20250721

Limfjord Sailing Day 5:Doverodde to Thisted

The weather forecasts were not good: one prediction was for 26mm rain on Monday and 6mm on Tuesday and another predicted 6mm on Monday and 27mm on Tuesday. Both forecasts agreed after the rain, there would be lots of wind. So we decided to sail to Vilsund, use public transport to retrieve our cars and trailers from Struer and drive back home.

In the morning Klarie and I walked to the sailing club to make breakfast and to repair the puncture in my air mattress. Since I had foolishly forgotten to bring my repair kit, I was very glad that Vincent kindly lent me his kit.
When we got to the sailing club it was raining and I laid the mattress on a table to find the puncture. After repairing one tear I blew some air into the mattress and found another. With both tears fixed, the mattress remained airtight.

Soon after Vincent and Inge arrived Casper Olesen made his appearance at the sailing club. He was very pleased with the watercolour that Vincent had given him of his sjekte in Doverodde harbour. A man of many trades, Casper is also in the business of buying, selling and restoring traditional Danish fishing boats. Apparently the Limfjord used to be home to over 20 different sjektes which were used for fishing. But the sjektes are no longer used for fishing and the fish have largely disappeared from the polluted waters of the Limfjord. By restoring sjektes and selling them on, Casper hopes to keep the traditions of these boats alive.

After coffee we followed Casper into the harbour to admire two of 'his' sjektes with their distinctive double-ended hulls and sprit rigs. Only traditional materials are used on these real workboats. For example linseed on the decks and linseed and Stockholm tar to conserve the insides. Casper showed the rings made from cow horns around the forestay to hoist the jibs. Fascinating to see how farm life and fishing go together on these boats.

Casper recognized Hatseflats immediately as a Norwegian pram and said that these seaworthy boats are still used in northern Denmark for fishing from the beach.
Looking at the clouds above he thought we could easily make it to Thisted in the afternoon. It was cloudy but with the current wind it would be a reach all the way to Vilsund. So why not go now?

An hour later we were sailing through the Nees Sund heading for the marina at Vilsund. After we crossed the ferry the fjord widened into Visby Bredning. We sailed in close company with Aries. Wearing our oilies we were not too bothered by the rain but we were watchful on this great expanse of water. Once past Dragstrup Vig, the fjord narrowed and we felt safe again. We were now closing in on the bridge at Vilsund, where we saw about 20 seals on the beach going for a swim. Since we were making good time, Klarie called Vincent on the radio to propose to continue to Thisted. Vincent agreed and called Vilsund Bridge to open for the two small Dutch sailboats.

After Vilsund Bridge we battled with breaking waves rolling in across Thisted Bredning. We were hobbyhorsing along without enough wind to power through the waves. I put Hatseflats on a broad reach to quickly get out of the waves. Then I we headed towards Thisted once more. We were lucky that the wind had shifted and we were now on a run towards our destination. The clouds cleared and we could see Thisted and the channel to the harbour.

In the harbour we found a spot for our boats between two gin palaces.
Had we sailed all the way to Denmark? And were was the mother ship? One of our Norwegian neighbours with a big Jeanneau sailing boat called Hatseflats a 'Norske pram' which made me proud.

We managed to put our boat tents up before it started to rain and then went to a fish restaurant to celebrate our trip. Afterwards we walked by the railway station to find out the departure times for the trains to Struer.

In the night, it rained for hours on end but I only woke when the waves came and jerked Hatseflats around. I raised the daggerboard as high as I could. The motions became softer and I drifted back to sleep. In the morning we took the train to Struer and drove our cars and trailers to Thisted through the rain. It was dry when we took off the boat tents and retrieved our boats from Thisted harbour. We went to nearby McDonalds for a last coffee and concluded our trip.

Distance: 17 miles in 5 hours - 32km

Evaluation

• We covered around 80km in four days.
  Only on the first and last day we had decent wind. When sailing from Doverodde to Thisted we covered 32km in 5 hours. Around 3.5 knots per hour. On the other days we could make 1.5 to 2 miles per hour.
• We enjoyed sailing and planning our trip together.
  Vincent and Hubert had similar ideas about safety and risks, so we were comfortable with the decisions we took. We also found that sailing together and keeping an eye on one another added to our security.
• Our boats were similar in speed. This was an advantage when planning each next leg.
  Generally, the Ilur performed better allround, but Hatseflats came into her own when the wind increased.
• The Limfjord is a very nice area for sailing with cruising dinghies.
  With our shallow draft we didn't run aground too much and we encountered only two bridges. However, the weather in the fjords can change very quickly. On the Saturday, the wind changed from nothing to a full F4-5 in 20 minutes with waves to match. A rather humbling experience!
• The facilities at the harbours around the Limfjord were very clean and even had kitchens that we could use and wall sockets for charging our phones.
  Shops and restaurants are few and far between (and not necessarily available in your harbour! So either take enough food on board or plan extra cycling trips to a remote super market to get your food. Note that most harbours have one oe two pushbikes that you can use free of charge.
• Don't forget to bring cash and your VISA card.
  We were lucky to get extra cash at the Tambohuse Hotel. At Struer, Doverodde and Thisted we paid through Tallyweb.dk using our VISA card. At Tambohuse and Tissinghuse we paid with cash in an envelope.
• The VHF radio was very useful. We chatted on VHF channel 77. There were hardly any other boats around especially when we sailed from Doverodde to Thisted.