can we help
+44(0)1983 296060
+1 757-788-8872
tell me moreJoin a rally

Menu

Jumbuck - Baltic Rally - Klintholm, Mon, Denmark




Klintholmm is a small pretty holiday village, resident population 210, set on the south coast of the island of Mon. The Baltic Rally team chose this as our final port of the event, closest to Copenhagen yet still on a route back to the North Sea, and last night we enjoyed a bus trip, lunch and tour of the big smoke, then a wind up dinner and party in a local restaurant in Klintholm.

Only 16 boats were represented out of the original compliment of 28. The others had either pulled out earlier to get back to home ports influenced by recent adverse weather, or left their boats at Kalmar aiming to winter them there, and return for more baltic cruising next summer.

The pilot books say Klintholm allows 24 hour access but I have to say, with these gales / near gales raging from the SW, the narrow entry to this harbour would give most a little challenge. We found it interesting surfing in with 30 knots of breeze - and the J109 is easy to surf - but yesterday we recorded gusts of 40, and watched some heart in you're mouth sailing as several heavier cruisers arrived seeking shelter.

Photos would not do justice to the action. But I found this video on YouTube and you can get an idea what it's like. I would add these waves were much like we surfed in on and yesterday's cruisers came in before much larger seas. Well done them.

We got a bit more drama to spice up yesterday (always welcome when you're stuck in an isolated port) as one of the cruisers, similar in size to that one in the video, got in ok but then lost his engine as he lined up to get into a box mooring in our yacht harbour. It ended up pinned across the two seaward posts by the 40 knot winds on his side, and it took a cast of thousands (including several others from the rally fleet) to help manhandle the boat into its correct berth. Funny almost, for as the boat swung in we all realised the gap between the posts was perhaps 1/3rd metre too narrow! But 40 knots of breeze up the bum of a 10 ton boat hudged the poles apart - and in they slid. Lucky chappie.

Like to watch him when it's time to leave.

So for us the rally is over.

It's been good, but challenging only two up with both the lack of wind out to Russia, the super heavy winds over this past week, and perhaps an ambitious schedule with 1800 miles covered overall with a lot of it through island passages.

The ARC team have done a great job, but if I were organising the next one I'd make it ten days shorter, and zig zag out to St Petersburg before ending the event there. That I think would allow skippers the chance to cruise back through places they've already visited at a more suitable relaxed pace, solo or in company as they choose.

Highspot of the whole thing for me? Not the sailing, or the motoring, or the storms, or the sights. It's the impromptu drinks party at 5 am as boats straggled into our first real 'foreign' port at Tallin. It was a great icebreaker as one tends to get to know people pretty well when they both tired, pleased, and stonked.......it was very good.

I've now got to get Jumbuck and self home.

Weathers around here is not good right now. But Sues flying out of Copenhagen Tuesday, and pal Alan flies in as crew. With 30 + knot winds forecast until Thursday, I doubt we can consider leaving until then - and it's looking like we will be sailing in company with six or seven other yachts all aiming to get down the English Channel. Fingers crossed we can do Klintholm to Kiel in one go. Then two days through the canal to Cuxhaven over the weekend, and then maybe even get SE winds to carry us back along the North Holland coast!

But then as you'll know......it's not always good to try and second guess the weather at sea.

We will move onward when we can, and wait it out when we can't.

On. On.

Previous | Next