The hustle and bustle of summer is far away. Silence reigns in the alleyways of the small villages and towns. The colourful beach houses on the southern shore of the island are shuttered. Icy winds sweep across bare fields and meadows.
And yet there is life on Ærø. Even in winter. When the sailors are away. Then the few locals do completely different things than during the warmer half of the year, when everything revolves around holidaymakers and tourists. Now in winter there is time for everything that was left undone in the summer.
Karin Junge, for example, looks at the exhibits in the Maritime Museum. Sailmaker Staen Møller rattles the sewing machine. Jacob Fuglsang Mikkelsen and his wife Gertrud Hjelm Kongshøj create art. And harbour master Leo Clausen picks up the guitar.
They and others are the protagonists of Kerstin Landwehr's story. How they come to life on Ærø in winter. Landwehr lives on the island herself. She knows its inhabitants and knows many a story that remains hidden from others. Even the sailors. Because they only return to the island in spring.
This insider portrait of Ærø and its endearing inhabitants in the darker months of the year is now available in the new issue of YACHT (issue 3/2022, available now in newsagents and as a digital edition in the YACHT app and can be ordered directly here).
