Read the other parts of the travel report:
Where Denmark ends in the north, the elements meet: the tip of Jutland is shaped like a narrow wedge, a sandy spike in the side of the sea - exactly where the North Sea and Baltic Sea meet. No wonder it can be rough around this disruptive piece of land at any time of year.
On the other hand, the west wind and the thundering surf are simply part of this wild corner of Europe. They get the heart beating again. You can feel that you are alive. Hjertestarter is the name of one of the biggest hits by the Danish rock band Nephew, which is about precisely this feeling. It fits pretty well. We felt this revitalising force when we spent two weeks cruising between Denmark and Norway with the Cruising Club of Switzerland around midsummer last year.
For the crew of five on board the "Rolling Swiss 2", the term "summer holiday" takes on a whole new meaning. Because it's blowing hard. But the wind washes the sky clean and makes everything appear in its own light - dunes, rocks and sea.
The first part of our travel diary takes us from Aalborg via the Kattegat and the island of Læsø to Skagen, before we tackle the big push across the Skagerrak to Kristiansand. The rest of the journey through the archipelago of the Norwegian south coast and across the Oslofjord to Oslo itself will follow in the following parts.
From Aalborg to Hals
At breakfast in the Scandic Hotel we are complete: skipper Marc, Isabelle and Christoph form the Swiss "delegation", joined by Morten and me, the two northern lights. Initial assessments of the planned route, everyone knows the wind forecast. Will we make it to Læsø? We'll need a weather window for the Skagerrak. Nevertheless, anticipation and great expectations. If it wasn't so early, we could have a toast...
We take a taxi to Vestre Lystbådehavn in Aalborg. It's already blowing quite well! Bags on board, check into our cabins and then off to the shops: We rattle back to the "Rolling Swiss 2" with two full shopping trolleys. After everything has been stowed away seaworthy, there's a quick briefing for our first leg to Hals, and at 2.20 p.m. the two diesels of our Trader 42 wake up and off we go!
We cast off in W4 and a broken sky and take a turn in front of the railway bridge before it opens and we can follow the Limfjord with the wind from astern to the east. It runs right across the north of Jutland, so that the panorama in the north is actually part of Denmark's second largest island - Vendsyssel-Thy. Our destination is the small ferry town of Hals at the eastern exit of the fjord.
Aalborg passes by: a new residential neighbourhood and some industry, rusty cranes, then the aquavit factory, a large block of red brick. But soon sandy shores follow, with a pine forest, meadows and summer houses behind.
We follow the buoy line - some of the corners outside the fairway are very shallow. After a good two hours we reach Hals, the Kattegat can already be seen. The sober but not uncomfortable harbour is busy with sailors and motor yachts, fishermen and pilots. Outside, the two icebreakers "Isbjørn" and "Danbjørn" are waiting on thick hawsers for the winter. We just manage to find a spot at the head of the guest jetty.
Hals is a tidy holiday resort with neat flower boxes and clean façades. A supermarket, a few restaurants and cafés, nothing spectacular. The barbecue terrace at the harbour is well used by other guests. We treat ourselves to an ice cream withgufincredibly sweet foam in bright pink. A Danish speciality, we are assured...
AfterVesterø on Læsø
Rain in the night, raging clouds in the morning. Six Beaufort from the west. Rattling flags to the bright howling in the rigs. Even the sun can't hide the fact that these conditions promise anything but boredom. After leaving the harbour, we initially try to head north under land, but the rough wave from port abeam doesn't cooperate. So we run downwind and head diagonally across to Læsø, which is about 25 nautical miles to the north-east. It is grey and cold, rain showers are moving across the Kattegat. To the west of the island, the sea becomes very shallow and correspondingly steep. The autopilot has run out of steam. We switch it off.
The car ferry to Frederikshavn approaches us, exploding spray in front of the bow. At 2 p.m. we are finally in the hole, moored alongside the 15-metre pier near the tourist information office of Vesterø, the main port of Læsø. First impression: you realise that the North Sea is not far away either: white, low-slung houses on top of the dyke and a large, empty car park in front of the ferry landing stage, over which the sand is whipped. The small gabled roof of a beacon is covered in seaweed.
The sun comes out for the tour. Lots of pleasure boats and sailing yachts on mooring lines, rust-coloured huts and sky-blue, wooden fishing boats. Rusty otter boards, lobster pots and nets are piled up in front of them. From the wide beach, the dark, foam-crowned sea looks even more dramatic in this light. Salt - Læsø's best-known export product - is soon on your lips.
In fact, the sydesalt, which is extracted in a boiling hut in the south of the island, is also said to be good for your health. At least that's the promise of Vesterø's wellness temple, which is housed under a modern glass roof in the former village church. Buy bread and beer from the island, plus a bag of rejer - freshly caught prawns. And salt, of course.
To Frederikshavn
Deceptively blue skies, but the wind doesn't let up a bit. On the contrary, storm warning for the Kattegat from the DWD marine weather report. Two metre waves further out, we are allowed to go full against it. Our destination for the day is actually Skagen, but it is already clear in the morning that this is unrealistic. Even with temporary chewing gum against seasickness.
Cast off at 10.20 a.m., round the pier and into the middle. Morten wants to go to the forecastle for photos and is immediately in a spin cycle. In the meantime, the sea even gets into the saloon (through the starboard door) and a bottled beer explodes in the fridge. Enough beating (and sweeping). Better to take the short route to Frederikshavn after all! At 12.45 pm, the "RS2" is moored alongside the guest berths on the very inside of the marina's petrol station. A spacious area in the south of the city, over which the wind whistles.
Bicycles from the harbour office take us in a wide arc along the bay to the unadorned centre, past the battleships of the naval base that guarded the Baltic Sea exit during the Cold War. Off into the pedestrian zone, fish and chips on the pavement. The sun is burning in the lee!
On to the large ferry harbour, which offers connections to Gothenburg and Oslo. Car parks, parking spaces, storage buildings and footbridges. A large silo. You can see almost nothing of the water.
As we still want a bit of sun, we cycle on to Palmestranden in the north. Palm trees really do grow here under the now bright blue sky, but the beach is literally deserted. The wind is also whistling across a deserted beach volleyball court. A smash against the storm would be a boomerang. Kattegat instead of the Caribbean!
To Skagen
You wouldn't have guessed it yesterday, but our weather window seems to be opening at just the right time - and we're (probably) heading over to Norway tonight. That's why we get up early so that we can leave on time at 08.00. The wind has already started to shift and is now coming weakly from the east.
So first we head over to the offshore island of Hirsholm, a nature reserve that is actually not much more than a large sandbank. A small group of yellow houses in the shelter of old trees, with the lighthouse above. Bunker ruins at the ends of the island and a beautiful, deep harbour (with a somewhat shaky guest jetty on the north pier). The berth at the main jetty is reserved for the small ferry from Frederikshavn.
Hirsholm has only a handful of inhabitants, but countless seabirds that make a hell of a racket. And a few holidaymakers. Mown strips of grass are used as paths, the houses have no electricity or water. There is only one toilet block. No café, no shop. You are forced to relax. We like this seclusion, but unfortunately we can only stay for an hour. Skagen is calling!
The wind has shifted to the north, so the "RS 2" is once again bracing herself against the waves on a NNW course, although they are not as extreme as yesterday. The low coast with its dunes on the port side. Around 12.00 noon off Skagen. The roadstead is full of anchormen, mainly tankers and bulkers. The harbour is unexpectedly large for such a small place: Basin next to basin with shipyards. Large factory trawlers and offshore supply vessels crowd the pier.
Opposite the marina with its red stalls - Norwegians and Swedes should feel right at home. It's not too crowded yet, but that will change in the evening. Skagen is a popular destination for the Scandinavian neighbours' second-day cruise - for alcohol bunkering, says Morten. Anyone who sees the "drinks shop" right by the harbour will immediately believe it. We actually get a visit from customs. Our Swiss flag on the stern has aroused their interest, and we don't appear unsuspicious. But we get away without being searched.
To go ashore: The town behind the huge harbour area seems tiny and sleepy. Houses in sunny yellow, with fences and windows as white as the clouds. With names like "Ankerhus", "Solvang" or "Kystens Perle". Beach grass, hedges and bushes of wild roses. Sand, bicycles and holidaymakers everywhere. On foot along the road north to Skagen Grå Fyr, the "grey beacon".
We climb the tower and are rewarded with a magnificent 360-degree panorama: below us is a sea of dunes with Skagen to the south. To the north, the headland of Grenen, whose narrow strip of sand disappears where the seas meet: There you can actually stand with one foot in the North Sea and the other in the Baltic Sea.
Back to the harbour, where many a guest sailor from neighbouring countries to the north is already drinking wine with their beer. On a jetty, a squeezebox, banjo and Hammond organ play marvellous crooning tunes. An exuberant party atmosphere. Jomfruhummer lands on the plate as a festive farewell to Denmark.
About the Skagerrak
When we get up shortly before midnight, the harbour is completely calm. Almost no wind, good timing! We cast off at 00.05, Morten and I have taken over the dog watch until four in the morning. It's not really dark, in the north the light still hangs over the horizon. We pass the trawlers and the brightly lit gas tanker lying in the roadstead and continue to Skagens Rev, which stretches out in front of Grenen. The patrol boat there doesn't care about us, and the North Cardinal buoy marks our last major course correction for a long time.
It soon brightens up again over the Skagerrak. Ships pass by, including two tall ships: the Romanian barque "Mircea" and the Russian "Kruzensthern", as the AIS reveals. Masts and yards as if drawn with a pen. The Skagen lighthouses are both astern. Always on a westerly course.
The replacement comes up shortly before 04.00. Hot coffee! But we stay awake a little longer to watch the fantastic play of colours in the sky, which now spreads out further and further over the sluggish sea behind the fanned-out clouds. Only then do we go to bed for a few hours - and when I climb back into the driver's seat at 8.00 a.m., the Norwegian coast is already a pale blue stripe in front of us.
Service
Precinct information
Cruise stages
S Aalborg - Hals: 18 nm
- Hals - Vesterø (Læsø): 33 nm
- Vesterø - Frederikshavn: 16 nm
- Frederikshavn - Hirsholm - Skagen: 26 nm
- Skagen - Kristiansand (NOR): 99 nm
- Kristiansand
Total distance (first half of the trip): 192 nm
Weather/climate
Tips
▪Aalborg: The "Springeren" maritime experience centre (named after the submarine on display) offers an interesting exhibition. springeren-maritimt.dk
▪Læsø:Free island tour with bus route 840. nordjyllandstrafikselskab.dk
▪Skagen: Arrive early! This ensures a place in the harbour and makes a trip to Grenen possible.
Literature
Cruising guide "Denmark 1", completely revised from 2013, with Kattegats, Limfjord and Læsø. Delius Klasing: 264 pages, 105 photos and illustrations, format: 16.6 x 23.5 cm, paperback, ISBN 978-3-7688-3578-7, price: €78. www.delius-klasing.de
Harbour Guide: "Denmark and Southwest Sweden" from 2014 Edition Maritim: Plans, information and aerial photos of 415 harbours. 308 p., format: 25.7 x 33.2 cm, ring binding, ISBN 978-3-89225-633-5, price: €69.90. www.delius-klasing.de
DK sports boat chart set 6: "Limfjord, Skagerrak, Danish North Sea coast". Delius Klasing: 4 trans-oceanic charts, 22 maps, area guide with plans, size: 43.7 x 60.1 cm, ISBN 978-3-667-10866-1, price: €64.90. www.delius-klasing.de
The club
We travelled with the Cruising Club of Switzerland (CCS). With around 6,500 members, the CCS is one of the largest water sports clubs in Switzerland and is a leader in the field of deep-sea training. The motorboat department forms a separate division within the club with its own yacht, which is used for training and cruising trips. www.ccs-motorboot.ch
Our boat
Type: Trader 42 (GRP semi-planing) - Length: 13.30 m - Width: 4.30 m - Height: 3.80 m - Draft: 1.20 m - Berths: 6 (3 double cabins) - WC/shower: 2/2 - CE category: A - Motorisation: 2 x 380 hp - Special equipment: VHF radio system, plotter with radar and AIS overlay, generator, EPIRB, dinghy on davits
Driving licence
Skippers on their own keel and with a German residence require an official recreational craft licence in the area.
The precinct
▪ The Limfjord is a branching network of inlets in the north of Jutland. Its former only outlet led to the Kattegat at Hals. In 1825, however, the west coast near Thyborøn was breached by a storm surge. The largest harbour is Aalborg; the eastern part of the fjord resembles a major shipping route in terms of its nautical infrastructure.
▪ The Kattegat is bordered to the east and west by the mainland coasts of Denmark and Sweden, and to the north by the Skagerrak (and the North Sea). The border between the two sea areas runs from the Grenen headland near Skagen to the Pater Noster archipelago north-west of Gothenburg. In this country, the Kattegat is considered part of the Baltic Sea, but in Scandinavia it is traditionally regarded as an independent body of water. In the south, Belte and Sund are also part of the Kattegat.
▪ Due to difficult weather conditions, the Skagerrak is one of the most challenging sea areas in Northern Europe in nautical terms. In the west, it is connected to the rest of the North Sea along a line from Cape Lindenes (Norway) to Hanstholm (Denmark), while in the east it meets the Kattegat. The deepest point of the North Sea, at 725 metres, lies in the Norwegian Gulf in the area of the Skagerrak.
Our harbours
Booking/reservation recommended in high season! Aalborg: Vestre Bådelaug, aalborglystbaadehavn.dk ▪ Neck: Neck Bådelaug, www.halsbaadelaug.dk ▪ Vesterø: Vesterø Havn, www.laesoe-havn.dk ▪ Frederikshavn: Frederikshavn Marina, www.frederikshavnmarina.dk ▪ Hirsholm: Hirsholm Havn, www.naturstyrelsen.dk ▪ Skagen: Skagen Lystbådehavn, skagenlystbaadehavn.frederikshavn.dk
