Heading South

Sunday 3^rd July 2011 – Leka

We left Vega after breakfast and spent the day motor sailing in sunshine; we rejoined our outward bound route having come in from the north passed Torghatten the mountain with the hole in it.  From the north the immediate view is much better as you come upon the whole hole, whereas from the south the first you see is a small patch of light which just looks as though it is white paint until you proceed further north.

Torghatten, hole through the mountain for the second time!

 We had decided to make the Island of Leka our next stop, as the French boat Tara that we had met in Vaeroy had recommended it, because of its interesting geology and rock colouring and a pub, but I suspect the pub was at the harbour on the north side and we opted for an anchorage on the south opposite our route to Rorvik also it was protected from the northerly wind and we had read a 30 minute walk from some cave paintings, the key to which could be borrowed from the shop.  On anchoring at Solsemsvagen, Leka in the late afternoon, we decided to wait until the morning to pump up the dinghy for the excursion ashore.

Distance motored / sailed: 50 nm

Monday 4^th July 2011 to Bessaker

We awoke to rain, the idea to go ashore and try and find the cave paintings was abandoned!  So a fairly early start was made and James had a good sail down the narrow channel to Rorvik, where we saw an easy refuelling pontoon which took credit cards, so we made the decision to top the tank up which should get us back to Bergen.  Whilst Rorvik offers a couple of museums the Norveg Cultural Centre which is in a modern looking building beside the water with a pontoon and the other including information about the cave paintings on Leka, we decided that neither attracted us enough to stop and look!  It might have been different if we had actually managed to see the cave paintings at Solsemhula!

Our 1st free pontoon, nr. Bessaker

After we left Rorvik the wind died so the motor stayed on and we continued out to sea and down the coast with a very slightly rolly sea, when we decided it was time to find a place for the night, we cut through the skerries and islands to the inside route and immediately the rolling ceased.  We thought that Bessaker looked a suitable spot and there were anchorages nearby.   

On arriving at the bay we had thought to anchor in we saw an empty pontoon on the small island of Boroya just opposite Bessaker, so we tied up there for a free night!  After supper I walked up a track to a farm where the farmer was on his tractor turning the wet cut meadow grass over and then two sheep accompanied me on my walk back!  I stayed up very late hoping to see the south bound Hurtigruten ferry come through the narrow gap by Bessaker, as I had watched the north bound one on AIS take that route during the afternoon.  I gave up at 2.30 am, perhaps they only take the inland route during the day to give their passengers something to see, however, I was reading the latest Wilbur Smith novel ‘Peril on the Sea’ and he is always an exciting read!

Distance motored / sailed: 70 nm

Tuesday 5^th July to an island off Hitra

James woke me up to leave and go across to Bessakar where there is a pontoon by the ICA supermarket; it of course did not open until 9am, so I could have slept for longer!  However, it was nice to have a walk up the small village and collect some more wild flowers for my vase, which I have managed to keep going all trip by collecting fresh wild flowers when I need them.  The supermarket provided us with fresh rolls for breakfast and fruit and veg to replenish our stores.  We had breakfast on the move.

Our 2nd free mooring off the Trondheimsleia water way

We motored all day in the flat calm with no wind and as before when we felt it was time to stop for the night we looked around for an anchorage but again we found a free pontoon at Badstuholmen on the small Island of Vendoya, just off the large island of Hitra.  The 14 metre pontoon was connected by a very nice new gangway and then a decking walkway with hand rail for a couple of hundred metres along the bay, with seating areas built in – a lot of money had been spent, there was a collection of buildings in the distance which I assumed was a farm and a few other houses tucked away.  In the bay, which was quite shallow particularly at low tide, were a selection of mooring buoys.  Luckily we stayed afloat! 

Distance motored / sailed: 62 nm

Wednesday 6^th June 2011 - Smola

Because of the shallowness of bay where we had found a free mooring for then night, we decided we better try and leave 3 hours before low water, so at 7 am in thick fog we motored out into the Trondheimsleia channel, thank goodness for radar, chart plotter and AIS, it makes for a less frightening experience.

I was soon remembering a past trip in fog when the boys (Jeremy and Charles) were quite small, no more than 8 and 5 years respectively, as it was in Paddington II the Jeaneau Attalia which we sold in 2002.  We had been on a 'Cruise in Company’ to St. Katherine’s Docks in London and had come down the Thames the day before to the Medway and had to cross the Thames estuary and sail up the coast to Harwich.  In those days we only had Decca, paper charts and compass etc to help with the navigation.  However, I became more confident to continue the journey as every time James gave me a course and distance to the next mark, it came up absolutely on cue.  We offered the boys a £1 for every ship they spotted before us!

Gradually as the morning wore on the mist lifted until we had a lovely sunny day and good visibility as we entered the difficult winding channel to Straumen on the Island of Smola which is quite a large island but with more than 5,800 small islands, islets and skerries surrounding it!

Straumen: Seating area in front of pontoon and Ambulance Boat

One of the pretty flower boxes

When we arrived at Straumen there was just enough room to berth on the end of the hammer head with the stern hanging off.  However, fairly soon the two motor boats in front of us left so we were able to move up a little.  Just up from the small marina (1 long pontoon with small finger berths and the hammer head on the end) is a very nice seating area of decking and in the middle of the road a further large decked space in the shape of a ship full of picnic tables and pots of flowers, whether anyone uses it is another matter.  We later leant that this had only been completed this year, hence no doubt why it looked so good but the local lady did wonder whether it was a good use of the Municipalities money!  

 Then just a few steps away is the library only open on Monday and Wednesdays and a joker supermarket open from 1000 – 1800 (although we noticed that on the door it actually say 0900 and we certainly found it open before 10am).  We made use of both the supermarket for rolls for lunch and Lily the lady in the library proved very helpful and had lots of tourist leaflets about the area that we could take.  Later on she even invited me to have a cup of tea with her; it was lovely to talk to someone about the area.

Bridge en route to Endoya

It's nice going down!

Edoy Church

In the mid afternoon we cycle the 6 miles to Edoya the island at the south which all the ferries use, a number of small island are all joined together by bridges to form the main route on to Smola.  At Edoy we visited the 800 year old church and then went to the Gurisentret which boasts an outdoor amphitheatre seating up to a 1000, underneath the seating is a café and an exhibit called “Encounters with the Wind”, which the girl in the tourist office in Kristiansund on our way north had rated highly and advised us not to miss if we came to Smola.  I have to say that it was not quite what I had expected – you are issued with headphones and a small receiving machine which you press close to buttons to get the story of Smola throughout time as told by the wind.  Smola is now home to the largest wind farm in Norway, hence the theme of wind at the exhibition.  As James said he found it rather muddling and bitty and I know he was quickly bored – at one point I found him asleep in a chair!  However, one snippet of information caught my attention, which was that witches in the middle ages were often called upon to tie knots to make the wind the required strength – does anyone know whether this is the origin of the word knot to measure wind strength?

Distance motored: 34 nm. 

Thursday 7^th July 2011 – exploring Smola

We decided to take a bus to the north end of Smola to visit the active fishing village of Veiholmen 7 miles off  Smola’s main island, joined by various bridges and causeways from island to island, and then cycle the 20 miles back.  The plan of course was to take the bus into wind and be blown back on the cycles, as so often happens the wind changed direction, so our plan did not work!  We had a lovely sunny morning which deterioated as the day wore on.

The bus did not leave until just before 1 pm, so we were able to have a leisurely morning and do a bit of boat work (i.e. brushing the carpets and washing the decks).  During the morning Lily the nice librarian arrive with a bag of crab claws for James and the offer of a lift to Hopen the main town / village in the north of the Island as she had to visit the library there to exchange some books.  However, we agreed that her car was too small to accommodate the bikes and ourselves, so we stayed with the original plan of going by bus to the north.

The bus took the coastal road to the east which was pretty and went through various fishing villages; the driver also delivers various packages that have arrived on the ferry plus the daily newspapers, some of which are just flung out of the window into bus shelters!  However, in the bus shelter by Straumen medical centre there is a padlocked box into which he put a parcel.  The route the bus took covered 27.5 miles to Veiholmen including a stop at the depot to change drivers.  We had a lady sitting opposite us who had good English and she told us a lot about the Island until she got off and then our second driver told us more.  He had just returned from a week’s holiday in London, of course the Norwegian kronner buys a lot of pounds so it is a cheap destination for the Norges.

Views of Veiholmen

 Veiholmen was certainly a pretty collection of islands with a small central harbour where we watched the two motor boats, who had been in Straumen when we first arrived, tied up and we were able to have a word with them.  We noticed the pontoon beside the hotel was a little more expensive than the one behind the supermarket, both offered showers and washing machines etc.

The cycle ride back took us across one high bridge (I was pleased to make the top without resorting to pushing the bike up as James had to) unfortunately; it had started to drizzle so the good views were obscured.  We cycled as advised through the centre of the island as it was more direct, this took us through the farming area, where the country’s largest producers of carrots and swedes are supposed to be but we only saw one small field of carrots, so I can’t imagine that many root vegetables are locally grown.  The upland heath was a particularly boring undulating road; not even very interesting wild flowers except for small marsh or common spotted orchids, which we have seen a lot of all over Norway, because there is not much cultivation done the land is full of wild flowers and usually rather pretty.  

An orchid, I think!

I had hoped to see eagles on the ride as Smola is supposed to have a lot of them around the wind farm which we could see clearly on a parallel road, but they were obviously out fishing!  I was actually quite surprised to read and have it confirmed that eagles like the flat lands of Smola as I always thought they liked mountains to nest on.

On our return I washed all the clothes we had cycled in, but as soon as I hung them out it started to drizzle, later in the evening James discovered the shower block including the washing machine, so I was able to spin them and dry them in the tumble drier, I just wished I had known earlier about the free washing machine and tumble drier as I would have taken the opportunity to have done more washing – lack of being able to read the language as it was all noted on the notice board!  Whilst the clothes were drying I had a chat to the engineer of the Ambulance Boat, because as he lives on the other side of the Island, when he’s on duty he has to stay on board the boat as they had to be available 24/7.  Whilst Straumen is their home port they serve 2 other communities and their nearest hospitals are Kristiansund or Trondheim.  The crew also includes a skipper and paramedic and when necessary a doctor, nurse or midwife can accompany them.  All expectant mothers are taken by the ambulance boat to Kristiansund and quite often give birth actually on the boat!  The boats top speed is 40 knots. 

On return to the boat I found James showing a Norge couple our boat after he had been on board their Vicknes motor boat, which I was later shown round.  It is built near Bergen and James had seen a number of them on this trip and liked the look of them so he was pleased to look round one and I have to agree it is very well thought out and put together – you see we are always thinking about the next boat or phase of our life, perhaps it will be a motor home, as I can’t really say that James has enjoyed this trip that much and I am only here for the beer!

Straumen harbour details: cost of berthing NOK 75 including electricity or NOK 50 without. Behind the library facing the marina is a shower (10 kr), loo and washing machine and tumble dried (free).  Diesel is obtainable on the quay next to where the ambulance boat moors (also the local tractors all fill up here).  Details are on the notice board by the gangway to the marina, where the honesty box is situated.  Supermarket and library as discussed earlier are both nearby.

Friday 8^th July 2011 - Grip 

We awoke to fog which delayed our departure by two hours, but this did allow us to visit the shop for fresh bread.  Once we had enough visibility to find our way through the rocks we left for Grip which is a tiny island nearly 10 miles out to sea from Kristiansund.  It was once Norway's smallest municipality when it was bought from the landlord and was a big fishing village, where the cod fishermen would stay during the fishing season.  It is now only inhabited in the summer, when there is a twice daily ferry from Kristiansund.  It does not take long to walk around and there are limited berthing opportunities.  However, when we arrived in the tiny harbour we were directed to tie up alongside a fishing boat and promised that it would not leave in the night!  When we tried to pay for the night we were told it was free, in addition the family that had helped us, were boiling crabs and asked it we would like some - James was delighted.   Later in the afternoon a big bag of crab claws were delivered and I was asked if I would like some fish as well, which I accepted with delight and proffered a bottle of wine which was very well received.  I went to the family's house for the fish and discovered three generations on holiday - the Grandmother said her mother had lived on Grip and she had spent all her summers on the Island.  It was this lady who had caught the fish and crab, going out during the night for a couple of hours (whilst the sun does set here it still does not get dark in the summer).  I was given a bag of 14 small fillets and told to dust them in seasoned flour and fry, we have enough for 3 meals.  The family's house is now only used for 6 weeks a year and each year it needs painting, but the family all love it.  Not only was there Granny and Grandad, their two daughters and son-in-laws plus 2 grand daughters, the following day Granny's sister and husband were arriving - a real family get together and even though they have 5 bedrooms it was still going to be a squeeze!

I never thought I liked crab but I must admit these fresh ones were delicious so James did not get them all!  The hint the family passed on to me about hitting the claws with the back of a spoon worked a treat to crack the shell, much better than James' efforts the night before!