And so I return yet another time to Gudhjem, home of the Gods. This beautiful small port on the North East coast of Bornholm and its people hold a very special place in my heart. Sailing along the coast and passing the rugged cliffs, anticipation for our arrival rises.

Soon Thor, the local wooden motor vessel, steered by Soren, will greet us in front of the harbour and receive our towline to provide the final pull into the narrow entrance. The first lines go ashore as we spot all the familiar faces in the crowd of people watching our arrival. Time for the line pulling circus to begin. In expectation of rough weather, we manoeuvre the Tres all the way into the inner harbour. When we arrive at our final berth, Ursula is ready to greet us with her opera voice. Her beautiful singing stuns all of us into perfect silence and changes the mood completely from the previous action, paving the way for the hugs and kisses about to be exchanged.
We are baaaack!

Maria, Thomas and their team have a welcome dinner at Provianten bar waiting for us, accompanied by many bottles of the delicious French wines we are sailing for them and followed by some serious dance moves.
After all, the sea legs ask to be shaken out.

We spent a beautiful week in this little paradise, safely towed into the corner while it’s blowing outside. One afternoon, we turned the harbour basin into our own private pool for an abandoned ship drill.
Dressed in the bright red immersion suits we follow our first-mate-turned-mama-duck over the railing into the water. After the initial giggles have ebbed off, we practice the caterpillar, the attention circle and climbing into the dinghy. Insulated like seals, we enjoy floating in the cold Baltic water.

Safety first, ice cream second. The quest for the best scoops in town is still on. We unload the last of this summers cargo and visit the new wine bar and butik Kanten in the neighbouring harbour Teijn. Another must-see
while we are over there is the small brewery Penyllan, where Jess brews beers with a wild yeast culture and ages them in wooden barrels.

Also welcoming us with open taps is brewmaster Jan from Svaneke. A long time supporter and recent Tres Hombres crew member, he opens his home and sauna for us to pass a rainy afternoon.

Anders, the chef of Provianten and new resident of the island, invites us to his housewarming party. In his own words “the house is pretty warm now”. Julie takes our cook Jeroen on a farm tour to hunt local delicacies for the journey back around Skagen, adding some treasures of her own to our provisions.

The warmth and generosity with which we are received here year after year is simply incredible. Thank you all for your love and support for our good ship, its crew and our mission.

Tussen tak and see you next time,

Rosa