A fishing village where time almost has stood still

July 18th - July 19th Sørvågen - Nusfjord

 With yesterdays weather having pulled up quite a swell in the Vestfjord (still a ocean bay and no fjord) I made an additional round in the harbour to secure rope and fenders in flat water avoiding running around on a rolly foredeck single handed. Though I forgot to release the strop used to avoid the jib sheet moving in the self tacker and to attach the beam brake so I had to venture out on the foredeck after all.

After the wind filled in a little so that I was able to keep the sails filled I got a fantastic sail up. Even though with the swell and the wind from behind I couldn't sail the direct route. But one gybe was sufficient. 

Nusfjord is said to be the best preserved fishing village in Norway. When something, at least something thought to have a function, is said to be well preserved, I always wonder if well preserved shouldn't also mean that it is still used for the intended function. Along with most "well preserved" things that is not the case for Nusfjord. Today it serves as a museum and as a tourist attraction. Most buildings is from the 19th century and the place is picturesque  both as a village and amplified by the surrounding and well worth a visit. However the detour is much shorter when sailing than by car (or bike or other land transportation).

To continue my rant on the term well preserved. In my experience it usually means that for some reason or other development stopped and the village (inn this case) became frozen at a stage that today is obsolete. However in the modern mans eye this obsolescence, mine too, is attractive. And to be clear Nusfjord especially in the weather I had is extremely attractive. 

Trying to avoid the fate of captain Nemo - first leg up Lofoten.

 July 16th - 17th Røst - Sørvågen

The forecast warned for gale and heavy rain on the 17th so to avoid being stuck on small islands out in the ocean for several days more than planned I decided to continue even though I would have liked to stay longer. For the same reason I also decided to skip Værøy. Thus I had to pass Moskenesstrømmen, the maelstrom between Moskenesøy and Mosken/Værøy made infamous by Jules Verne in his novel Twenty thousand leagues under the sea and the, almost, loss of Nautilus there. 

Today however conditions was not in any shape or form made for a risky, or even unpleasant passage, completely flat, not even a tad of swell (I'm stil out in what is in essence the Norwegian sea). 

The wall of mountains of Lofoten gets really impressive when you approach from a small boat.

The harbour in Reine was full, not even feasible to tie on the outside on anybody else, so I had to continue, or more precisely returning a little to Sørvågen further west. 

Sørvågen radio started test transmission on the radio telegraph connection to Røst in 1903 as the second civilian morse code radiotelegraph in the world, official opening was in 1906. In 1946 the first radio relay communication in Norway was established between Sørvågen and Værøy and Røst. The reason for this pioneering radio communications hub here is the same maelstrom I was trying to avoid that make it difficult to establish and maintain a secure wired connection. All this can be learnt in more detail at the Sørvågen branch of the Norwegian Telecom museum.

Sort of crossing the ocean - in my own tiny way

July 15th Myken - Røst

 In the six summers I have spent solo sailing the Norwegian coast there have been a handful of passages that before doing them where kind of emotional mile markers in my sailing career. Many of them still are.  Most of these passages are the infamous parts of the coast where there are no outside range of islands protecting the shipping lane. Todays sail are a major one of those. 40 miles fully exposed to the Norwegian sea, and with no possibility other than continuing or turn back if conditions turn bad. Luckily with modern weather forecasting it is very unlikely that unexpected bad weather, especially for a yachtie that can time his sail for optimal weather. 

And as planned the trip was uneventful. The wind turned out to be even weaker than forecasted and even if seeing the infamous Skomvær fyr from afar there were absolutely no foam weather, even there. In the weak wind I had sails up but they probably did little to help propulsion but the boat rolled a little less. 

On the chart the approach to Røst from  south seemed long and twisty with several potential dangerous skerries. In reality it was fairly plan sailing even though I would prefer to have done it several times in daylight and moderate wind before trying in a gale at night. (What am I fantasising about I would never sail here in gale, and for it to be night I would have to sail in late fall or winter, latitude).

There are around 500 year round inhabitants at Røst. But for at least the last 1000 years the population has been multiplied several times over between january and april when fishermen from most of the Norwegian coast convene on Røst, and in the other fishing villages of Lofoten, to fish during the spaning of the Northeast Arctic pelagic cod (skrei in Norwegian) of which 40% spawn on the southern side of Lofoten. 

Since the fisheries is during winter it is possible to preserve the fish by drying only (making stockfish). The temperatures in Lofoten during this time is constantly in the right range. Low enough to prevent rotting or becoming home to larvae but simultaneously high enough to prevent the meat freezing. In  combination with plenty of wind. Drying is traditionally done on wooden racks, called hjeller in Norwegian, two and two fishes tied together. In summer the racks are empty and the fish either stored inside or already transported south. Since the locals and the fishermen themselves can get fresh fish all year round, stockfish has been a product for export only. And in pre modern times it was the most important export from Norway. 

In the evening the fog rolled in.

Into the arctic

 July 14th    Lurøy - Myken

There is no clear definition on what the Arctic is. I lean toward the latitude definition, i.e. the part of the earth north of the northern polar circle. And today I passed through that imaginary line, with no ceremony other than enjoying the spectacular landscape and nice weather. 

Destination for todays sail was the Myken i tiny village and archipelago around 20 nm out in the Norwegian sea. 

I actually got to sail some even if the trip started with mirror flat seas. I also got the first symptoms on a problem that would pop up several times in the days to come even if I didn't understand what the problems was yet. Todays symptom was that the autopilot suddenly turned itself off while I was under deck using some of the facilities there. With the autopilot off the rudder was turned hard to starboard and before I could rush up onto deck (not full dressed) the boat had turned at least 360 degrees. Luckily there where plenty of space so I didn't run into anything.  

Today there are around 10 year round inhabitants. Even if fishing was the reason for populating a group of tiny barren islands far out in the sea, todays Myken todays inhabitants are artists, tourist host and most famously whisky makers. In 2014 two intrepid risk seekers decided to establish the first arctic whisky distillery here. Since the process of making whisky is time consuming it took several years before they had any products to sell. So to fill the product range while waiting for the whisky to mature they also started producing gin. A gin they have received awards for that they due to Norwegian alcohol legislation is not allowed to tell about. The distillery is open for tours and tests, but I arrived to late and left to early, and as a non-drinker the testing isn't interesting. 

The light, nature, vistas etc. that I got to experience on my one night here was fairly exhilarating and I am not sure that alcohol was needed for anybody here today to get feel the magic.

The beginning of real holiday

 July 10th - 13th    Sandnessjøen - Lurøy

Despite have gotten glimpses of the upcoming sailing holiday I was really ready for a break from work. So much so that I felt the need to quit early and leave for the islands after lunch. (I always keep some excess hours on the clock to have this freedom, urgent tasks allowing of course)

There where a really nice southwesterly breeze today so I was really eager to get the sails up. The fenders and ropes was tidied away in a rush and I turned the bow to the wind to unfurl the main inside the harbour.    Since I still was going north, point of sail was pleasantly reach and later broad reach before ending ut as a run as my course became more and more easterly. Admittedly I have a lot left to learn to trim my sails efficiently for reaching but today that didn't matter since the wind was strong enough to give good speed anyhow.

I spent a couple of days at my childhood paradise of Lurøy and did some social distancing with my cousins that has taken over the house I spent my childhood summerholidays.

A remote (office) week

July 6th - July 9th    Brønnøysund - Tjøtta - Sandnessjøen 

The final work week before the official summer holiday was spent working daytime and some afternoon sail northwards. Monday however was spent in port. The northerlies was a little to strong for a pleasant sail. 

In the afternoon two square rigged traditional Norwegian boats arrived. The closest one is Fosen Folkehøgskoles 43 fot Åfjordsfembøring Skårungen. Åfjordsfembøring is the boat type. Thus it is a boat with the hull shape and riggingon boats built not only in Åfjord but for any boat built in Trøndelag. Sizewise its a fembøring which were the largest size of fishing vessel . Since the boat is mostly open as traditional norwegian boats used to be they have put up the covers to give protection to the crew for the night. There are a small removable wooden cover in the rear compartment but that is far too small for the entire crew to live and sleep in, thus the covers. Skårungen has no motor they travel by sails and oars only.

The furthest of the two boats is the 39 fot Nidaros. Nidaros is what's called a vengbåt which were used for transport of goods and dignitaries. Nidaros is built at Fosen Folkehødskole in 1997. On a vengbåt the  the rear compartment has a permanent cover (a venge). And the aftership is squared off giving more space in the rear compartment, probably to the cost of being harder to row.

On Tuesday the wind had subsided some and swinged more westerly (and favourably for the direction I wanted). So after work I casted off towards Tjøtta. Mostly motor but I got an hour of sailing at least.

When docking I got a reality check for doing it singlehandedly. I chose the lee side of the dock. Normally I lasso a rope from the midle of rear cleat of the boat around a cleat on the dock at the rear corner of the boat and controls the boat with the engine going forward until I have secured sufficient lines to stop the engine. If the dock has rings, that cannot be lassoed i use my hook and moor stick to tread the mooring line through the ring while on the boat. But at Tjøtta you tie to steel pipe railings that are to wide for the hook and moor. Therefore I had to go onto the dock to tie off without having full control over the boat. And I by mistake I didn't disengage the gear fully so there where some reverse thrust left. Before I was able to secure any lines the boat drifted away from the dock. I had thrown several lines onto the dock but only managed to grab one before the drifting boat drew them off. With quite some effort against the light wind and engine in reverse I managed to haul the boat back secure the line I had. Reach one of the other lines that where tied to a cleat further back on the boat and haul the boat alongside to the dock, secure and then "depanic". 

Wednesday afternoon I motored up to Sandnessjøen. Where I had thursday had a lazy harbour afternoon (that was supposed to be for boat work)  

The longest day

 July 3rd - July 5th    Stokksund - Ottersøy - Brønnøysund

A strong rain shower at the end of office hours killed the wish for an afternoon sail on fridag. And another night in Stokksund.

Saturday morning I set out in weak headwind prepared to motor the entire day. Since it was going to be motoring I chose the innermost, narrowest and most twisted route through Flatanger. At least innermost for a boat with 17 m air draft.

Originally I had planned to go to Utvorda on Saturday and to tackle the open stretch across Folla on Sunday morning. But when I arrived at Utvorda before six in the afternoon and Folla was flat calm and the weather was sunny I decided to press on. There where no free large enough guest spots in Rørvik when I arrived at 20.30 in the evening, but I knew from an earlier year that there was possibilities at Ottersøy on the other side of the sound. At 70 nm this became the longest leg I have single-handed up to now.

The environment around the marina is industrial and not very inviting, but as a short stopover it is really sufficient. I was finished with all post sail activities and dinner at around eleven o'clock. When planning the next leg I discovered that from around noon a strong headwind was forecasted so I had to settle for a short night. At 5.30 I was ready to cast off again. 

I chose to go on the outside of the island Leka and thus was able to se the for Norway unique yellow stone. Since I started much earlier in the morning than yesterday the highest milage for a day for me single-handed was achieved when passing Leka at 91 nm.

North of Leka I started on the part that was the reason for starting early where a strong northeasterly wind would make steep waves that are unpleasant and slow going against. Luckily I came quite far up Torgfjorden before the wind gained unpleasant strength. 

Just before tucking in to the narrow sounds south of Brønnøysund I met several boats running down the wind that my Volvo was working hard to overcome. I must say I was tempted to turn around and join them.