Saturday 30th. June Florø to Svanøy 12nm. 2 hours motoring and fishing

The journey was short and calm so skip tried fishing but lost his best spinner as a motor boat cut in right behind us.

Svanøy has been inhabited for thouands of years, like many other coastal places in Norway. Svanøy is known now for its hjort deer farm and research station. We biked over the Island to see it , but there was no guiding on Saturday unless booked in advance. We bought lots of deer steaks, salt sausage and snacks to keep us going for while.The island is charming and picturesque, therefore a popular marina for local people as well as these coming from further afield. Good for hiking too. The kaffe, shop and pub were well visited all evening. Svanøy is both historically Interesting and up to date in research and fish farming.

Friday 29th. June in Florø

Time for a day at rest, cleaning, shopping, getting to know our way around Florø and relaxing in the sun. 

The weather improves as we move South. 

 Thursday 28th. June from Silda to Florø 38 NM 5 hours

Heavy rain forecast, the low pressure area moving north, we motored through the narrow fjords and reached Florø AS the sun came through. Tried fishing for salmon on the way with no luck.

We were followed by the Royal yacht into harbour, quite a sight with full flagging,since Queen Sonja was aboard.

 Wednesday 27 th. June from Larsnes, rund Stadt to Silda 30,5 nm 5 hours

Fair weather, light breeze and «old breakers» dominated the trip round  Stadt, taking the shorter route described below.

Silda has only a handfull of residents now, many fewer than around 1850-1900.

There are no cars on the Island, but plenty of opportunities to explore nature, fish, swim, paddle and hike. We had a fine 1,5 km signposted walk round the Island, then to the unopened pub in the Southern harbour.  We make an effort to get some exercise ashore each day.

Tuesday 26 th. June to Larsnes 60 NM. 10 hours

We had planed to go to Fosnavåg or Ulsteinvik in preparation for rounding Stadt. With  contrary wind  against,we decided to take an Inner route and stop At Larsnes and try the gjest pontoon. It is just by the ferry pier and difficult to see from the harbour mouth and is therefore well sheltered. Crystal clear water tempted us to  take a dip, 11˚ C before dinner. We took local advice and motored South of  Kvamsøy when leaving next day.

 Friday 23. rd. June in Ålesund

We had a relatively quiet start to the, filling up stores and wandering around the Art  Nouveau town with 3 large Cruise ships in port.Few other sailing boats, perhaps due to the inclement weather. We celebrated the Swedish midsummer with the couple on the Swedish boat lying longside us. They sail and climb/hike and had been up Hornelen , something we haven’t done since 30 years ago!

 Wednesday 20th and Thursday 21st. June in Larsnes then to Ålesund. 32 NM.

Asta spent her day off showing us around Larsnes. The new medical centre with nursinghome was impressive. Patients from the area have all the facilities they need, including ultrasound. Again, open house for guests in the evening then off to Ålesund in wet, but calm weather on Thursday. Asta came with us to Hareid, her first trip on a sailing boat. We continued on for an evening in Ålesund.

Tuesday 19th. June

We’ve been served Lithuanian pancakes for breakfast, have had several of Asta’s freinds on board today. They were all interesting people to meet, some came with gifts, fish, info. On how to catch salmon, a hot lunch and frukt. Real generosity. A really wet rainy blustery day soon passes in good company.  We were all invited to a party in the  evening where Asta served a gorgeous Syrian dinner.  Some people can’t understand that we thrive with this sort of life, but we do!

Monday 18. June to Larsnes on Gurskøy 6nm

Only a sort trip to find a safe harbour on Larsnes where we will visit Asta, our Lithuanian doctor  friend.

The small boat marina has a new gjest pontoon, relatively sheltered, even in stormy weather. Very picturesque in a small bay, with some bungalow around. I,d like to be here in good weather. Right now the wind gutss up to 20 m/s and it’s pouring rain! Werrived a day earlier than expected and Asta was busy all day but she organised all sorts of thins, someone to let us into her house, some to drive us to Larsnes center if we needed any groceries, someone came with a big post of chicken Soup . Rather an Interesting and active day. Larsnes has a population of 800, but with less yougsters then just a few years ago.  Many differensiert countries represented, lithuanians, poles and other European countries plus refugees from Eritrea and Syria.

 Sunday 17.th June to Sandsøy, rounding Stadt on the way,   55 NM , 7,5 hours

Variable wind, many sailing boats on the route, in both directions, all getting round Stat before the forecast storms. We sailed most of the way and moored up at Rosenlund marina on Sandsøy, in time for a walk ashore to stretch our legs. The marina is in bad shape, the owners gave up last year, but there were toilets and showers in order. IT could be such an attractive place if som investor came along!

 Lørdag 16th. June from Skjerjehamn to Kalvåg. 60nm. 8 hours.

An early start for this longish trip,6 am. Relatively calm but chilly weather, no sailing breeze for the first few hours. Our aim was to near Stadt ready to sail round on Sunday and to find a marina with a good restaurant to celebrate Norma’s Birthday. Knutsholmen,  the cosy centre at Kalvåg is a tourist attraction with good facilities, several, small shops and a good restaurant specialising in all sorts  of fish and shellfish. No need to say, we had a great evening.

 15th. June to Skjerjehamn 30 NM.  60˚56n/04˚57e

The weather is distinctly colder now and storms are raging up the coast ahead of us. We continue northwards up open fjords with high mountains on either side. Spectacular nature. We had been advised to visit Skjerjehamn instead of Eivindik and were surprised by the standard of the original trading harbour dating several hundred years back and now renovated by Ola Braanaas who bought it in 2003. www.skjerjehamn.no It has both a hotel, apartments and restaurant with a good chef, nature and cultural experiences, including a statue of King Olav made by Knut Steen. Refused by OSLO but mounted at this perfect getaway.

The owner makes an effort to help us on our way to a sustainable future. I hope to visit this delightful place in sunny weather some day.

 13 th. - 15 th. June from Bergen to Litle Bergen. 15 NM  1,45 hrs.

After 3 nights in the centre of Bergen the skipper was eager to more on to a quieter marina.

We chose Litle Bergen, directly NORTH of Bergen. The forecast was heavy rain and storms on the outer coast, therefore our choice to keep inshore among the Islands for an ekstra day. The marina was fine and we lay by the newly decked pier. 5 km to the nearest store.

We follow our friends on Marine Traffic, Ingrid at Kristiansund, Josin now at Vega, Borregutt has reached Kirkenes, Nehaj starts on the Long Route round the Southern Hemisphere single handed and nonstop!