Rødvig in the rain

Sailing is a curious activity. There are times when you promise yourself that you will never never go sailing again. We had several of those moments today. And yet when you arrive at your destination, and you're tied up safe and sound, you have a sense of achievement which means you go out and do it all again the next day.

We left Svanemølle at 7am in the pouring rain, with a forecast of not much wind. The rain has been consistent all day, but the forecast has varied considerably, at one point suggesting we were going to see a force 6. In fact we never saw more than a 5, but as it was from the east, we started to see quite big waves building.

When you read shipping forecasts as a sailor, you tend to focus on wind and possibly waves rather than rain. But really non-stop, drenching rain gets you down quite quickly. It's cold, the sky is grey, the visibility is poor, and you have to wear full oilies which are always uncomfortable, the water drips off your hood, and (today's special) every quarter hour the wind gets a knot stronger.

Camilla, not having expected waves, didn't take a Stugeron and felt more ill than on any previous passage this year. No actual vomiting was undertaken, however.

We reached the approach to Rødvig around 1.30pm and remembered that one reason we didn't come here on the way up to Copenhagen is that the approach was said to be unpleasant in easterlies. Indeed it is, but not as bad as our approach to Oostende last year when Camilla had to hide below while Sam surfed the boat between the pierheads.

Once in we had to make a high-speed choice between the marina, described as "congested", and the fishing harbour. The fishing harbour was the only option with enough room for us to rig ropes and fenders before tying up, so in we went, to be greeted by a cheerful harbourmaster who told us to go anywhere there was space. So for the first time this trip we are tied up to a wall alongside old car tyres. We tucked into a small space rather neatly, and had it to ourselves for a few hours, but we've just acquired German neighbours.

All this time the rain has varied between steady downpour and bucketing down. We strolled into Rødvig briefly, chatted to some nice Danes who told us it would still be raining tomorrow :-( and we could get through the Bøgestrom ok with 1.7m draft, we got a bit wetter, paid at the ticket machine and came back to the boat. At least the wind and waves have eased a bit.

Miles today: 36.

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