July 7 - 9 Bodo - Bliksvaer

July 7^th Bodo

General maintenance including changing oil in the outboard which involved approx 2 km hike to Holala opposite the Hurtigruten terminal; deep clean of the heads; SOB as ever absorbed a lot of time and attention - Quite windy but sunny most of the day - Rained as scheduled just after midnight.

 July 8^th Bodo

Washing, shopping, further cleaning & SOBing. SOB now returned to original position – Hurrah. Walked to airport allowing plenty of time, to find their flight delayed by 25 mins - only 15 minute walk from boat to the terminal building but decided to sit in airport.

C,J, I & A arrived in good form and wanted to walk to Larry to stretch their legs after the flight. Decided that Albert would sleep in fore-cabin and Iris in the quarter-berth – good move as Iris does not mind sleeping in the light.

July 9^th Bliksvaer

Breakfast in the cockpit

Albert in charge?

A family affair

Bliksvaer

playing on the pontoon

After Breakfast Charlo and I went to the nearest supermarket and did a final shop for fresh food. James and Iris and Albert walked round the harbour.

We left about 11.30 and as the forecast was for possibly strong SW winds we decided to go to  Bliksvaer (67⁰16.8’N 14⁰01.5E) which looked better protected. Had a lovely gentle sail over – approx 8 miles – under foresails – had lunch on the move. Anchored about 1.30p.m. and seemed secure but within a very short time a very strong squall arrived . The anchor chain extended and we gradually slid back close to the shore behind us. The anchor came up with the most enormous amount of seaweed around it so it appeared we had gradually slipped taking a large amount of kelp. We motored gingerly on – the squall was passing but we were at low tide in a very narrow and shallow channel, Round the corner we came to a very attractive village with a small pntoon. Two boats had just left and luckily there was room for us and a local took our ropes and said we could stay. The skerries are very attractive – much of the area is part of a nature reserve but the central bit of the island including quite a lot of well preserved cottages mostly used as summer homes is open to the public all year round.

The weather had cleared up completely, hot, sunny and very warm so we went for quite a long walk exploring the island. When we got back the children were playing on the jetty with James when iris slipped on the edge of the pontoon and fell in the water. James jumped in immediately and he and Charleotte got iris out very quickly. She took it amazingly well. Iniitial comments were 'what a silly thing' and ‘What a splash’.  She was quickly dried and seemed completely unfazed.

July 5th & 6th - Bodo

July 5^th – Bodo

We woke in our perfect anchorage to a completely calm day, overcast where we were, but sun on the distant mountains and this is the way it stayed most of the day. We left mid-morning for the 20+ miles to Bodo. Motoring on a calm sea we made good progress and took the opportunity to view,  from about ½ mile off shore,  two of the possible anchorages which we may visit next week with C,J,I & A; both looked good with potential for sandy beaches and scrambling walks.

We got to Bodo (67⁰17’N 14⁰22’E) early afternoon, which was lucky as after some looking around we could only find one space big enough for us despite the fact that it is quite a large harbour and there are 4 pontoons for guests – 3 are small and on the town quay and the 4^th, where we are, forms the outer pontoon of the leisure boat area. We are in a great position to view the comings and goings of the many ferries and other boats which use Bodo. There is electricity and water immediately next to us and  the only snag is that it is about a 5 minute walk to the showers and washing machines and 10 minutes to the nearest supermarket. We are also within 15 minutes walk of the airport.

July 6^th – Bodo

Today has been beautifully sunny with very few clouds but the north easterly wind has been building all day. Hard to say inside the harbour what the wind strength is but a knowledgeable Norwegian neighbour says the forecast was for 12m/s (Force 6) this pm and probably a gale tonight but in Norway gales start at Force 7. As one would expect quite a number of boats have come in and very few have left so we are pleased to have secured our place yesterday even though this pontoon is a little rolly as we are exposed to the NE.

We have spent the day on domestic things like washing , re-stocking with food and drink, and various bits of maintenance. The whole system of payment for showers and washing machines as well as payment for our space and electricity is completely credit card based and dependent on pressing the right buttons – all very efficient except that despite a number of visits to the ‘port hostess’ we have been unable to pay for our electricity – not a huge problem as we are connected anyway and are currently using what someone else has left in the meter!

Domestic chores and mainentance don't make very interesting blogs and we won't have much time for blogging when the grandchildren are aboard so unless something dramatic happens in the next couple of days there will be no more blogs for about 10 days.

July 4th - The most perfect anchorage (Independence Day)

Grotoy

We were moored to the outside of this fishing boat

The exit from Grotoy

General views of rock-hopping

A modern-day Viking!

An unusual bouy

Approaching Hjelloy

The anchorage at Hjelloy

The wind blew gradually harder last night and by the time we went to bed seemed like gale force – we were thankful to be tied to our friendly fishing boat. By 2.30 am it had calmed down and we awoke to another perfect sunny and almost windless day.

We went to the little shop at the end of the pontoon, which was very well stocked, to get the right change to put in the honesty box for our mooring (100 NOK) In the shop we met a most interesting local Norwegian who gave us a brief history of the area from the Black Death to the 18^th century.

We left at midday under engine because there was  no wind and because of yet more very intricate rock-hopping.  The total journey was about 25 miles of which perhaps 8 were in relatively open water. All was very calm and we made good speed to this wonderful anchorage, Hjelloy (67 32.7N 14 39.1E). We are amongst a small archipelago of skerries in an almost landlocked little pool surrounded on 3 sides by wooded hills of reasonable height so they stop the wind but will not be big enough to cause down-draughts. On the fourth side is a whole series of overlapping rocks and skerries  a little further off but completely protective. We are not allowed to land on the island to the north of us between April 15^th and July 15^th because it is a bird sanctuary. No birds evident here but shoals of fish in the relatively shallow water. The sky is clouding over but we still have sun and it is amazingly quiet and peaceful. Needless to say no Wifi and low level mobile connection

We are about 25 miles from Bodo and hope to make it there tomorrow.

July 3rd - High speed sail across Vestfjord

Views of Lille Molle



Walking on Grotoy

The search for the Wifi signal

The forecast this morning was for NE Force 3 to 4 in Vestfjord so we set forth at 9.30 am for Grotoy which is on the mainland about 40 miles NE of Bodo.

The sky was clear and we left Lille Molle under foresails. Vestfjord proved to be quite bumpy and the wind more north than north easterly so in retrospect we might have had a smoother crossing if we had had the main up and reefed. Nevertheless we had a wonderful speedy sail – the wind quickly rose to Force 5 and we were doing 5+ knots with lovely sun, a clear blue sky and blue sea dotted with white horses. The views of mountains on both sides of the fjord were magnificent.

The entry to Grotoy is quite tricky with skerries (small rocky islands) in all directions but it is quite well marked though as ever the rather cryptic poles, where we would expect nice solid red and green buoys, can be difficult to spot.

We got to Grotoy  ( 67⁰50.2’N 14⁰47.5E) at 3.30 pm. It proved to be somewhat exposed and we contemplated going on to another anchorage but realised that thinking out a new route through the skerries needed time and was too complicated to do on the move. We did not want to anchor as we had dragged here last year in a gale! So we tied up alongside a traditional fishing boat which was moored to the end of a pontoon. The pontoon was new since we were here last year and there was another space on it but we had no idea how deep the water was and could only see small boats. Given the wind strength and direction we had to make a quick decision and once we had got all the fenders in place and extra springs on felt quite safe in this position. The owner of the boat who was very helpful – he is in the midst of painting so not about to move – thinks the wind will die down tomorrow.

We had a very good walk a shore and found a marked trail with ladders and ropes up to a high hill which overlooks the harbour and the skerries further south. The shallows and rocks causing the tortuous entry and exit were all too clear. We took the computer with us in the hope of finding a Wifi signal but despite sitting beside 2 microwave dishes at the top of the hill we had no joy!

July 2nd - Cully's birthday - Lille Molle

The fishing boat in Nesoy

The entrance to Raftsund

Looking back to the narrows

Swirling water in the narrows

Entrance to Troll fjord



Breakfast was accompanied by the tinkle of sheep’s bells as 2 ewes and their 4 lambs marched by on the nearby foreshore. We had a gentle start this morning as our interpretation of the rather cryptic advice about tides in the pilot book was that entering Raftsund just before high tide would give us the current in our favour – how wrong can you be! When we got to the narrows just past the bridge we had about 4 knots of current against us and briefly our speed dropped to 1.9 knots. The current was swirling considerably but it was only for a relatively short distance. We were once again motorsailing with the staysail up in order that any observers should realise that we do consider ourselves a sailing boat. Wind was mostly from W and very variable in direction and strength and hence unusable.

The sound is very beautiful, relatively narrow with very tall spiky mountains on the west side and high but more rounded mountains on the east. Towards the bottom end we passed Troll fjord which is very narrow and features in many of the publicity photos of the area usually with a large hurtigruten cruise ship turning in the fjord.

The weather was mostly grey and overcast and as usual we needed our full wet weather kit to keep warm enough. Lest any of you planning to join us think the lack of rain compared with last year means you only need shorts and T-shirt I should perhaps warn you that I currently have 4 layers beneath my wet weather kit including 2 fleeces!

Just as we dropped anchor in Lille Molle (68⁰11.6’N, 14⁰44’E) the sun came out. The wind is NE Force 4 so we have anchored at the opposite end of the bay from where we were last year and we are in for a blowy but safe night!  The views of the Lafoten Wall on one side and across Vestfjord to the mainland on the other are as ever amazing.

June 29th - July 1st- republished with photos

 

June 29^th – Gale & Sail

The exit from Sto

Main steet in Sortland

Larry's berth in the town centre in Sortland

Unexpectedly a gale blew up very suddenly last night. It started blowing at about 2.15 a.m.; we inspected the ropes at 2.45 but by 4.15 we decided we needed to add to the ropes as we were being blown off and Larry was hanging on one spring and a rather slender stern rope. We were back inside by 4.30 and at 4.38 all was suddenly calm! It blew up again briefly and abated equally suddenly 3 more times. In the morning we were contemplating remaining in Sto for the day but the friendly whale boat man assured us it had calmed down and what’s more they needed the quay on which we were moored for their new whale boat arriving later today.

We had originally intended going to Bo on the SW corner of Langoya but a combination of the weather and the fact that we are running low on fuel caused us to rethink our plans which proved to be very fortunate as we have had a great day’s sailing. Going down the outside of Langoya might have been very lumpy with a less favourable wind. As it was we decided to come to Sortland (68⁰41.8N, 15⁰25.3E)which meant we have been back on an inner route and have had a wonderful day’s sailing – calm seas tacking down wind – North easterly Force 3– great fun and very comfortable. A number of puffins swimming in the water but not much other birdlife – EXCEPT here in Sortland we were walking along the front looking for the fuelling berth amongst a lorry park and other scruffy buildings when we were mobbed by arctic terns and Christopher was hit on the head by one of them. They appeared to be nesting on what looked like a pile of old mooring buoys!

Sortland is quite a major town and we are moored to a pontoon just off the market square with water, hook-ups, and a supermarket within  a 100yards plus all major stores – what luxury! It is the first time we have paid for a mooring for at least a week but it is worth it as the hook-up enables us to listen to our CDs of Pavarotti (thanks to Great Grannie).

If you are following this blog you may have noticed it does not get published every day .This is partly because we cannot always get Wifi connections. Sometimes we are lucky and can get free ones but the bandwidth will not always support uploading photos. Having nearly completed the major challenge we set ourselves of going further north to the Lyngen Alps and then back to Bodo in time for Charlotte’s arrival  on July 8^th we will have some days doing basically domestic things so may not do a daily blog. Also writing the blog and uploading the photos takes time so we don’t expect to do it when we have visitors.

June 30th – A very secluded anchorage

Various views of the anchorage in Neysoy

Initially spent time endeavouring to publish the two previous day’s blogs but the machine stuck on one of the photos and would not let me  in either to edit or publish  - decided to leave till later. Sortland is a major town so lots of shops and an information centre from whom we got an up-date on the weather, which looks reasonable for the next few days.  We stocked up at the COOP and then went to find the fuel berth. It was near the bridge, as we had been told, but quite hidden away and rather shallow. We were just after high tide and manager of the garage, who operated the pump and who met us on the pontoon, thought we had about an hour before we would touch bottom. Since Larry was very low in fuel and fills slowly that did not give us a lot of time to spare.

From Sortland we motor-sailed down the sound with a light wind just off the nose to Neysoy (68⁰28.2’N 15⁰17E)  which is just before the start of Raftsund, another  narrow passage where it is important to get the currents right.  It is a very beautiful little bay, almost land-locked with a very intricate entry zig-zagging past small islands and invisible rocks, which we entered at  low tide. There is a fishing boat in one corner which people are working on but otherwise there is nothing to be seen but trees and mountains. All very peaceful and beautiful with nothing to be heard but a few oyster catchers and a cuckoo I had not realised that they come so far North.

July 1^st – Day of maintenance

Having been on the go for the last 11 days and having now got back within striking distance of Bodo where Charlo, James, Iris and Albert will be meeting us next Friday, we decided the moment had come to pause. We have spent the day doing basic domestic things like washing, general tidying up and catching up on various bits of maintenance, such as adjusting the tiller, refitting the catches on the forward hatch and touching up the varnish. It was fairly grey all day but quite dry until just after we had finished varnishing! However it was very light drizzle and did not last long so hopefully it won’t have spoilt it. The only drawback to this otherwise perfect spot is that there is no WiFi link and hence no blog. It is now 9.30 p.m. and the sun is finally coming out. The breeze seems quite gentle here but judging by the way the trees on the nearby hillsides are blowing there must be quite a wind in the sound and we have put the GPS on anchor watch.

June 28th- Sto

The Midnight Sun - Andenes looking NNE

Larry bathed in the Midnight Sun

The harbour at Sto

Sto harbour -Sue boarding Larry via the ratlines



The midnight sun last night was fantastic and we were in the perfect place to see it. It is very strange to find the sun in the north gradually moving east and well above the horizon.

We awoke to a reasonably sunny day but the forecast was for rain later. We left Andenes by the westerly exit which was considerably more complicated, rock strewn and shallow than the approach we came in by yesterday!

We headed straight out to the continental shelf but once again there were no whales but hundreds of fulmar. So we turned SW towards Sto. There was some wind and quite a swell so we motorsailed with headsails up. The wind gradually died and the sky became overcast but the drizzle did not start until just before we entered Sto (69⁰01.24 15⁰07.46), which is a small fishing village at the northern tip of the island of Langoya. They run whale safaris from here and the crew told us that we were looking in the right place but to find them they go out - a 3 hour journey - and then wait around for 2 to 3 hours. They can watch from their crow’s nest and can move quite fast when a whale is sighted. They also have radar and sonar equipment which helps. They saw a sperm whale today but it was not a very successful trip because hanging around in the swell had the predictable effect on the passengers!

We much enjoyed the company of the fulmars and studying their short take-off and landing techniques and ability to glide low along the ever-changing contours of the sea. We also saw a pair of shags, one or two gannets, several squadrons of puffins both on the water and in the air and an arctic skua chasing a gull. Apparently they are the pirates of the bird world and chase and attack other birds to get them to drop their catch so that the skuas can seize it.