Dan was paid off in Florø and took the Hurtigruten fast ferry to Bergen.
A local told us it was going to be ’hot’ on Sunday. For this read ‘less cold (i.e. 10ºC)’. It still felt perishingly cold to us. We set off north through the ‘leads’ – the maze of waterways between the numerous islands and skerries off the Norwegian coast.
Our first day took us east of the island of Bremangerlandet. Towering over its east end is the mount of Hornelen (860m), said to be the highest sea cliff in Europe. Sailors have to beware of the vicious squalls that can occur but we had none. That night we tucked into a quiet anchorage in the Skavøypollen.
From there we sailed under a road bridge and up the Ulvesundet past the attractive town of Måloy before tackling Statt.
Statt is a headland that “sticks out into the North Sea like an angry fist”. It is notoriously difficult and can be dangerous. It suffers from harsh weather for about 100 days in the year.
As there is no way around it, the Norwegian government is about to construct a tunnel through its neck so ships up to 16,000 tons can avoid it.
We had a rather difficult beat up the southwest side and suddenly found ourselves in F6 for an hour – Statt can create its own weather.
But as we rounded the headland we were becalmed. Statt head is not so much a fist as a claw and in that claw is the settlement of Honningsvåg. (Not to be confused with the city of Honningsvåg in Northern Norway.) Given the gentle weather, we diverted there into a lovely and very spectacular large harbour. This is not a place in which to be caught out by strong NW winds but we had a very comfortable night. No photograph could convey the magnificence of the surrounding.
From Honningsvåg we sailed down the NE side of Statt and through the Rovdefjorden and Vartdaisfjorden. Snow-capped mountains tower over these fjords, even in June. These gave way to wooded slopes as we turned into the ‘Green Corridor’ – a passage edged with trees at every turn. After a night at anchor here, we arrived in Ulsteinvik.
In Ulsteinvik we visited the marina where we plan to leave Antipole over winter 2023-24 and discussed the arrangements.
Ålesund
It was then a simple sail in light airs and with some help from the engine to Ålesund.
The old wooden town of Ålesund was destroyed in a catastrophic fire in 1904. With help from many European countries, it was rebuilt in stone mainly in the Art Nouveau style. It is an architectural gem and is now a major tourist attraction.
We berthed right in the centre and enjoyed exploring the town.
Views in Ålesund
We climbed the 450 steps up to Fjellstua for magnificent views over the town and the surrounding area. During our visit, two huge cruise ships called, towering over the town.
At last, it has turned sunny and during the day has been warm enough to sit out in the cockpit.
We took a bus out to the Sunnmøre Open Air Museum, where there is a collection of traditional houses and buildings from the Sunnmøre region.
The museum also has a lovely collection of traditional boats – some afloat.
These include some ‘church boats’ maintained by a village and used on Sundays to get to the island with a church.
There are also a few surviving relics of the Shetland Bus operation, which operated between Shetland and Norway during the occupation of Norway in WW2. These include the lifeboat in which survivors from the Bergholm reached Norway four days after the Bergholm was sunk.
We will remain in Ålesund until Sunday when we are to be joined by Tony’s grandchildren Kane and Lucas.
That’s the news for now.
love from Ynskje & Tony
Hi Ynskje and Tony,
We are enjoying reading your blog while we do some far less adventurous sailing closer to home on our “new to us” boat. You may be interested to know that the new owners of Grey Wanderer, now called “Yuma” are currently somewhere North of you in Svolvaer. If you meet them, they are an Australian couple called David and Frederieke. They may have already turned up on the Forum?
Best wishes and fair winds,
Robin and Jane
Yes, Yuma has already been registered by Frederike