Having dithered for ages about our choice of ferry, we've had a few days of feeling rather smug. Sirena Seaways, the DFDS ferry which normally does the Harwich-Esbjerg run, hit Parkeston Quay rather hard last Saturday and as a result is out of action for a whole week. So the Stena ferry to the Hook of Holland is not only cheaper, more comfortable and more flexible, but also the only game in town.
The Stena downside is that you only really get six hours of sleep, and the drive to Augustenborg is nearly seven hours. In fact it took us nine because I felt it was necessary to make several stops, although there were no other problems at all, and we rolled into Augustenborg Yachthavn just after 5pm local time.
Initially we couldn't see Kalessin because she wasn't outside and wasn't in either of the cold sheds. In fact it transpired that Anders, bless him, had transferred her to the heated shed so we could work on her in a dry and relatively warm environment (the radiators aren't on at the moment but it's pretty warm in there). She looks good, very dusty but otherwise fine, and I'd forgotten that her topsides were polished at the end of 2011 so the hull looked very shiny.
Guy and Ben are both sleeping on board, and we were able to drive into the shed, transfer the huge amount of Stuff from car to boat, pop down to the supermarket to get them essentials such as bread, milk, an electric kettle and cold beer, before heading off to check into hotel. This is the Scandic Sønderborg and slightly to my surprise it has proved very pleasant - peaceful, surrounded by greenery, helpful staff and a nice disabled room.
Sam has coped pretty well with the extremely long day but was asleep within about two minutes of his head hitting the pillow. I've stayed awake just long enough to write this blog post and polish off a bit more of Kalessin's gin. Tomorrow, the antifouling begins....
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