its people and culture really appealed to us.
Sadly though, Meryl had lost the appetite for spending lengthy periods afloat, and she had lost the taste for proper sailing a while back. She was also disappointed for Rex as he was not getting enough sailing in, and she was actively encouraging Rex to go sail and perhaps she may fly out and join him wherever he may be, though she was becoming less keen on flying.
Her other half had been dreaming of extending his sailing repetoire to more further afield than Holland, and since he'd sailed through the Kiel Canal before, he pondered on the possibility of sailing up to Kiel, and from there having a sail/explore around Denmark.
He would obviously need crew, and since we'd explored together before, he naturally approached me to ascertain if I would entertain the idea. I thought it was a splendid idea, but pointed out that for me just the journey is fine, the destination is not the be all and end all.
We put some stakes in the ground re time scales and dependancies and did a broadbrush overview of the geography of the sea and land: Jutland, Fyn, Lolland and Sjaelland, and I did some research on possible places we could stop off. Time constraints were imposing a maximum trip of five weeks, and when we considered the time it would take to sail to Dennmark and back alone, we massively reduced our wish list. We finally homed in on exploring the east Justland coast and perhaps take in part of the island of Fyn. Areement was reached.
Friends, Barry and Yvonne, were intending to borrow Duonita for a week or so and explore parts of North Holland. So a plan was hatched for Rex to help them get the boat across the North Sea, and he would spend a few days with them to show them the ropes before returning back to the UK. Then, when they had ended their trip and moored Duonita in an easily reachable marina, Rex and I would travel out, pick up the boat and make our way to the Kiel Canal. On our way back from Denmark, we would leave the boat in Holland for a month so that other folk could make use of it before we brought it back to the UK at the beginning of September.
So, that was the plan. It did not go quite to plan ...... to find out why, read on.
The actual route taken can be examined on the route link. How the story unfolded can be revealed by following the diary link.
Read and enjoy!
