Shoals and Anchorages in the West

On the whole, the waters west of the Mørkedybet channel is “clean” – meaning there are no shoals – and can thus be navigated by pleasure crafts without difficulty. For the purposes of commercial shipping, however, Mads Jensens Grund (Mads Jensen’s Shoal) and Skarsand near Drejø and Billes Grunde (Bille’s Shoals) between the islands of Avernakø and Vesterø are marked with buoys. The latter consists of three shoals with a water depth of at least 4 metres, which do not pose any problems for boats, and one which is 3.4 metres deep. Only the latter, which is located furthest to the south, is buoyed. There is some disagreement about the identity of the “Bille” after whom the shoals are named. Presumably, the name refers to Commander Steen Bille who was in charge of Copenhagen’s naval defence during the Bombardment in 1807.

After losing the fleet, Steen Bille organised the gunboat war against the English fleet forcing it to invest many resources in the Danish waters to ensure the passage to and from the Baltic Sea.

Skovens Vig (The Forest’s Cove) is a good anchorage for western, northern and eastern winds. It has a sandy bottom and there is a lovely view towards Ærø to the south. The island of Drejø is named after Drejet, which is a narrow sand spit. The spit connects Drejø with Skoven (The Forest), which is a fairly high-rising moraine hill island with cliffs on its western side. The name of this island is, of course, derived from the fact that it used to be forest-clad – as were most of the islands in The South Fyn Archipelago in the Middle Ages. The island has three farms and some houses. The low tidal meadow called Mejlholm is an important breeding area for many birds – and so are the areas called Høllehoved and Nørresø. 60 different bird species breed on Drejø.