Rønne, Bornholm

In the morning we filled the boat food stores and also our chocolate cabinet. The modern boats have a cabinet for pre made meals. Hamburg VII has a cabinet for chocolate. It can also be locked if the crew eats too much. The rum cabinet cannot be locked nor is the crew as interested in its content. The lock on the chocolate cabinet door is from the time Hamburg VII sailed the wide world outside the Baltic. In some countries acohol and probably some other items needed to be locked and sealed for the time the boat was in the national waters.

Monday July 8th - Tuesday July 9th
Rønne

It is at least 120 nautical miles to Rønne from Rødbyhavn which means over 24 hours of sailing at the speed of 5 knots. The shortest route goes through or side by side with the Baltic's busiest shipping lanes. Because of the direction of the wind and also otherwise it was best to sail south from the direct route. This put us in the German waters between the coast and the shipping lane. A safe place to gaze at the lights of the ships. When the sun came up, we were ready to cross the heavy traffic areas.

Many of the Bornholm harbours are shallow. In Rønne the best option was the urban stone harbour in the middle of the town. This may be the most boring place to dock even though it is convenient. The next time we sail to Bornholm we will choose something more scenic.

We spent two nights in Rønne and continued only on the afternoon of Thursday the 11th of June. The wind was brisk on Wednesday and still on Thursday morning. During the night Tall Ship competitor Wyvern sank between Öland and Gotland. The waves were reported to be between 3 to 4 meters which can be uncomfortable for the crew. The blue ocean yacht Hamburg VII could handle that kind of weather and so should have Colin Archer type Wyvern. Afterwards we discovered that at least one of the keel bolts had broken. The Wyvern crew had successfully left the vessel. Sadly one of the crew from Wylde Swan sank with Wyvern. They had come to help. The young man had got stuck to the rigging of the sinking vessel. A horrible tragedy.

The hull of a wooden boat deteriorates over the years. In the Northern waters the winter can actually help even though one might think otherwise. Because the boats are lifted out of the water at least for the winter, one can more easily see the condition of the hull and the planks right next to the keel. Here also the sun is more forgiving and does not dry the wood above the waterline as badly. If one fixes the problematic areas as soon as they appear, a wooden vessel can last generations. Wyvern is a 100 year old wooden yacht. The Norwegians lifted her from the bottom of the Baltic and are repairing her back to ship shape.

We can always learn from accidents. We would be interested in learning if Wyvern leaked. Long keel bolts corrode from the middle without oxygen. This is especially true with so called stainless steel bolts. All steel corrodes, stainless steel just differently and more slowly. A layman would think otherwise. This is why leaking keelbolts are a sign that the time they need to be changed is coming close. The keelbolts of Hamburg VII were changed 15 years ago. Let's keep good care of these classics so they will take care of us in the calm and the storm.

A ship at sea
A long way to go
An evening in Rønne

From England to Finland 2013

Hamburg VII 2013