After a murky afternoon in Halsa, we decided to head off again the next day. A later start this time not least as we needed to catch up on some shopping. We had hoped to sail but we had to motor the first couple of hours, as what wind there was remained firmly bang on the nose. Once we rounded the tip of Åmnøya though we managed to get some sailing – not fast, but very peaceful for an hour or so, until once again, the wind died and the engine had to go on to keep us moving.
Our destination was the island(s) of Støtt. This is an archipelago with a number of islands and skerries in the Meløy municipality, just southwest of the Kunna peninsula – an area we had christened the ‘cauliflower’ as, on the chart, it resembled the shape of a cauliflower sticking out from the mainland. The largest of the islands are Innerstøtt, Svenningen and Helløya and they are connected by a small bridge. The harbour is located in the middle of them and though a little tight is very well-marked and so easy to get into. Once in, the shelter is complete.
In season it would appear that the place is very busy with a small hotel, restaurant and shop, but out of season, this is just open for a short time every day to serve the local population of about 25 permanent residents. We met a significant proportion of them (the shop was clearly a local hub!) and they were very friendly, but it was clearly quite a maverick lifestyle. Acting as it does, as a hub for the locals, we spent some time in the shop watching the world go by and chatting to people while partaking of the free coffee on offer. For the people who ran the shop, multi-tasking was clearly a pre-requisite. While we were there the lady running it made us a coffee, then darted outside to take the lines for the high-speed ferry, then back inside, then sorted the post, then back inside, then re-arranged the stock and then finally sat down and chatted to us with a coffee herself. It turned out she was retired, but had lived on the island much of her life and married a local.
With good weather we decided to stay a couple of days and make the most of the islands. We found a walk which took us right round the main island of Støtt and gave a lovely insight into the natural habitat around the islands. It was clear why much of it was a nature reserve. On the final stretch of the walk along the road we saw the lady who had been in the shop earlier. She was busy cutting her grass.
