Sassnitz to Denmark - 16 July 2017

Where in Denmark? The initial plan was to reach Klintholm, on the island of Møn, Denmark, a 52 nautical miles ride from Sassnitz. The weather forecast looked very fine, with South-West winds from 5 to 6 m/s in the morning up to 8 to 10 m/s in the afternoon. Belisama was flying above 7 knots on average for the first hours. Then the wind got much stronger, around 12 m/s, with gusts up to 15. Three reefs and the trinquette handled it nicely, but the sallow waters around the south-east point of Møn resulted in short cresting waves very unpleasant. We decided to finish on engine, for safety reasons, when entering the shallow waters resulting in cresting waves at the southeast point of the island. 

But the engine did not start...

On my NMEA viewer, I was left with 43 litres in the starboard tank and 116 in the portside one. This should be more than enough to handled the 3 miles left... The two tanks are interconnected "in a way", and I am used to see the volume moving from one tank to the other, as it seems that the return of diesel from the engine only goes to one of the two.  

Nevertheless, I suspected that I got some air in the diesel system, maybe by attempting to switch the engine on while boat was heeling over. Decision was then to change destination, go around Møn to get shelter from the swell, close the starboard tank and purge the diesel line. A tusand tack to François (Cybele 17) who showed me how to do this this spring. It was completed in a few minutes, and the engine started nicely. I am interested in any advice on how to handle the tanks in the future to avoid getting such problems when having still over 150 litres of diesel in the tanks.

The destination then was Praestø, as it is protected from south western winds.

Very shallow waters in the approach, with an interesting concept for showing the buoys symbols, as you can see on the pictures below. Very clear from a distance, with same profile in all directions, and looking quite resistant to time. Whether one can use it to clean bottles on the way remains to be tried...

We would find a nice alongside place facing the wind. The following morning was sunny, but soon another front came though with similar levels of winds and we decided to stay for another day.

Found a new way to use the prow ladder...

Praestø is a very nice little town, with typical Danish feeling as we could experience already in Bornholm and Christiansø. The falun red of Sweden is replaced by a nice warm yellow, matching perfectly with the orange of roof tiles. The roads are paved (sorry for the bikers) and lined with hollyhocks.

The Praestø church is most interesting.

Typical votive ships as in all areas around the sea.

The decoration of the air vents on the ceiling delivers quite an ambiguous message. It looks like you should take with caution what people are saying. But does this apply as well to what it is being said in the church?

Decorated air vents on the ceiling of the church. 

The altar is magnificent, but unfortunately, does not have any information beyond 1657.

Adam and Eva, captured before the vine leaves have fully grown

The last supper is magnificent, with sophisticated perspective, most realistic.

Not dated, but looks like more recent, Mucha-like

And the last picture as a quizz. 

What is this:

1. A sauna for the marina sailors?
2. The vegetable garden of the marina? 
3. A mast crane for Optimists?
4. None of the above, specify:

Well, I don't have the answer, but my best guest is that is a platform to hammer the dam f.... poles that you find in all the marinas around here!