The Stad (sometimes written as Stadt, Statt, or Statlandet) is a headland between the cities of Bergen (to the south) and Ålesund and is an unavoidable obstacle when heading north or south on the Norwegian coast. It is a 500 metre high plateau with the highest peak standing at 645 metres, so has a look commensurate with its reputation. It is a harsh, windy environment and tends to record the highest windspeeds on the Norwegian coast. What are classed as ‘extreme conditions’ occur between 90 and 110 days a year, so this is a major bottleneck for shipping. The combination of these winds with sharply fluctuating depths can cause seas with the potential to damage big ships, let alone small yachts! The peninsula marks the move from the North Sea to the Norwegian Sea.
So, we have been looking ahead for some time for a suitable forecast and today looks suitable. The wind is forecast to be just a few knots, though the swell is still forecast at 1.5-1.8 metres with an interval of just a few seconds, so fairly short seas. A daunting passage even in light winds.
We left Måløy just after half past eight and motored out towards the headland. There were several possible routes with various skerries and rocks in the way and in the event we went inside quite a few to shorten the trip; seas were fine to do this. Even with very little wind though, there was still a moderate swell, so it was quite a rolly trip, but calm enough that we could enjoy the scenery and dramatic backdrop of the cliffs. Once round the headland we started heading back inshore and north around the island of Sandsøya. Our destination was a harbour on the eastern side of Sandsøya called Sandshamn or Rosenlund Hamn. This was very sheltered and proved to be a bit of a gem. There were only a few boats in the harbour, so plenty of space, which made it all the more bizarre when a motorboat decided to moor behind us in a space which wasn’t even big enough for him. After he had nudged our dinghy several times, we moved slightly forward and gave him ‘the look’. He seemed oblivious to it, so we clearly need to work on that!
However, the other motorboat in front of us were lovely and came up to us asking if we had just come round the north of the island. We said we had and she showed us a picture that she had taken from the top of the hill, clearly showing us coming round the island – a lovely record of our trip.
The well-known danger of the Stad peninsula has led to talk of a ship tunnel – the first in the world. This discussion has been going since the 1980s (and probably a lot sooner) but the decision has finally been ratified and work starts in 2025 with completion around 2027 or 2028. The tunnel will measure 45 metres in height, be 36 metres wide with a length of 1.7km and will be able to take vessels of up to 16,000 tonnes. What a shame they won’t have finished it by the time we go past again.
That afternoon we got a close-up view of one of the local residents – Ottar. Ottar is, not surprisingly, an otter and he has learnt to use the safety ladders to come up and down the pontoon. After lounging around on the pontoon, he suddenly dived down the steps and rapidly came back up with a flatfish – a flounder apparently. He then proceeded to have a relaxed supper on the jetty in front of us!
