There are various chunks of the Norwegian coast which the pilot books warn about and just north of Ålesund is one of them. it is known as the Hustadvika. It is a part of the mainland, so you have to go round it but it is a gradually shelving rocky area with a smattering of rocks and skerries just offshore. Given that the next nearest piece of land due west is...
With a few days to spare before a crew changeover, we spent some time exploring Ålesund. The first morning we got up and spluttered into our tea when we saw that they had built a huge block of flats at the end of the harbour. We quickly realised that no-one could built that fast and that what we were seeing was a cruise ship moored across the other end of the harbour...
With reasonable weather today, but strong winds forecast at the weekend, we decided to keep moving on. We left Sandsøya just before 9am and motored and motored and ….. The wind simply didn’t oblige, rarely getting above 5 knots in strength and generally less than that. It was a lovely trip, but no chance of sailing. We arrived in Ålesund in time for a...
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...
Another day, another early start …. heading closer to the Statt. We had a couple of options to position ourselves ready to go round the Statt, but in the end decided on Måløy. On advice from a local we routed a trip round to the east through the fjord to take up past Hornelen. This is the highest sea cliff in Europe at 860 metres, and it was spectacular –...
A moderate start this morning at 7am to head another 45 miles or so north up to Florø. We are now starting to look ahead to try and find a suitable gap for rounding the Statt headland. This headland has a formidable reputation, so we want to ensure a relatively calm slot to go round and the weather looks suitable in a couple of days. Though we had to motor the first...
After a very pleasant day in Bergen, we decided, with a reasonable forecast to try and get some further miles north done, so we headed off once again at 4am. The early hour was partly as we had a fair distance to do, but in equal measure because the forecast was deteriorating for the afternoon, so we decided to try and get there before lunch. The breeze played ball...
We waited one more day in Haugesund. This was mainly through necessity (strong northerly winds!) but also enabled a continuation of the sociological study of homelessness in Norway which we had been undertaking, being moored close to the home for the homeless under the bridge! Our last night they proved particularly loud with shouting and arguments reaching something...
Viking, North Utsire, South Utsire – Northwesterly 2 to 4, backing southerly 4 to 6. Slight or moderate. Showers. Good. This is the shipping forecast issued by the Met Office for today. Such familiar, poetic and generally sonorous words, yet ones which are imbued with history and meaning and ones which, over the years have saved so many lives through their...
With southerlies winds forecast and us wanting to go north, there was little debate about heading off. To have the wind aft of the beam for once was such a novelty, we grabbed it and headed off first thing in the morning. The mist, rain and general gloom failed to dampen (dampen, get it ….?) our enthusiasm to head north. The first ten miles or so once past the...