We made it to Reine, 5 other yachts tied up on the visitors’ pier so we rafted alongside some Swedes. Realised that Kevin & Sue from Islander II were there and were able to catch up with them, a big thank you for their library of Scottish charts which they have lent us as they won’t be back there for a few years!
After some deliberation we decided that the forecast later in the week was not so favourable for crossing if we went further down the Lofoten chain so made up our minds to leave after enjoying another glorious sunny day. The decision was aided by the fact that the boat furthest inside wanted to leave at 7am and if we were out of the way it would be much easier for everyone!!
The Lofotens offered us more than we could have expected. No doubt we could have stayed longer and visited another picture postcard places but we now know that Norway has many such vistas and we’ll be enjoying these in the next few weeks with friends and family as we move south again to position ourselves to cross to the Shetlands and mainland Scotland.
With 8kn North North East we set sail to the scary skerries off the mainland outside of Bodo and found a perfect spot on Herrigvaer on the public pontoon. There was no-one there, the sun was shining, we saw three black guillemot and lots of bean geese, which are quite common here but rare in the UK.
The island turned out to be ideal for the midnight sun which as the clock struck 24:00 was still quite high off the horizon,, but we thought that staying up until 1 or 1.30am to watch the dip and bounce wasn’t really necessary - nonetheless we can now say we’ve seen the sun up at midnight!!
The journey across to the next island and through the skerries was all of an hour and a half with only the jibs up and sailing almost into the pontoon. Again another quiet hamlet on an island. There is a local shop, opening hours 3.15 – 5pm. It was very busy when we dropped in at 4pm. Definitely the social hub of the island for the day.
An early evening walk took us towards the alternative anchorage which is a bay with a sandy beach and would have been ideal - we chose the pontoon as we needed water and electrics. The walk was lovely, again through peat, heather, wild orchids and even an ant hill!! Onward to the hamlet and there was a huge wild hare tucking into some delicious clover with not a care in the world for us. He was definitely very well nourished and very content. Geoff tried to make him jump but he wasn’t saying boo in Norwegian and the hare just kept on eating.
Our next door neighbours today are a Swedish couple, we met him sailing north in May when he was sailing in convoy with two friends in their boats (Marte on Villou and another fellow, friends of Dick and Ginger). I think our planning is similar to theirs, which is why our paths are crossing. None the less, it does seem odd to bump into the same boats.
Tomorrow we head for the big city of Bodo. Various boat jobs and provisioning need to be done ahead of guests arriving at the weekend.
The next installment starts on Saturday.
After some deliberation we decided that the forecast later in the week was not so favourable for crossing if we went further down the Lofoten chain so made up our minds to leave after enjoying another glorious sunny day. The decision was aided by the fact that the boat furthest inside wanted to leave at 7am and if we were out of the way it would be much easier for everyone!!
The Lofotens offered us more than we could have expected. No doubt we could have stayed longer and visited another picture postcard places but we now know that Norway has many such vistas and we’ll be enjoying these in the next few weeks with friends and family as we move south again to position ourselves to cross to the Shetlands and mainland Scotland.
With 8kn North North East we set sail to the scary skerries off the mainland outside of Bodo and found a perfect spot on Herrigvaer on the public pontoon. There was no-one there, the sun was shining, we saw three black guillemot and lots of bean geese, which are quite common here but rare in the UK.
The island turned out to be ideal for the midnight sun which as the clock struck 24:00 was still quite high off the horizon,, but we thought that staying up until 1 or 1.30am to watch the dip and bounce wasn’t really necessary - nonetheless we can now say we’ve seen the sun up at midnight!!
The journey across to the next island and through the skerries was all of an hour and a half with only the jibs up and sailing almost into the pontoon. Again another quiet hamlet on an island. There is a local shop, opening hours 3.15 – 5pm. It was very busy when we dropped in at 4pm. Definitely the social hub of the island for the day.
An early evening walk took us towards the alternative anchorage which is a bay with a sandy beach and would have been ideal - we chose the pontoon as we needed water and electrics. The walk was lovely, again through peat, heather, wild orchids and even an ant hill!! Onward to the hamlet and there was a huge wild hare tucking into some delicious clover with not a care in the world for us. He was definitely very well nourished and very content. Geoff tried to make him jump but he wasn’t saying boo in Norwegian and the hare just kept on eating.
Our next door neighbours today are a Swedish couple, we met him sailing north in May when he was sailing in convoy with two friends in their boats (Marte on Villou and another fellow, friends of Dick and Ginger). I think our planning is similar to theirs, which is why our paths are crossing. None the less, it does seem odd to bump into the same boats.
Tomorrow we head for the big city of Bodo. Various boat jobs and provisioning need to be done ahead of guests arriving at the weekend.
The next installment starts on Saturday.
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