Since weather was mixed and more on the wet side, sailing between our stops was not a major highlight. But one aspect of sailing came back into the game – tides. They do not play a role on Azores, Canaries, Cape Verde or the Caribbean, but need to be considered on the British Isles. Especially north of Ireland they need to be taken into account for the plan. So, our departure from Belfast with destination Tobermory in Scotland was at 3:00 AM, but this helped us to have a fast ride with currents mostly from the back.
After a few days in Inverness we took the first feasible wind opportunity to cross the North Sea towards Denmark. It was not perfect, but more sailing than motoring. North Sea was very busy with many fishers, cargo ships and oil rigs, so night watches did not get boring. After 3,5 days we arrived safely in Skagen where we enjoyed the Danish coziness and nice tours, but not the pub scene with beer prices of more than 11 €.
After a few days we had a perfect wind to cross the Kattegat towards West Sweden. It was a fast ride with strong winds from the back. At lunch we arrived in a completely different world with many small granite islands and even cozier small villages compared to the sandy dunes landscape in Skagen.
