July 9th

Wake up to an amazing clear sky and hot, hot, hot sun. Smoked salmon and a side of salmon were beckoning from the local trading post. We were served by Morten who had a twin brother Mattius, so perhaps we were served by Mattius and not Morten. With delicious looking salmon, refueled and water to the top of the tanks we were ready to head off to Traena. A 20 mile sail or motor away. The most exciting part of the journey was putting up the code zero, with 8-10kn of breeze from the NE we were so excited to be able to hoist this sail. The bow sprit worked and we cruised along very happily.

Traena and back across the Arctic circle by 5pm, the cruising guide describes Husoy as a treachourous harbour to go into. It is certainly very twisty and turny and the chart plotter doesn’t truly reflect the new breakwaters they are currently constructing. We did make it in and the long pontoon beckoned, until a guy in a fluorescent vest came to tell us we couldn’t stay unless we were going to the music festival that started the following day. A little bit of sweet talking later Rorven was persuaded that we would be leaving the next day before the 30 boats arrive that were taking part in a race to Traena (winner gets free entry to the festival) as well as the rest of the boating festival goers arrived.

The evening was spectacular, warm and sunny as we strolled around the village. It is a miniature scale festival set in the local outdoor football stadium, the local children were meeting the ferry with trolleys to carry backpackers luggage to the camp ground. The island was slowly being invaded by 20 something year olds.

Falling into bed, after midnight, we were happy to have reached the Traena archipelago but rudely awoken by a very large motor boat and crew arriving at 4am drinking and playing loud music right next to us: the people on board were around our age and not popular! When we woke in the morning it seemed the perfect time to play some morning music and laugh and chat as loudly as possible. Our friend Rorven was very keen to help and even gave us waffles!!

We decided we would stick to our plan and leave to go to Sanna which is the neighbouring island. It has a radar station at its highest point, accessible via a 700m unlit tunnel: be prepared for sensory overload after being plunged into complete darkness. We were advised to have torches without which it wouldn’t have been navigable. The views from the top were amazing and another path down became apparent, so over the cliff we went following a well marked trail that led down to the Kirkehellaren, a vast cave and apparently a treasure trove of Mediaeval objects that were uncovered in the 1930s. It was believed to be a burial ground following the Black Death as they found the remains of 30 or so people. The island was tiny but offered a morning of great finds.

The forecast was for fog later in the day so were keen to get underway to travel the next 10 miles across to Lovund. As we cast off a layer of cloud/fog crept over the mountain top that we were just on in a very Harry Potteresque way. The sun was still out but the fog was approaching fast and earlier than anticipated. It enveloped the boat around 30 minutes into the journey and we were then on full alert to get to Lovund. Fog horn being blown, eyes on deck and at the AIS we made it through some pretty narrow spots and past various high speed ferries moving at 25 – 30 knots on the AIS, heard but not seen.  It was a real pea soup but we made it into harbour with out misshap.

The neighbouring boat in Lovund was a Viking ship replica built in Trondheim for a celebration in 2000. It had 8 hearty souls on board, who had signed up to sail from Trondheim to Traena. There was room for four to sleep in the aft cabin and four on deck under canvas. This would have been very inviting throughout the beautiful sunny days we have been enjoying but in the dank, foggy conditions where everything on board was dripping we were very happy to be able to light our Reflek stove and close the hatches! They were a chatty bunch and showed Geoff & Willi how to fillet fish (they had 20 small fish to fillet for fish stew) and later in the evening Willi joined them in Norwegian lullabies that started around 11.30pm and ended around 2.30am (the rest of us enjoyed the music from the warmth of our bunks!).

Not getting to sleep until very late meant we could justify a lie in and knowing the fog was still going to be around until at least after lunch meant we had a very lazy start to the day, to do some provisioning and a bit of laundry. There were puffins to be found though - this was our mission: to seek out the Lundefuglene.

The island is well know for the arrival on April 14th of thousands of puffins, who stay until mid August. The colony is very close to the village but a day with poor visibility meant we could only see the low flying ones who came in from the sea to feed their young. It was still quite an amazing sight. They nest in the rocks and bring in a mouth full of fish to their young. If the sky had been clear we would have seen hundreds of them.

With the forecast true, the fog lifted, the sun was out and we could sail away at 5pm. With a great up wind sail between the islands we headed towards the mainland. Silavagen, a huge landlocked bay, where we will be dropping anchor.

It couldn’t wait until Saturday, too much to tell. Bodo was essentially flattened during the war during a 2 ½ hour bombing raid. They rebuilt very quickly and the central harbour area is currently having a concert hall constructed so the area is surrounded by building works. The airport is a 10 minute walk away; the main ferry and cruise ship terminal is also 10 minutes in the opposite direction so it is quite compact and very convenient to get around but lacks charm. There is a military base very close. Fighter jets are guaranteed to take off around 10am in pairs. Wednesday we saw two from the skerries, Thursday there were two, Friday there were five. Seems like a lot of money to burn in half a week, but the neighbours are causing a bit of a ruckus at the mo.

Nonetheless, we are tied up close to the activity at one of the guest piers, surrounded by motor boats of all sizes as well as a few yachts. The purpose of spending a few days here ahead of our guests arriving is to get some boat work done. This has been reasonably successful so far. Refilling the gas tanks has been on the captains mind for ages- every time the stove is turned on I am slightly nervous that I’m going to finish a bottle then we won’t have any gas for the rest of the trip and it will be impossible to cook and so on and so on.......

The place to fill your gas bottles in Bodo is about 1 km away, take said bottles on a folding wheelie trolley which all boats will have. Have a chat with a couple of people en route to make sure you aren’t on a wild goose chase, then meet the lady at the desk who says: I can do that for you and is able to find the perfect fitting for the gas bottle as she is so used to having people come from all over Europe asking the same question. All I can say is, it’s a lucky thing we came to Bodo: the epicentre of Northern Norway whether travelling by ferry, camper van, or fighter jet (see below for more info). Everyone on board can rest assured they will get a cup of coffee in the morning and a hot meal in the evening.

Our family will understand the B&Q outing, on the trek back from the propane provider there is the BEST DIY store you will encounter: Biltema. These are the words of our fearless leader of the day (and the captain of the vessel). I’m inclined to agree with him as we managed to pick up some items that were much needed and had been on the list for a while. Although, I think there should be an egg timer limit on any DIY store visit as there should be in charades.

Next stop, very close to the boat was the welding shop and we hoped that Project Bowsprit may be completed. This has been on going since Alesund and since we spent what seems like an inordinate amount of money on a sail we can’t use, this was a worthwhile stop. We left Roervik with a fitting that wasn’t quite right and needed some work. James, Logan & Rolf know all about this project.

Luckily we met a very enthusiastic Pole, who said he could help us. Two days later, he shows up with the parts and welding equipment and now we have everything in place. The Captain has to go back to the workshop to pay and rather than being charged the welders time plus materials we are charged welders time, materials plus the workshop managers annual holiday budget.  So be it. At least we can use our fabulous Code Zero.

The rest of the days jobs continued, then the phone rang around 4.15 whilst Geoff had his head in the loo, Bel answered. It seemed an odd call from the welder “I’m at your boat and there is no-one home”. He was on the dock in his civvy clothes wanting to speak to Geoff. Turns out he was very embarrassed about what had happened and wanted to apologize with a bottle of rum. Geoff poured the rum but they weren’t  big enough, so had to pour more. Damian was a great guy and wanted to say sorry, he came to us with a gesture which Geoff embraced. It was a very interesting interlude (more fuzzy for some than others) and we learnt a great deal about a young man from Poland who had worked in Sweden prior to coming to Norway and was about to become a father.

The really fun part of the day was that Dick & Ginger, Alchemy, sailed in. We had them over for drinks and a catch up which was so much fun. They have been sailing north as we have been sailing south. We may see them in the UK again next winter.

The marina is very busy this evening, and there seemed to be ‘no room at the inn’. Except when there is a familiar hull  motoring in with what looked like a British flag: it was Toby & Helen on Kalula. They are now rafted alongside and have family visiting including an 84 year old mum who have all climbed across both boats with a certain amount of fear and trepidation.

Jobs completed:

Refill gas tanks for cooking

Port side saloon porthole seal

Woodwork in saloon (on list for 4 years)

Bar across port side book shelf to stop books flying out

Aft head repair (again)

Starboard side hatch seal repair

Bow Prodder (hopefully!)

Bonfires were alight in the distance but we didn’t manage to reach any. We took a midnight walk along to the Lofoten Cathedral and to the statue of King Oystein who was the founder of the village in the early 1200s. Tuesday morning was another sunny day so ideal for more exploration on foot to Storvaagen, an old fishing settlement with a museum filled with Nordland fishing boats.

Back in town before heading off we ducked into the local ski touring office which happened to be open. Seth who runs it is an American and has lived in the Lofotens for six years and knows the ski guides that we had on our March adventure as they all worked together for Norgesguide and two of them came to Lofoten after guiding us! His site is www.alpineguides.no.

The journey to Henningsvaer was all of 10 miles, there was enough breeze to pull out the Yankee and zip along at 6kn with a freshening N wind, we arrived in very quick time. Coming alongside we were in the company of a Swedish boat Ymer and an American called Artemis. Al and Sal from Artemis are friends with Dick & Ginger from Alchemy who we met back in Suffolk Yacht Harbour three years ago and have been in touch with regularly since.  Just as we thought  the world couldn’t get any smaller, the boat to tie up alongside us last was the UK flaggged, Kalula, whose crew we had met in Trondheim at the end of May. Toby and Helen with their children Freya & Hugo had sailed from south Lofoten that day. It was definitely a day of coincidences.

Henningsvaer has lots to offer for the tourist. Tons of torrfisk are drying on racks around the harbour, the Lofotens are the biggest spawning ground for cod and the specialty dried fish is exported largely to Friday fish eating countries in the southern Mediterranean.  As you sail in the smell of the hanging fish is ever pervading.

The highlight of the day was Ocean Sounds. This is a volunteer group who are monitoring whales in the Lofotens as the whale population is being challenged not only by the whalers, who we saw in Skrova but also by oil exploration as they use sonar to detect deposits in the changing seabed, which confuses the whales and makes it difficult for them to find their breeding grounds and communicate with fellow whales. They are very keen to hear of sightings of whales and were interested to hear of the orca we saw at the entry to the Trondheim fjord back in late May.

We know there is a group of orcas off the Lofotens as they have had numerous sightings of them in the last few days and are hoping we’ll be lucky as we travel in their direction. Apparently there are about fourteen in the pod. Keep your fingers crossed!

The early morning fishing vessel that came into Skrova was full of farmed salmon: they are vacuumed out by a super duper industrial sized machine direct into the factory, fish are gutted and then move smoothly along the conveyor belt for packing. All of this was visible through the windows of the factory and very interesting to observe.  The lorries that had been parked up all night, from Russia and Latvia, were waiting to drive off with the catch of the day. We feel we are getting closer and closer to catching our own.

The detour of the day was perfect: who would resist visiting Trollsforden? It is the narrowest fjord, at 100m wide, and by all accounts quite spectacular. We were motoring quite happily, noted a lone yellow buoy which would indicate fishing activity (all fish farms have many yellow buoys so are very easy to identify). Check the chart, no fish farm charted and no sign of any more marks but another check of the chart. Then a change in sound, which always puts you on full alert, so pulled back the throttle and stopped. Engine stalled and we weren’t going anywhere.

In the distance was a work boat which started towards us after a few minutes. It turns out they work for the fisheries whose factory we were getting an education in farmed fish from and they were in the process of removing the nets, and marks for the farm that was in that spot. They were great guys who came alongside with all sorts of amazing equipment including an underwater camera that showed the mess of wayward line that had caught on our prop. This needed a diver but after a quick phone call it became clear that we needed to get back into Svolvaer for any help.

Having freed us from the lines, we were towed back and gently brought alongside in one of the main piers. Ulla, one of the two on board said our diver would be with us in minutes. Next boat to appear was driven by the  NSSR, which if you aren’t familiar with their name is the Norwegian lifeboat service, they drive humungous boats so even at low speed they are pretty powerful. This is where our diver, Toby, was coming from.

Once suited up and in the water he was down under Onegin in no time and retrieved the snarled fishing lines. He also checked the state of the prop and p-bracket with thumbs up. We were able to start the engine, go forward and reverse without any problem. You can’t imagine how relieved we were. The next question was, how much would this cost?

Ulla delivered the news: it’s ok, we have covered this as it was our fault.

We have decided that the good trolls must have been looking out for us and that we were never meant to go into Trollfjorden. After a fairly challenging day, we are now tied up alongside Praestenbrygga in Kabelvaag enjoying the evening sun on deck. Tonight is Norwegian midsummer, so we will try and find a bonfire, which will be lit in honour of the midnight sun and breath a sigh of relief.

We are very excited to be publishing our first blog post on our new website!
Today we reached Kjerringoy after leaving Rorvik on June 14th . This is the beginning of our summer adventure in Norway and eventually crossing to the Scottish Isles in August.

Our first night out we anchored at Leroya, Risvaer a tiny secluded spot with nothing but rocks and birds for company. We dropped anchor and tied a line to the mooring ring on the shore: an anchoring technique frequently used in Scandinavia. It was not such a restful night as the wind came up although we were stuck fast and going nowhere.

After a late start we had a fabulous 30 mile sail  to  Moyhamna Hole in Mountain, Torghatten, (which you can see in the slideshow below). Legend says the hole was created by an arrow shot by the king of the mountain after the capture of one of his seven daughters by a bad Troll. He was a good shooter - the arrow went right through the bad guy's hat and the daughter got away to join the other six who became a range of mountains called The Seven Sisters a bit further up the coast. Arriving back at the boat mid afternoon we were able to take the lines from Kevin & Sue, Islander II from Cowes. They joined us on board for drinks along with Norwegians Per Tura & Gunn, who were sailing south on their fishing boat Lisa II. A fun evening of Norwegian tales, Aquavit and promises to keep track of progress on AIS.

Set off around 10am in drizzle and poor vis but a great sail in decent breeze. Another 30 mile day to anchorage on Hjartoya, a settlement that the locals were forced to abandon in the 1950s. Also a Viking burial ground, there were signs of previous lives in derelict cottages and old farm equipment. The excitement of the following day was to cross the Arctic circle, luckily as we passed the monument we were able to capture the moment!! 

Our destination was Rodoya, a 40 mile trip. We could see the island miles ahead because of Rodoylova, the Red Lion,  a reddish tinged mountain which rises up 443metres. The bay is quiet and protected and tying up alongside the Klokkergarden restaurant pier at 8.30pm we were enticed into the dining room for a delicious fish supper (note to James, Logan & Rolf: we've yet to catch our own fish....). The building used to be the old school house and had been restored in a period style- well done, if a little kitsch. Next morning was gloriously sunny as forecast, so a perfect day to explore. Hiked partway up the mountain then a 2km detour to the beach with the Per Inge Bjorlo steel sculpture which is part of Artscape Nordland, an outdoor exhibit of 35 pieces across the municipalities of Nordland. It was great to stretch our legs, find sea urchins and crabs along the shoreline and the slightly incongruous sculpture.  The on shore activities meant we left quite late, but here it doesn't matter as it never gets dark. Started out sunny with a 15kn breeze from the north. 

Wind picked up and 30kn squalls blew through so we ran for shelter into Stott, a tiny bolt hole south west of Kunna. There seemed to be no signs of life in the harbour then we realised the guest pier had an amazing building that is now a restaurant/bar but used to be the central store for the island. It still has the old wooden counters and drawers and has been lovingly restored: Stott Brygge. North wind is due to keep blowing for the next few days, so we made good tracks beyond Bodo today. Our original plan was to go anti clockwise to Lofotens but with this weather we've changed the route so will explore Kjerringoy and wait for the wind to ease.

The week has been extraordinary, as we travelled north there was a sense of something hidden in the clouds in the unseen the mountains. We were told 'the mountains wake up' the further north you go and as the clouds lift and snow capped mountains appear inland or peaks emerge from islands it is easy to understand where the legends of Trolls come from.