Denmark: The Joys of Sailing in Danish Waters

Published 12 years ago, updated 6 years ago

Our thanks to Erik Aller for this report.

Thanks for a great site. I have a few comments for you.

Although a flashlight is always a good idea for night sailing, you rarely need it in the summer (in Scandinavia) because the nights are very light, so you have very few hours of darkness and if there are no clouds in the sky, almost none. This is one of the main attractions of sailing in these waters.

Regarding fuel, most places take credit cards and machines for banknotes are getting rare today. Most “petrol stations” also have facilities for emptying your holding tank.

Except for the west coast of Jutland, there is very little tide, + – 30 cm., however, persistent strong winds can increase this by either pushing or pulling water in/out of the Botnic Bay.

The prevailing wind is more from south-west than west, despite the fact that we call it the Western Wind. The wind speed is normally between 10 to 20 knots, and as you pointed out, waters are fairly protected, which means that you rarely get big waves, only in Skagerrak and Kattegat. This is perfect for most yachts.

The weather changes a lot and long-term weather forecast is not reliable, maximum up to five days. A week of cruising in Denmark/Scandinavia will normally include clouds, rain and sun, so if you don’t mind or like me actually like the changing weather, then Denmark and Scandinavia have a lot to offer. However, a sunscreen is recommended even if it’s cloudy because you spend so much time outdoors.

A lot of the small and nice marinas in Denmark have a water level of 2.5 meters and are not suitable for larger boats. I would say not much over 40 feet is recommended. If your boat exceeds this you have to do your homework selecting your marinas before you come. Note that this does not include the Swedish west coast archipelago, where water depths can be much deeper in the marinas.

Danes, in general, speaks good English and in the southern parts also good German.

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