Big seas, four-metre-high rolling waves, storms, fog, and squalls. We had anticipated all of it on our first Kattegat crossing, in our 50-year-old, 24-ft Spækhugger yacht Gaia. We weren’t, however, expecting so much of the unexpected to happen. Upon reaching Aalborg, the first destination on our month-long trip, we had added three fairly substantial items to our infinite boat to-do list: fix the engine; fix the navigation lights; and replace the toilet. Thankfully, the toilet is just a bucket.
It was a typical summer’s day in Denmark: cloudy, unseasonably cold and with a constant threat of rain. The devastating heatwave that was raging through the rest of Europe felt like a distant rumour. We surveyed the horizon with trepidation and excitement, the forecast 25-knot winds confirmed by the landscape of whitecaps before us.
