Norway
Across the North Sea
You sailed across the North Sea?” was the comment often
passed by Norwegians we met. To the uninitiated this might seem
a little strange, especially coming from members of the Nation
of Hairy
Vikings whom one expects to be out braving all that the elements
may care to throw at them.
The reality is, surprisingly, a little different as the greatest part of the Norwegian coastal traffic and leisure boating is carried out in the sheltered inner leads and the occasional exposed headlands and stretches of coast have fearsome reputations.
Frustrated Channel crossing
In the summer of 2001 the North Sea was kind in the extreme. It was the English Channel that was the problem both outbound and homeward.
Leaving Portsmouth the forecast of sou’westerly 4 seemed ideal for a direct passage to Calais where some essential stores might be found to sustain us in the land of expensive booze. The forecast held good for the first few hours and then the wind started picking up steadily. Sail was progressively reduced as the afternoon wore on and by early evening we were down to our No 3 jib alone with Críonna making well over hull speed and the following seas looking ever more menacing.
Dungeness was not nice. A couple of rather large wave crests tried hitching a ride with one even going down below. Surfing down the faces the log would run up to 10 knots .... exhilarating but a bit scary too! Once past Dungeness the seas abated a bit but the idea of crossing the traffic separation schemes at Dover at night on a beam reach in that kind of sea did not seem like a good idea.
Anchored off Deal overnight
We decided we would do what the old sailormen used to do, run around the corner and anchor for the rest of the night in the shelter of the Small Downs. Like many good ideas it was not the ideal solution. We ran in to quite near the beach off Deal and anchored only to find that the sea doesn’t give up that easily.
The refracted swell coming around the South Foreland left us rolling and snubbing horribly .... no good for getting a well deserved rest at 0300! So, up with the anchor again and on to Ramsgate finally berthing at 0430.
Success at the second attempt
The log reads ‘Had a sleep and a late breakfast’. True, and an understatement. But by the time we had a shower and tidied up the boat the world was looking a whole lot more friendly and with a favourable forecast we decided to sail on the afternoon tide back to Calais.
The only dark cloud was the harbourmaster who insisted on charging us for a whole day which we thought was pretty mean but we got our own back on the return passage! The now westerly 4 gave us a quick and easy sail and our luck held with the basin gates opening just as we approached them .... all secure alongside before midnight.
We slept like the dead and were rewarded with a beautiful sunny morning. The Contessa 32 we had rafted up on was from Cowes and they knew Mark and Brenda and Roya. The afternoon’s trip to the supermarket necessitated a taxi for the return to the marina and ribald comments about how much ‘stores’ a Twister could accommodate.
Forced to motor up the Norfolk coast
Plan A had always been to depart Calais and head for Norway with the intention of making as much ‘northing’ as possible before touching land. The weather had different ideas with a serious lack of wind causing us to sail, motor and motor sail for the next 24 hours.
Motoring up the Norfolk coast with a strong foul tide running and a glassy sea weakened our resolve so we headed into Lowestoft and the hospitality of the Royal Norfolk and Suffolk YC and it’s Marina. The place was humming as there was a rally of Dutch Westerlys, an annual event we were told.
Benign conditions in the North Sea
The forecast for the next day promised some wind, from the W or SW, ideal for us, so we departed just before the tide turned so that we’d get the maximum benefit, making up around the corner of East Anglia before striking out into the N. Sea.
The North Sea was uneventful but never boring. The winds were mostly light and with a tendency to head us, resulting in a somewhat erratic track northwards.
There was no shortage of shipping even though we were off any of the direct routes and then there were, of course, the ubiquitous offshore installations with their attendant guardships making sure everyone kept a wide berth.
The nights get shorter
As we progressed north the nights were getting noticeably shorter but even in the midnight twilight there were times when the horizon glowed with the blaze of working lights and flare stacks.
To help pass the time we practised our ‘Astro’, clouds permitting, and were pleased to find that our new Furuno GPS seemed to be giving consistently reliable positions. Our watchkeeping routine of 3 on 3 off worked well even though I always ended up on the bread making watch .... you should try my soda bread rolls!
Freshening winds
Five days out and the wind went into the NE and freshened calling for a headsail change and a couple of reefs. The next 12 hours or so were an uncomfortable change from the easy time we had been having but the wind relented and eased though staying uncompromisingly in the northerly quadrant.
By now we were starting to get the Norwegian forecasts which we found quite confusing as we weren’t familiar with the names of the places mentioned but we were a bit concerned when we started getting forecasts of northerly gales.
Change of plan approaching Bergen
Since we were approaching the latitude of Bergen and about 30 miles off the coast it took little persuasion to abandon our ‘first stop Lofoten’ plan and adopt ‘Plan B’ instead.
Much of the Norwegian coast is a mass of offlying rocks skerries and islands, known locally as the ‘Skjaergård’. On the small scale chart it looked, to the uninitiated, pretty daunting and so we elected to enter via the Kjorsfjord to the south of Bergen.
A first glimpse of Norway
As we approached the coast our first glimpse of Norway was the snow capped peaks of the mountains inland and then as the low cloud dispersed the rocky shoreline appeared and Marstein light house came into view. The sun shone and the afternoon was beautiful as we beat up the fjord, through the islands and to a berth at the Bergen Seilforening marina in Kviturspollen. We had arrived .... 6 days and 600 miles logged from Lowestoft.
Norwegian Customs
The Norwegians were charming, hospitable and helpful. Our enquiries about clearing Customs elicited the response that they would probably give us the OK over the ‘phone. Not so .... we were expected to go to the customs house in Bergen.
By boat it would have been the best part of 20 miles so we took the bus instead. The customs house was an imposing building and we felt a bit out of our depth with the wad of forms in triplicate which we were given and looked identical to those which the agents ‘runners’ were using to clear in full blown cruise ships!
Eventually the customs officer returned to the counter and viewed our pathetic efforts at form filling with some amusement ‘what should we write?’ ‘How big is your ship?’ was the response. ‘Less than 5 tons’. ‘It can’t be’. ‘It is, we only have a small sailing yacht. What shall we write?’ We were obviously disproportionally troublesome for our size ‘Just write nothing’ was the response. Without further ado the multitude of boxes referring to ships stores in transit, bonded goods, personal effects and firearms were struck out and we reeled out into the sunshine clutching our stamped papers, free to travel onwards.
Bustling Bergen
Bergen was heaving with tourists. In season one, or sometimes two, cruise ships berth everyday and disgorge their human cargo into the old port area. The Bryggen, the old trading port area dating back to the days of the Hanseatic League, has been restored to accommodate the usual ‘tourist trap’ type shops.
Nevertheless ignoring that one gets a feel of what life might have been like in days gone by. A visit to Norway’s oldest pub left us £10 worse off for two half litres of beer .... nothing old fashioned about the prices!
A trip up the funicular railway, the Floibanen, gave a fantastic bird’s eye view of the whole port area.
We had hoped to find the weather centre in Bergen to see if we could get a long term forecast. The chandlers where we inquired couldn’t have been more helpful, insisting on ‘phoning the weather centre for us and also downloading weather maps off the internet. The outcome was that light northerly winds were to be expected, not what we wanted to hear!
Heading further north
Leaving Kviturspollen we decided to head north by the scenic route via the inner leads. What we had not really allowed for was how much the light winds funnelled down the channels following every twist and turn.
Force 1 on the nose meant much motoring to make any significant progress though, much as we hate motoring, the scenery made up for it in part. The Norwegian holidays had not yet started so we seemed to have the whole coast to ourselves apart from the continual stream of ferries, coasters and other commercial traffic which makes you realise how much the Norwegians daily lives are ruled by the sea.
Thriving coastal communities
The Norwegians seem to have succeeded in keeping all their isolated coastal communities alive and thriving. We didn’t see an island without mains electricity and often mains water piped from the mainland.
The ferries range from the almost cruise ship sized Hurtigruten, the 36 knot Hurtibots carrying 200-300 passengers, the numerous inter-island car ferries and the smaller fast launches serving outlying communities.
Neither was it unusual to see a coaster tied up to a rock unloading building materials or one of the ubiquitous ‘digger ships’, coasters with an excavator running along the hatch coamings, discharging sand and aggregates.
Midsummer in Rognaldsvåg
Midsummer’s day found us tied up in Rognaldsvåg alongside two heavy Colin Archer type Norwegian yachts. Their owners spoke excellent English and invited us to go with them to the midsummer bonfire in the village.
After a winter with virtually no light we could see why this was such a significant thing to celebrate. Whilst we were still some way south of the Arctic Circle we were enjoying sunshine at 11pm and it never got darker than twilight!
Up to Hornelneset
Heading onwards we gave Floro a miss as the weather was fine and were rewarded by a beautiful sail up to Hornelneset. As we rounded the point we just seemed to stop.
The already spectacular scenery
was dwarfed by the highest sea cliffs in northern Europe, towering
nearly 900 metres above us, a whole new perspective! Ships rounding
the point ahead seemed to assume almost model like proportions
against this magnificent backdrop.
As for us, well we took some ‘photos of Críonna from the dinghy and she just shows as a little white speck against the mountain! Entering the next fjord we found ourselves punching a 3 knot current, the first time that we had noticed any tidal stream.
Our enquiries in Bergen about Tidal Stream Atlases had been met with blank stares, no such thing existed! As the range of tide is generally small any streams are mainly generated by the prevailing winds and are therefore unpredictable.
Rounding Statlandet
Our next milestone was Statlandet, the Norwegian equivalent of Portland Bill but with a far worse reputation. Perhaps this is due to the fact that so much of the coastal traffic is in almost totally sheltered waters and diversions out into the open sea can be disproportionally traumatic!
Nevertheless there is a dedicated ‘phone number with a recorded message giving current conditions and the Coastguard run thrice weekly escorted convoys both north and south around the headland.
Our passage was uneventful but then it was only F1. Southbound on our return it was rather more interesting with a steady force 4-5 accelerating to a 7 around the headland and a rather nasty confused sea.
The bird cliffs of Runde
After passing between Nerlandsoy and Bergsoy we ran out to see the noted bird cliffs on the SW coast of Runde. Spectacular cliffs, a few million birds and only 2 humans!
We saw Sea Eagles, Gannets, Kittiwakes, Guillemots, Razorbills, Cormorants, Fulmars and thousands of Puffins. Every single ledge and outcrop of rock was occupied, big birds on big ledges, small birds on small ones and puffin burrows anywhere there was a bit of soil. The noise was amazing and we wondered how there could possibly be nesting space for all the birds in flight and on the water.
Another Red Ensign for company
That night we saw our first other Red Ensign .... a little steel yacht from Port Stanley in the Falklands. They were hoping to make Spitzbergen before returning to the South Atlantic. That left us feeling totally inadequate!
Motoring up to Ålesund
More ‘no-wind’ saw us motoring up to the ‘art deco’ city and port of Ålesund whence a forecast of sou’westerlies rekindled our hope of at least reaching the Arctic Circle if not Lofoten.
The wind came and lasted all of 6 hours before dying away to leave that familiar glassy sea.
The quaint harbour at Ona
The little low lying island settlement of Ona was on the horizon and the trusty iron topsail soon brought us into the quaint little harbour.
Not another yacht in sight but there was of course the usual Gjestbrygge (Visitors Pontoon) complete with honesty box for payment.. At less than £5 per night, including electricity who could even contemplate not paying?
Ona is one of a little picturesque group of islands, now joined by rock causeways to form a harbour. In days of old the inhabitants had to take their boats to sea if foul weather was in the offing whilst those remaining sheltered in the church as the highest and most substantial building.
Exploring Ona island in the fog
Fog closed in for the next day so we explored the island and chatted to the locals. This ended up with a guided tour of a beautiful 100+ year old farmhouse and the gift of enough home smoked cod to give us 5 delicious meals!
Northbound to Kristiansund
Northbound once more and again, after a promising start, the wind failed leaving us to motor all the way to Kristiansund. Big city with small marina and some other yachts including two other Brits.
It was time to make a decision. The more we talked to the locals the more confirmation we got that these light or non-existent northerlies were the norm. We were fed up with motoring and further progress north would mean more of it with the strong chance of also having to motor back to keep on schedule.
We decide to return southwards
Whilst it would have been nice to say we’d made the Arctic Circle it wasn’t essential and this was a holiday after all! The decision was made .... we would cruise back southwards in leisurely fashion exploring as we went.
An isolated anchorage near Kristiansund
An American told us of a lovely anchorage he had found just south of Kristiansund, interestingly it meant transiting a passage about 10 metres wide which hardly showed on the chart at all. Never mind, if he could do it we certainly could!
The Norwegian charts are really excellent and where there is no room for soundings to be printed in the ‘water’ then the least depth in a passage is shown on the adjacent land. Similarly all overhead cables and bridges are clearly marked with their air-draft.
The rocky pass was fast approaching, the wind increased, and Ann on the helm closed her eyes. We shot through the 10 metre wide gap at 6 knots with the minimum depth of 4 metres confirmed by the echo sounder .... all was well! The anchorage was beautiful and it’s isolation was confirmed by a Norwegian sailing over to chat, surprised at seeing another yacht in the fjord.
Assorted anchorages on the southward leg
The next couple of weeks saw us wending our way southwards, finding interesting anchorages and visiting places off the beaten track.
Perhaps the most interesting from a pilotage point of view was the inner passage along that part of the coast known as the Hustadvika, another area viewed with awe by the locals in anything but settled weather.
Whilst this passage is riddled with rocks and islets it is also clearly marked with Vardes (stone cairns) and Jernstang (perches to us). There is the added bonus that whilst there are not too many lateral or cardinal marks nearly all of these traditional marks have a pointer on top which indicates the direction of the safe water .... idiot proof!
The winter darkness must be more interesting but then there are sector lights covering all the passages and dangers. In the narrow passes there are even ‘street lights’, complete with their own symbol on the chart, to light the way!
The islands of Bulandet are known as the Venice of the north and this whole little archipelago is delightful, again we saw only 3 other yachts here.
Back to Bergen
Back to Bergen and we did the touristy bit .... going on the train to Fläm, a spectacular trip down to the head of the fjord was followed by an equally spectacular ferry trip and coach back up the tortuous hairpin bends of the old road from Gunvangen.
South from Bergen
Heading
south from Bergen the scenery becomes softer and many of the coastal
islands are much lower giving the option of some beautiful anchorages.
Our favourite was Vestre Storvika where we moored bow to the rocks
and barbecued the cod we had caught earlier in the afternoon and
again shared the area with one other boat.
The island of Rövaer was fascinating. Just north of Utsire (as in shipping forecast sea area) its intricate northern entrance is well marked and leads one into a beautiful landlocked lagoon. The southern entrance, which the ferry uses, was the narrowest channel we used .... about 5 metres wide and fendered down both sides with tyres for the ferry’s benefit!
Haugesund was attractive and here we met David Rainsbury with his Contessa 26, ‘Piper’. David’s account of his single-handed cruise to Norway is currently being serialised in ‘Sailing Today’.
We hadn’t sailed up any of the big fjords that run inland mainly because of the sheer distances involved and the fact that, on most of them, there is almost nowhere to stop.
Sailing the Lysefjord
The Lysefjord near Stavanger is on a much more realistic scale though no less spectacular. We took the bus and then hiked up to the famous Prekestolen (the Pulpit Rock) from where you can look over the edge of the sheer drop and see the water 600 metres below.
The next day we sailed up the fjord and took the alternative view which was no less spectacular. Running up the fjord with a light following breeze we sailed close enough to touch the cliff face and yet the echo sounder was off the scale.
Stavanger, our last stop in Norway
Stavanger was to be our last port. The members of the sailing club tried to persuade us to leave Críonna there for the winter. They would look after her and as for the customs and the bond you are supposed to lodge .... they would take care of them too! It was tempting but we decided to keep to our original plan.
Back across the North Sea
Once again the North Sea passage was uneventful 5 days and 512 miles to The Orwell. No great interest from the UK customs “You wouldn’t be bringing much from there would you” was the comment when we finally made contact. They were right insofar as we had no dutiable goods but they were very wrong about the experiences and memories!
John and Ann, Críonna