20250717

Limfjord Sailing Day 1:Struer to Tambohuse

After the 2024 Baltic Sea Challenge Vincent and Inge and Klarie and I wanted to explore the Limfjord during the 2025 summer holidays. The Limfjord cuts through north Denmark and provides a passage for yachts travelling from the North Sea to the Baltic. Compared to the windy Skagerrak, the Limfjord is relatively sheltered.
We agreed to start our trip at Struer. On our way, Klarie and I spent a couple of days near Bremerhaven and visited the Deutsche Schiffahrt Museum.

Background info:

• Vincent and Inge with Aries an Ilur built from Francois Vivier's plans during the Covid pandemic. Be sure to visit the building log of this beautifully built boat.
• Hubert and Klarie with Hatseflats a well-travelled Norwegian pram built in 2018. Apart from the boat tent, sleeping gear and some clothes we carried a spare daggerboard, two anchors, 6 water bottles, a container with red wine, food for a week in a watertight container, and a small tent.
• NV Charts Denmark, Serie 9, Hirtshals to Esbjerg - Limfjord 2025-2026
• Online guide to harbours in Denmark
• Tallyweb to pay your dues in most harbours in Denmark.
• Danish Meteorological Institute for local weather forecasts.

Wednesday 16 July

Klarie and I got up early, packed the tent in a mild drizzle and started our drive to Struer some 500 km away. We were lucky to catch the ferry across the Elbe without delay. After that it was a long drive through rural northern Germany before we got on the motorway to Flensburg and into Denmark. At the end of the afternoon we arrived at the marina of Struer and met up with Vincent and Inge. We found that Danish harbours had definitely entered the digtal age: instead of paying at the harbour office you are supposed to use QR codes to pay for the harbour facilities.
It is a bit disconcerting that you don't see staff anywhere, but the upside is that you can use and pay for the facilities around the clock.

After launching I took Hatseflats for a spin with the new oars. They worked so well that I left the old oars in the car.
Klarie and I had pot noodles enriched with mixed nuts.

Distance: 0 miles - 0 km.

Thursday 17 July

Today's plan was to get to Tambo Huse and stop at Veno island for lunch. We woke early and had breakfast on the jetty. Then it was time to put clothes, water, and food for more than a week on board Hatseflats. There was not much wind and Hatseflats was slow to go about. Several times we ended up in irons. Then we got our act together and enjoyed a brilliant sail towards Veno.

After lunch we sailed north towards Tambo Huse which is next to a low fixed bridge (180cm clearance). The wind picked up and made manoeuvering in the harbour tricky, but we managed to tie our boats at the guest pontoon. The Tambohuse marina only allows payment by MobilePay or cash (in a letter box). Since we don't have an account with a Scandinavian bank we were in urgent need for cash. We used our bank cards at the hotel across the road to get some cash to pay for the berths and ice creams.

For our evening meal, Klarie and I had dried tomato soup enriched with lentils, pasta and pureed tomatoes from a tin. Not at all bad! Then we shared red wine and snacks at a picnic table overlooking the harbour. Later on, the air finally cooled down a little. Time for bed!

Distance: 9 miles - app 17km