Excellent last sail

Up at 6am and away from Bagenkop, Denmark by 0715. This to maximise our sailing time on our last passage of the cruise. 

The forecast was a Force 4 from the NW and it did not disappoint - indeed it delivered at 7am and kept it up all day, with sunshine as well. Full sail up as soon as we cleared the small harbour entrance, a turn to south and off we went for 30 miles of running before the wind. For 4 hours we never dropped below 6kn, and touched 7.4kn surfing a particularly generous wave. Golden stuff. Germany rose up out of the horizon to meet us.

Due the wind direction, both boat and helmspersons were happier sailing slightly off the direct route which took us nearer the German mainland. A patrol boat approached us and addressed over his loud speaker, with us replying by mime; the gist was that we must change course away from that area because they are having firing practice. Humpf. 

On we roared into Fehmarnsund, the stretch of water between the mainland and Fehmarn island. With the wind dead behind we furled the genoa because it just flaps when shadowed by the main. It was too rolly for goose-winging without deploying the spinnaker pole as a whisker pole ... and too rolly to be on the foredeck wrestling with the spinnaker pole. Catch-22. With just the main we kept up 4-5kn,  under the Fehmarn bridge (pics: here it comes; is it high enough; phew we're through).

Then a last few miles tearing along with the wind on the beam before reluctantly hauling down the mainsail for the last time this year, and motoring into Burgstaaken marina where we are near one of the Weilandt sheds (pic) that will be Sirena IV's home until next May.

Tomorrow the prep starts for taking the mast off and lifting her out and deciding what goes into the car to go home. We have a surprisingly long list of tasks.