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Uncle
Al's Worlds Diary
Wed 22 July:
uneventful
flight to Copenhagen via Frankfurt (see Marc with Frankfurt-type
refreshment
below) where we had a brief look at some sights during a 6-hour
stopover
- met by Jesper Friis - fine dinner from Aida highlighted by napkins
showing
a chart of the area around Rantzausminde where we would be cruising the
next couple of days - talked Wayfarers, Worlds, etc. ‘til 0200
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Thurs 23 July:
off
to Rantzausminde on south end of Fyn near Svendborg (see maps 2
&
3 above) via the new bridge that connects Copenhagen’s island,
Sjælland
to the island of Fyn (see top map) – toll nearly as much as on
the
ferry but bridge much faster and no reservations required - arrived
early
afternoon under cool, threatening skies – informed by Arne Stahlfest
that
yes, Denmark did have a summer: a Sunday in May – huge field of
Wayfarer
tents
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with sailors from
Denmark,
Norway, the Netherlands, the U.K., Ireland, the U.S. and now, Canada.
Of
course, we hadn’t thought to bring a flag (photo below) – even
Danish
Olympian, Mogens Just, was there relaxing with his family
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- as promised, the
Ammentorps
had brought us tent and sleeping gear, and when it looked like it might
rain, Rene, Pi and Gry had even put the tent up for us
- met Ralph
Roberts who
invited us to sail his Wayfarer World that he and Cedric Clarke
had sailed from Southwold in Suffolk via Den Helder in Holland to
Esbjerg
in Denmark – after all those days of sitting in his Wayfarer World,
Ralph said that his derrière was so sore, he never wanted to sit
in it again and that Marc and I were most welcome to try her out –
which
we did: in the moderate winds, it felt much the same as any other
Wayfarer.
The asymmetrical spi was fun but gives the same problem as a genoa: it
won’t fill if you’re too far off the wind. One problem with the World:
there seems to be no place to safely wedge an open beer bottle – tsk!
tsk!
– see photo below of Ralph's "baby" on display at the Worlds
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When we returned,
the place
was abuzz as Bob and Clare Harland had sailed in from Kiel (map
below
on which Rantzausminde would be not too far north of the island of
Ærø) to
complete a little jaunt that had started with Ralph Roberts in
Southwold!
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After a brief nap
after checking
in (see bill below) to test out the tent and remedy jet lag,
we
were awake in time to watch a number of Wayfarers paddling in from an
extended
daysail to the island of Ærø. Poul Ammentorp was among
them
but fortunately the paddling had not exhausted Poul too much to
barbecue
a fine dinner for us since he had two good strong paddlers, our
‘Coach’,
Jesper Graves Petersen and the Irishman with the flu, Desmond. The
Desmond-disease
eventually made its way around our group and we were coughing and
sniffling
throughout much of the Worlds. After a great dinner at Poul’s campsite,
complete with wine and coffee with "cream" (= scotch), we moseyed on
over
to the beach where a bonfire was in full swing and we talked and sang
until
about 0230
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