HELSINGOR, Sjaelland, Denmark - 56 02.67N 012 37.02E
OOJAH's AWESOME ODYSSEY
Peter & Christene Tanner
Wed 10 Jun 2015 15:56
After 3 days on Samso the wind eased & we sailed 60nm East along the North coast of Sjaelland, the largest of Denmark’s 402 islands, to the fishing harbour of Gilleleje. After a pleasant evening ashore, while the weather was favourable, we sailed on to Helsingor. The backdrop to the marina was the magnificent 15th century Kronberg Castle overlooking the 2 nm wide waterway separating Denmark from Sweden.  This is more famous as the fictional location for Shakespear’s Hamlet but for 400 years the Danish extracted a toll from every ship going in & out of the Baltic. The price was a proportion of the value of the cargo, & the canny Danes insisted on the first right to buy the cargo at that price to discourage captains from under declaring. For a while Denmark also owned what is now Sweden on the opposite bank so there was no chance of passing under the castle’s guns without paying - the Danish crown made a fortune out of this in exchange for ensuring safety from piracy in the Oresund, the water between Denmark & Sweden. They even charged extra for the cannon shot should they have to fire a warning shot! We paid the very reasonable £24 marina fee without complaint. Oojah also enjoyed a can of his favourite Elephant Beer ...  At 7.5% proof everybody was happy! Best regards to all, Peter & Christene |