Svendborg Yachthafen

Description

NV Cruising Guide

Navigation

The approach to the marina is possible day and night. It is done via the well buoyed Svendborg Sund. At night, however, the complicated lighting requires some experience.

Current: The current in the sound is irregular and very wind-dependent. However, in calm weather the current capsizes every 6 hours depending on the tide. The difference between mean high and low water is 0.3 - 0.6m. Currents of about 2kn occur, but can also reach 4 - 5kn during strong storms. (see "Surface current Little/Big Belt")

Berths

The circular marina to the south of the town centre is mainly occupied by local yachts and therefore offers little space (water depth: approx. 2.5m).

Surroundings

All supplies, yacht accessories, sailmaking and customs office. Fuel can be very conveniently bunkered at the marina and commercial port.

NV Land Guide

The protected location in the Svendborg Sund promoted the development of the city. Numerous merchant ships were already based here in the early Middle Ages. The clergy also contributed to the development of Svendborg, which was granted city rights around 1250. The building of churches attracted craftsmen and architects to the town, whose development was repeatedly slowed down by wars and looting. The Swedes robbed Svendborg of its vitality for a long time with the storming in 1659, and a major fire again took the wind out of Svendborg's sails in the 18th century.

It was not until the construction of the harbour at the beginning of the 19th century that the stage was set to return to days gone by. But again, the losing war against England prevented better times. This was followed by the Danish state bankruptcy in 1813. As a result of the loss of Norway, agricultural products were difficult to sell. Trade and seafaring reached a low point. In 1818 there were only 39 merchant ships in the maritime city, after there had been 77 ships in 1807. Only the shipyards profited from the war losses. Gunboats, sloops and gun yawls, among other things, were built in Svendborg. The war against England also left its mark on Svendborg in other ways: piracy was legalized in 1807, provided that it was ships of the enemy that were captured. It was the prises (captured ships) that helped to stimulate the economy in Svendborg after the end of the war. In addition, more and more large sailing ships were launched in Svendborg. 121 ships were based at the Svendborg customs office in 1834. Svendborg had become the second largest maritime town in Denmark after Copenhagen. More and more new wooden shipyards were founded. Among them was the world-famous Ring Andersen shipyard on Frederik Island in Svendborg, which still exists today. The shipyard is located in the middle of the industrial harbour and is connected to the mainland by a bridge. By the time of his death in 1901, master shipbuilder Jörgen Ring Andersen had built no fewer than 84 ships.

It was only around 1840 that sailboats were built from outline drawings. Until then, unbelievable as it sounds, eye measurement was the main tool. The long planks were hewn with axes and the frames were cut with large two-handed saws.

The sailor's life was a drudgery and also dangerous, because from 1850 to 1920 no less than 31 of 134 ships disappeared without a trace(!) with man and mouse. For the seamen's families the death of the provider was often a catastrophe that ended in the poorhouse. It was only in time that seamen's clubs were formed for the benefit of the bereaved. Work in shipyards was no less arduous and, on top of that, was paid less than work at sea. This led to Svendborg's shipwrights organising themselves into a trade union as early as 1889.

If you want to know more about Svendborg's past as a seafaring town, the best thing to do is to make a trip to the maritime museum at Troense on Tåsinge (see Troense). The way there leads across the Svendborg Sound Bridge, Denmark's first pier bridge, which was inaugurated in 1966.

But Svendborg itself also has enough sights to offer. So is on the island of Frederiksø in the old shipyard forge since 2016  "Danmarks Museum for Lystsejlads", a yachting museum with more than 40 vehicles in the original. Partly interactive, more than 150 years of Danish water sports history is shown on posters and screens  in the spacious halls. There is also, for example, the Zoological Museum at Dronningemæn 30, where one of the special features is the 'Trip to the Ice Age'. The visitor can come face to face with musk oxen that lived in Denmark 12,000 years ago. The enormous changes that the landscape has undergone up to the present day are also vividly depicted. The sounds of stuffed animals are played on tape. The skeleton of the baleen whale stranded on Tåsinge in 1955 is 17 metres long.

Viebæltegård at Grubbemøllevej 13 is Svendborg's former poorhouse and workhouse. Some rooms have been preserved unchanged along with the original furnishings to commemorate the poorhouse. Viebæltegård is also a prehistoric museum with finds from the Bronze Age. A large silver treasure found on Iholm in 1853 is deposited here. Visitors are shown old crafts in a goldsmith's workshop, a print shop, a turnery and a pottery.

Anne Hvides Gård is Svendborg's oldest building. The half-timbered building at Truestræde 3 houses 18th- and 19th-century pictures and paintings, as well as furnishings. It also houses faience.

The Stove Museum at Vestergade 45 details the history of the foundry and presents a large collection of stoves from1850 to the present.

The oldest church in Svendborg is St Nicolai's Church in Gerritsgade, built around 1200. It is located in a beautiful district with old houses in Kyseborgstræde.

Svendborg's landmark, Christiansmühle, is illuminated in the evening.

A walk along the sound to Christiansminde is recommended. The commercial harbour is a suitable starting point for this short walk, during which you pass the customs cutter "Viking". The yacht, built in 1897 and moored on the shore path, belongs to the Svenborg Museum. It is worth making use of the excursion trips in Svendborg. The Sund trip with the museum ship "MS Helge" takes you to Vindebyøre, Christiansminde, Troense, Gråsten and Waldemar's castle. A visit to the castle is worthwhile (see also Troense). The trip can be interrupted and continued with the next boat. Ferries dock at - Drejø, Hjartø, Skarø and Ærø.

Whoever visits the impressive Egeskov Castle kills two birds with one stone, as the vintage car museum there is also worth seeing. However, the distance, following the A9, is about 20 kilometres.

Vindeby:

Where the harbour of Vindeby is located today, there was the pier for the ferries that ran between Svendborg and the island of Tåsinge until the Svendborg Sund Bridge was built (sights: see Svendborg and Troense).

Marina Information

Contact

Surroundings

Electricity

Water

Toilet

Shower

Restaurant

Imbiss

Crane

Atm

Internet

Fuel

Grocery

Boatyard

Ramp

Public Transport

Bikerental

Garbage

Sewage