Of Wind and Water-tanks

Today we ran short of wind. Started well,  with a sail in light breezes through narrow channels between scenic wooded shores. Nic even managed to 'goose wing' through the winding route (main sail out to the left and foresail out to the right,  wind behind us). A tricky manoeuvre. 

But the wind switched to dead ahead as we approached two giant bridges. We motored under one (33 metres high) and managed to sail under the other. It always looks like the mast will get stuck,  but in fact the bridge is twice as high as us. 

From there we had a long run in open water from the island of Fyn to the mainland of Denmark, Jutland. We were expecting a cracking sail but the wind dropped to nothing leaving only a northward current of about 2 knots to drive us.  Engine on, with much complaining. We come here to sail, not motor.

Dratted wind picked up as we were approaching Juelsminde - annoying if it's blowing a hoolie when you have to drop the main sail with one of us thrashing around at the mast piling the sail back into its cover.

Searching for a berth is not easy. We have to find one with poles that suit our length. Today we went in a very long berth which was a tough job in wind. We crushed our fender holder and two fenders popped out and fell in the water. One we recovered immediately but we had to go for a walk with a boat hook and a crawl over rocks to recover the other later!  The upshot is that Sirena IV is dwarfed by the two massive motor boats either side.  See if you can spot her small bottom in the picture. 

Walking to the office to pay, we passed many Danish flags. They are seen everywhere in Denmark as a symbol of national pride.( See pic)

Once in our long berth, attention moved on to the release valve on the hot water tank which has been playing up. It's meant a leak of fresh water into the bilges which sets off the automatic bilge pump. Nic decided to replace the valve. It took a couple of hours of hard work and much testing before he was reasonably confident it was working.

Now we are cooking dinner, a veg stir fry. The wind is in abeyance again. But we hope for a good westerly tomorrow to take us away from Jutland and right round the top of Fyn to a port on the island's eastern side.