Canoe, Camp, Cook, Fish and Travel

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

A short diversion

While the issue of photo posting seems to have been solved and as I work on my next installment of "ROOTS - not the move", please enjoy this interesting paddling story.

http://www.theprovince.com/health/Victoria+brothers+Russell+Graham+Henry+paddle+kayaks+kilometres/9544603/story.html

Monday, February 10, 2014

I get frustrated when people, on the 1st of January, ask "How was your New Year?", it is a stupid question and I usually reply in the following fashion, "How the hxxx would I know, today is the first day of it.". The conversation usually goes downhill from here because they will reply, "What I mean how was yesterday evening?" and I answer "It was fine and it was last year."

Sorry, had to get that off my chest.
And I wish all of you a blessed New Year.

Note, when I began to write this post on January 5th, 2014 BlogSpot would not post photos, so a few X@8@88)*$ were said.
The same applies to January 9th, January 12th and we shall see what happens today January 15th -It is still a problem so I will try add photos as html though that can create a whole other set of headaches)
Here is another attempt to post photos and that attempt isn't working. X*_@)&* #hs &*&^$#@!;
Today is January 24th, and here is another attempt. %$#%^&*@#
Today is January 29th, here is an additional attempt.
It is now February 1st, 2014 ---
February 3, 2014 ---
Today it is February 4, 2014 ---
February 5, 2014 --- in other words, the problem has persisted for over one month at this point.
February 8, 2014 ---
February 10, 2014 --- there is still a problem with the downloading of the photos which Google claims it is working on very feverishly.
Please accept my apologies.

February 12, 2014 and it is be working, but not using Windows Explorer, only using Google Chrome, and having grown up with Windows Explorer I am much more comfortable with it. (Old people do not take to changes very well).

Back to the 2007 trip to Denmark. We are on the Island of Funen which is correctly named Fyn.
Today we plan a short boat trip across the waters to the Island of Ærø (Aeroe) which is famous for its ship building and the great many seafarers it produced.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%86r%C3%B8
http://aeroeisland.com/
http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/destinations/scan/aero.htm
http://www.scantours.net/products/location.php5?id=56

On the island are two principal towns and a number of villages; Ærøskøbing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%86r%C3%B8sk%C3%B8bing
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g800487-Aeroskobing_Aero_Funen_and_Islands-Vacations.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59wsaozjFOI

and the town of Marstal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marstal
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=marstal+denmark&qpvt=marstal+denmark&FORM=IGRE
http://smilingglobe.com/Visit.aspx?Visit-Smiling=Marstal&Go=Southern_Denmark&Visit=Denmark

In the maritime world Marstal is the best known of the two towns and that is our destination across the waters by a 26 foot long boat powered by a small 3 cylinder Volvo diesel engine. The weather was pleasant, sunny and probably in the mid 60's F (about 18 C) for a temperature and a nice breeze blowing. So off we go or rather sail or rather power.

Here are a few photos of the trip - of which the focus was the Maritime Museum in the town and the boats, some very old, in the harbor.

The captain of the boat, my brother Rene, keeping a good lookout.

Norma enjoying the view from the deck after arrival in Marstal

After arrival it was time for a good danish lunch which my sister in law Vivi had concocted in the small galley of the boat. We ate this lunch in the cockpit.

The cockpit table set, lunch served. It was very good.
The hatchway to the aft cabin is open.
Note the old sailing vessel in the background.

Close up of the famous Danish "open face sandwiches".
That is actually a misnomer. If it is without a piece of bread on top
it cannot by definition be a sandwich. Civilized people eat these
with a knife and a fork, not by picking them up in their hands.

Then it was time to go ashore to visit the Maritime Museum.
http://www.marstal-maritime-museum.dk/ When you open the link it is in Danish, so just hit the "translate button" to go to whatever language you are comfortable with. The museum has a lot of interesting stuff, including a full scale wheelhouse (bridge) of a small freighter with the controls and the motion of the sea while sailing at night, including the sound of the engine and a typical crew member cabin on a ship of that type.

A playground for the young and one assumes that includes the young at heart.

After the museum it was time to have a beer and then walk about town with its wonderful old homes which at one time or another were the homes of ship captains and mates and engineers and ...

Norma in front of a house; note the interesting position of the "drawers" under the windows.

Another old home with crooked walls.

Here we are in front of that house and the harbor is in the background.

The figures in the window give this house away. It belongs to a fisherman and his wife.

Since Marstal is a seafaring town it must also be remembered it is a fishing town; being a fishing town it is no wonder the gulls look so well fed.

It is time to head back to our "home port". This time "little brother" lets the former ship captain steer the "ship". Along the way we met another ferry and we saw a great deal of sailboats, mostly flying the German flag since Germany is only a few miles away and Denmark is a wonderful cruising destination.

He looks very relaxed while showing me how this is to be done.

"No sweat, this is the smallest thing I have steered in many years".

A ferry, vehicles, trucks and passengers.

"I see a bridge ahead and very shallow water outside the channel".

Another great day comes to an end, after tying up, tidying up, and headed to the house for dinner and a glass of wine.

More to follow in the next installment.

Saturday, February 1, 2014

A rather long kayak trip

Is this fellow going to make? He has made it most of the way ----

http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2014/01/25/solo-transatlantic-expedition-kayaker-declines-rescue/

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

I Promised ...

    In the last blog I promised that I would resume in January, and now that month is almost over, with only two days remaining and I haven't resumed. Here is why; it appears that BlogSpot is suffering from some sort of software problems.
    I began writing the blog that was supposed to be posted this month more than three weeks ago and when I attempt to post photos the whole thing just locks up. In going the forum I find I am not the only one with that problem and hopefully it will be resolved soon.
   I will be back as soon as it is.

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Another interesting paddle story.

This takes a great deal of determination and planning.
http://www.ulladullatimes.com.au/story/2022440/boys-return-from-epic-paddle/

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

A Merry and Blessed Christmas

To all who visit this blog A Merry and Blessed Christmas.

Monday, December 9, 2013

Roots - not the movie - 10

Since the actual events are now 6 years in the past I may mix up the chronology of events by a day or two now and then, which is not really important.

We have arrived in the town of Svendborg at the home of my brother Rene and his wife Vivi. They offer a restaurant dinner and I remember a restaurant from way back when, when I was in Svendborg on the good ship "Oklahoma" in either late 1961 or early 1962.

M/V "Oklahoma" of the DFDS company in Copenhagen.
She was built in 1956, a modern diesel cargo ship with a crew of 31.
I was on her from September 1961 to about the same time in 1962.

      The M/V "Oklahoma" was on a generally fixed trading route between Northern Europe (Poland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Scotland and England - then across the Atlantic to the US East Coast - starting in Boston and port hopping South (New York (actually Hoboken foot of 7th street pier, New Jersey), Baltimore, Camden, Philadelphia, Newport News, Norfolk, Savannah), back up to New York and then across the Atlantic again, to repeat, more or less, the same voyage itinerary again and again, always full of cargo.

     So off we are to the restaurant and I ordered a dish I had not had in a very long time, smoked eel.
http://www.therural.co.nz/hunting-and-fishing/how-to-prepare-and-smoke-an-eel
I would encourage those of you who may not have tried this dish to give it a try. It is very good when prepared correctly. It is still very good if not done quite correctly, but the eel will be a bit greasy (Omega 3's which is good stuff). I do not remember what Norma, my brother and wife ordered, but regardless, my plate had way too much food on it, and my stomach was way too small.
And here occurred one of those "situations" that makes one realize that although you may be in the country of your birth, you are no longer home.

     Being conditioned by almost 50 years in the US I asked for a "doggie bag" for the leftovers and everyone looked at me, except Norma, as if I had just arrived from another planet. "What do you want that for?" was the question from the waitress and my sister in law. "I want it so I can give it to some poor hungry homeless soul on a street corner" was my reply. The answer came back, and it shouldn't have surprised since we are in the "from cradle to grave welfare state", but it did. "There are no homeless hungry people in Denmark!!!! What gave you such a crazy idea?" Oh well, live and learn. But this little event was the first of several small cultural shocks to come in the next couple of week, but I should have suspected that after the incident with the credit card a few days ago.

      In that restaurant hangs a platter of the good training ship "Georg Stage", a full rigged square rigger, on which I was a junior officer in 1963.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_Stage
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=georg+stage&qpvt=georg+stage&FORM=IGRE
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=georg+stage&qpvt=georg+stage&FORM=VDRE
http://www.apparent-wind.com/georg-stage-visit.html

     The original "Georg Stage", which was built in 1882, is now the "Joseph Conrad" and can by found at Mystic Seaport Museum in Connecticut. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Conrad_(ship)

     The next day, after a good breakfast, we went to the island of Taasinge which, in Old Danish, means Thorsbed or Thorsmeadow (Thor in this context is the Norse god) , which we crossed yesterday on the bus.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C3%A5singe
Here are several points of interest; The Taasinge Museum among them which I visited in 1989 http://sights.dk/english8x6/skipper.asp. Today we are off for Valdemar Slot (Valdemar Castle). http://www.valdemarsslot.dk/
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=valdemar+slot+taasinge&qpvt=valdemar+slot+taasinge&FORM=IGRE
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/12688832
     We do not drive over the bridge and to the castle, rather we take an old "passenger island packet" that roams between the string of islands just south of Svendborg. This little vessel is named "Helge" and may have been steam powered in her past based on the size of the stack, she was built in 1924.
Here are a few links with information on this antique vessel, some of the information is in Danish so translate using Google Translate. Some of my photos are below.
http://www.geolocation.ws/v/P/23570584/ms-helge-af-svendborg-bygget-1924/en
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=%22Helge%22+svendborg&qpvt=%22Helge%22+svendborg&FORM=IGRE
http://www.svendborg.biz/veteranskibet-ms-helge

After an enjoyable ride we arrived at the landing at Valdemar Slot. There is quite a bit of history attached to this castle and working farm, but as with all "landed gentry" in Europe, the farm is no longer able to pay the bills so other sources of income exist.
The castle has an interesting history; Valdemar's Castle was built 1639-44 by King Christian IV for his son, Count Valdemar Christian from whom the castle takes its name. The King's construction on Taasinge began when Valdemar Christian was 17 years old , and the king spared no expense to give his son, the prince, an abode of great significance. With Steenwinckel as the architect and builder, the king built a splendid Renaissance chateau in the style of and larger than his own Rosenborg. But Valdemar Christian never got the benefit of its castle - he preferred to go around Europe as a commander and never settled on Taasinge. In 1656, he died on a battlefield in Poland, 34 years old. During the wars with Sweden (1658-1660) Valdemar's Castle was occupied and badly damaged, and it was the naval hero Niels Juel, who saved the castle from ruin. In 1678 Niels Juel began an extensive renovation of the castle and rebuilt it in Baroque style, as the fashion prescribed. Naval hero Niels Juel 's grandson of the same name, Chamberlain Niels Juel lived in the castle from 1723 until his death in 1766 , he was a very energetic man . He summoned the Holstein architect G. D. Tschierscke who created the beautiful castles that we know today with the stately gatehouses, the artificial lake in front of the castle, carriage and shed wings along the lake and the pretty tea pavilion which is the focus point from the beach. Since 1974, the castle has been open to the public. For most of the year one can walk the beautiful halls, admiring the decor and all the historical details, and also welcome the fact that this wonderful, historical place is still full of life. The owners live in the house, and let visitors see themselves as the house's personal guests, making the visit a special experience.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niels_Juel
http://www.admiralnielsjuel.dk/index.php?page=4

The public road goes right through the buildings.

Note the speed limit 15 km / just a bit over 9 MPH

One of the barns.

This building is 22 years older than the United States.

The actual castle - the servants lived up in the 3 story attic.

One of the gate houses.

My brother Rene (left) and I

It is now time to get back on the "Helge" and head back to Svendborg, a city steeped in maritime history. Here are a few photos from the harbor.

In a shed where someone is building a Viking ship replica

A look inside the hull of the Viking ship

A two masted schooner entering port

This boat, the "Hjortø", was the "mailman's / postman's" means of the delivering the mail, as well as a few passengers, to all the island south of Svendborg. On the youtube video you can hear the reliable old slow turning single cylinder diesel just "chuck" away, but you wont see much of the boat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au7G6gUiLNo, the following link contains a few images of the boat http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=hjortoe+svendborg&id=8831180C6A664921007D3397562E8F53BAD0B588&FORM=IQFRBA

and this last link is another image of the Hjortø

http://www.geolocation.ws/v/W/File:PostbaadenHjortø02.JPG/-/en

The video on the link below is of new noisy twin diesel boat on the same run, this run in the winter. The video is 9 minutes long and all the conversation is in Danish.

http://wn.com/hjortø

A fantastic looking little launch.

http://www.fram.dk/

http://www.fram.dk/tilblivelsen.html

Two schooners in port.

Yesterday evening we had the "doggie bag" episode. This evening we arrived at another culture shock. Knowing that Europe is expensive and that for Europeans to come to the US is like for them to come to a giant "dollar store" we knew that from time to time we would be surprised by the prices; as in when I filled up my sister in laws little Toyota, but there was more to come.

Yesterday I had seen a little Italian restaurant and I suggested we go there for dinner and my brother said that place is way too expensive; why don't we go to this "hamburger" place just opened up by a former ships cook. So we did and ordered 4 cheese burgers, french fries, 2 beers, a glass of wine and a softdrink. A young man brings the order to the table together with the bills, Danske Kroner 456.00. I almost fell out of the chair, that amount is roughly $84.00 US / EU 61.00. I had to ask what in the world made these burgers so expensive, since in the US we could have had 4 burgers with fries and soft drinks for about $40.00. They replied; "The young man who brought these to our table is making about $16.00 per hour, not the $5.85 as the minimum wage was in the US at the same time. That explains it.

That most expensive hamburger.

Then it was time to drive back to the house for a nightcap but on the way we drove by a "historical" building; the building where the worlds largest shipping company, Maersk Line, can trace its humble beginning. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Maersk

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._P._Moller-Maersk_Group

http://gcaptain.com/maersk-line-history-video/