There should have been a glacier in the background

 May 30th Selsøyvik - Inndyr

More wind today and on a mostly broad reach and for the most smooth sailing. After rounding the point at Kunna just before leaving the Helgaland area the wind became really unpredictable. The base direction was running, but there were several gusts of wind from other directions up to 10 m/s and I had som accidental gybes. Luckily I was saved from rig damage by the boom brake that reduced the speed of the boon when it swung over. And I kept my head well below the boom at all time.

At Inndyr I went for a walk on a path through Øya/Langholmen protection area for costal vegetation.

After leaving the protection area the path passed these semi derelict small farms the I found quite picturesque - unfortunately most of my pictures was out of focus - but these two was at leas acceptable.

Under the virtual omega and into the arctic

May 29th    Nesna - Selsøyvik

A grey and mostly almost windless day. Since I thought that I wasn't going to sail much anyway I decided to go through Aldersundet a detour to the east of the main route between high mountains. 

One of nine (only either operational at a time) transmitters for the US Navy Global Positioning System Omega was located at Bratland in Aldersundet. The antennas for the Bratland transmitter was three 3500 m long wires between the mountains Liatind on the mainland and Aldertind on the island of Aldra.  Before they where dismantled in 2002 the antennas looked really weird on the charts. Powerlines over water usually has a charted height up to maybe 40 or 50 m, but the charted height of the antennas was around 450 m. With the anchors on the mountains being significantly higher.

Even if this farm looks abandoned there are still some farms on the very steep Aldra that is active, both tin he village Aldra toward Aldersundet and Stuvland on the outside. 

After leaving Aldersundet I was able to sail some and after I while I passed the islet Vikingen with its monument marking the arctic circle. It doesn't lie on the circle exactly but is the land close to the main shipping route (where the costal express and cruise ship pass) that is closest.

After arriving ar Selsøyvik I pumped my Advanced Elements kayak and paddled round som of the skerries and islets. 

Really nice, I even saw some seals around 100 m away. But the trip got shorter than planned - I'm really out of shape for this.

A confused Friday afternoon

 May 28th Sandnessjøen - Nesna

With the work of the week I could revert to be a weekend sailor. Before I left Sandnessjøen I motored across the harbor to the fuel dock and filled the tanks for the first time this year 99.7 liters. 

Clear of the breakwater I furled out the sails and headed in the general direction of Nesna. With winds changing direction and strength every other minute (or so it felt) sailing became kind of strange I set the autopilot to sail on wind angle. With the wind direction changing every other minute angle settings and sail trim had to be adjusted often  (not every other minute - but often). 

 The skies was in the same confused state with the sun almost braking through every other minute. With the wind also getting weaker I gave ut sailing in the end and fired up the Volvo and motored the rest of the way.

To keep up with the 10 000 steps a day challenge we have going at work I had to put the walking shoes on and do some expoloring. 

The local garden society is maintaining sort of a wild park a bit out of the town. Its more like paths and barbecue areas in nature than a park but really nice. 

The "park" is called Bjørndalen so it is really no wonder that it is nice. The only mammals there though was sheep.

Towards a new normal

May 24th - 28th Brønnøysund - Sandnessjøen

With my spring holiday almost over its time to get into work mode.  But we are still not allowed into the office. Everybody that can work from home hast to, but there are no definition on what home is. So for this summer the boat is going to be my home - and eventual even holiday destination. With little restrictions against moving within Norway the plan is to work daytime and slowly move the boat in evenings and weekends and to the north.

But before the spring break is completely over I have one last day of sailing - well motoring with no wind mostly. Just outside Brønnøysund I met the old local steamer M/S Bruvik far away from its home waters around Bergen.

In an earlier blog post (in Norwegian) I talked about the sinking og M/S Riegel on November 27th 1944. Where bombers an fighters from the British aircraft carrier HMS Implaceable bombed and sank the "German" steamer. The ship was really Norwegian but had been confiscated by the occupant and was sailing under a German flag. On deck the ship was loaded with confiscated cars and other goods. But below deck there where around 3000 men mostly Soviet prisoners of war but some other prisoners, German soldiers and the Norwegian crew. Around 2500 person went down with the ship making it the largest incident during WWII in Norway and the costliest ship cathastrophe in Norway. However this is almost unknown probably since most of the dead was Russians. On Rossøya where the ship enden when the captain tried to save ship and men by running aground the main propellers and an anchor is kept as a memorial. The foreigners that died is buried on Tjøtta International War Cemetery on the opposite side of the channel. This cemetery lies next to Tjøtta Soviet War Cemetery with 7500 buried making these two collective larger in terms of buried soldiers than the famous American in Coleville sur Mer in Normandy.

Finally I must say that in my opinion it is fruitless to blame anyone for this kind of cathastophes especially this many years after. BUT I feel that we Norwegians should to a much larger degree honor the sacrifice, suffering and in the end for many death by foreign allied prisoners of war in Norway.  That the leaders of many of the soldiers ending as POWs in Norway was despotic and that we after WWII ended up on different sides in the Cold War shouldn't taint our respect for the then allies and especially the foot soldiers.

But enough about me ranting about the war weather was really nice and there were natural wonders to admire.

On one of the afternoons I stayed in Sandnessjøen I took my bike at rode to admire the same mountains from a different angel and in the glow of the setting sun.

I also ventured of to take a look (as close as I could some without trespassing) of the damage to the ferry that had rammed into a freight ship in Mosjøen a week earlier.

The centre of the coast

May 19th - 24th Brønnøysund

With equal distances to the southern and northern tip of Norway along the coast Brønnøysund claims with some merit to be the centre of the coast.

Days was spent producing little, but enjoying lazy life. The closest surroundings to the marine was explored by foot and bike. And enjoying spectacular sunsets.

One day a walked a trail around the airport starting and ending in the city centre marina. A feat made much more feasible by the airport being one of the STOL airports that has become another sort of landmark for the mountainous landscape of Norway. When there is not enough flat land to build 2-3km long runways 800 m must have to do. Thus Twin Otters and Dash 8s from deHavilland Canada has replaced (or possibly reinforced) the role of the famous Hurtigruten costal steamer as the backbone in communication along the coast.

Old farm made inaccessible by the airport.

Really old living quarters (500 BCE - 500 AD)

Mountain with a hole

May 20th Brønnøysund   

The hatlike mountain with the hole through is one of the most striking geological formations in Norway as well as one of the most visited attractions. Even if I´ve been there before I thought it would be well worth a second trip, especially in really nice weather. And of course the trip got microscopical more expedition like since I hade to pedal my collapsible bike to the foot of the climb and back.

According to a fairly official website it is 18 km from Brønnøysund and a 250 m climb when you get there. The trip meter on my smartwatch had it at 13 km and 110 m climb.

The tunnel is around 160 m long 25-35 m high and 12-15 m wide.

The hole of tunnel is formed at the end of an ice age when sea levels was higher than today. Waves in combination with frost weathering worked on a weaker part of the rock and over time hollowed out caves from both ens of the mountain. Eventually the caves met and formed a tunnel.

Sources are unclear on when the hole was formed. Most just states an ice age and a few points to the last. However the official maps of the maximum height of the sea after the last ice age (important level to chart to be able predict quick clay areas with high risk of deadly landsides) has the hole above the level of the sea indicating that the hole is from an older ice age. 

At the foot of the climb an information sign told that it is possible to go around the mountain by foot or bike so I did.

New life to lost (almost) fishing village

 May 19th Rørvik to Brønnøysund

Between Rørvik and Brønnøysund on the route I usually have chosen you pass through the old fishing village Risværet. Risværet was once a thriving society and was for some periods the leading town in the area. It had a school and a prison. It's said that the school was the smallest in Norway. 

As with many other similar society the transition from sails to engines led to the demise of the society. The last person left in the 1960. When I passed for the first time on 2018 only two houses, or skeletons of houses, was barely standing. 

When browsing the net while passing  in 2018 og 2019 I saw that somebody had bought the former village with the intention to rebuild it in some form or other - dreamer I thought.

But then southbound last year construction work was ongoing on the main island. And this year newly renovated or rebuilt buildings had reappeared. And more work was ongoing.

So for coming years progress for the renovations will give a new interesting side show for this part of any passage.

As for this days trip this was sort of the exciting point even if the landscape even on this gray day in most other countries is really exciting.