Hundested Havn

Hundested Havn lies on the western tip of Halsnæs, exactly where the Isefjord meets the Kattegat. You can choose your water by which way you turn outside the mole head, and that is part of the harbour's character. It is a private harbour, owned by some hundred and sixty shareholders from the town, and it holds a commercial harbour, a fishing harbour, a ferry berth, a cruise quay and a yacht harbour in one complex.

The complex is divided into several basins, each with its own depth. Yachts lie in Mellemhavn, Inderhavn and Sydhavn with about three metres; the Yderhavn to the north has four and a half and also holds the ferry berths for Rørvig; the fishing harbour has four. The commercial harbour to the south has eight point two metres and is closed to yachts. Visitors are directed to the Yderhavn, the yacht harbour or the Sydhavn.

Entry runs along a two-mile channel dredged to eight point two metres, with a swinging basin three hundred and fifty metres across. At the northern entrance there is a fixed red on the west mole head and a fixed green on the east side. Two things are worth carrying: the north-eastern corner of the Yderhavn is shallow at only one point two to one point five metres, and the current turns regularly about every six hours between north- and south-going. It rarely exceeds three knots, but the north-going stream is unfavourable when entering the Yderhavn. The tide is modest, around thirty centimetres, and the wind is usually westerly.

The first permanent harbour works on Halsnæs was a stone mole at Hundested in 1862. Until then the place was a small fishing village living on herring, pound nets in spring and drift boats in autumn, with mackerel fishing and sealing besides. Late in the 19th century came a harbour light, a customs post and a pilot station, and the centre of the fishery shifted from Lynæs to Hundested. The harbour was rebuilt in 1891-92, 1900, 1917 and again in 1949, when the mole was moved further out.

The railway arrived in 1916, the Rørvig ferry the year after, and in 1934 the route to Grenaa opened. When the Grenaa ferry was withdrawn in 1996 it cost many jobs and a sharp fall in visitors. In 2003 the harbour's management took the decision that shapes the place today: the harbour would keep all its different activities and at the same time make room for creative trades. That became the Kulturkaj, with galleries, a glassblowing studio, a wood turnery and workshops alongside boatyards, slipways and machine shops.

The result is a harbour where commercial fishing, ferry traffic, cruise and bulk cargo, classic boatbuilding and a gallery quarter all sit in the same complex. Fish are landed in the morning by local fishermen. The harbour calls itself raw and authentic, and the boatyard is authentic enough that you can get black fingers just walking past. Currently the harbour is working to become a service base for the Hesselø offshore wind farm.

Ashore stands Knud Rasmussen's House on Spodsbjerg Klint, the polar explorer's working house with views over the Kattegat and, in clear weather, to Hesselø. Spodsbjerg lighthouse stands beside it; there has been a light here since 1865. In summer a sand sculpture festival is held on the harbour, and the Fisheries and Harbour House has touch pools and a crab racing track on the quay. The Trekanten beach with its Blue Flag lies three hundred metres north of the harbour, and the local train stops on the harbour itself.