De Gæ Nok spent her first winter at the shipyard in Haderslev, where the X-Yacht folks took good care of her and eventually launched her back into the water, prepping her completely for her second season. On 1 May, we sailed her home to Juelsminde – a beautiful smooth trip up through Lillebælt.
Onboard was Skipper and Mrs Captain (my parents), my brother, my uncle, my 92-year-old grandmother, Sanoop, and I.
As we switched on the engine to make our way out through the long, narrow, super idyllic Haderslev Fjord, Bedste told us stories about her and my grandad’s first experiences sailing on the fjord, tacking the whole way in their small wooden dinghy that didn’t have an engine: 146 small turns in total to avoid running aground. Once we reached open sea and hoisted the sails for the sunny ride north, she launched into a series of new anecdotes … which, along with singing a few songs, taking turns at steering the boat, trimming the sails, and pottering around in the cockpit and on deck to find our favourite spots for chilling, breathing in the salt water, enjoying the generously shining sun, and watching the waves and sights on land, kept us entertained all day.
In Fænøsund, we raised a shot of Fernet Branca to salute my grandad, who passed away in 2008 and whose ashes we spread in this pretty little nook of the world; one of his favourite sailing spots. Bedste noted, ‘this is where you’ll have to spread me as well,’ to which my brother responded, ‘is it ok we wait until you’re dead?’ We moved around the corner and passed under the 2 Lillebælt bridges. Soon, Bjørnsknude in Juelsminde came into sight. The 6-7-hour long trip was over in what felt like 5 minutes.
Now, we’re all excited for a summer of sun, wind, salt water, and green coastlines in sight.
De Gæ Nok 