To Andøya in Vesterålen
It was 3 July, and we set off as usual from Elnesvågen after raiding the shops there for food and essentials. It was a good opportunity to spend the first
night in Bud.
The beautiful evening sun in Bud offered a beautiful sight.
After meeting the previous owners for a few days of working together on the boat, we were able to continue north towards Andøya. The next highlight came in Kristiansund when it turned out that we were three boats from "Molde Sailing Association" who happened to meet and were able to enjoy the lovely evening together over a shared meal.
The next day, we continued north along Trondheimsleia, which was at least as long as it use to be. First in bright sunshine but little wind, then sunshine and strong winds, before we finally ended up with no wind and torrential rain.
It was nice to turn in behind the brakewater at Brekstad, where there was a vacant spot that was just the right size for our 47-foot boat.
The fact that we ended up sharing mooring with an Englishman who had been sailing the Helgeland coast in his 17-foot open boat for 12 years put us in our place, so to speak. It turned out that we had many shared experiences to talk about, and the Englishman had plenty to offer.
Kjeungskjæret lighthouse is a prominent landmark in the inner channel that we followed further north. The lighthouse was put into operation in 1888, and lighthouse keeper Bolsø settled there with his family and three children. They lived at the lighthouse for 26(!) years.
The next highlight of the trip was "Roan Sailing Club's" site in Ansteinsundet, north of Stokkøya. This place is steeped in ancient history, dating all the way back to the Viking Age. It is truly a gem. The white house belongs to Roan Sailing Club.
Katrine felt she had ended up in the right place... Ansteinsundet Youth Club.
The weather remained fine, but it was cold, so we had to put on our down jackets.
We were, after all, soon to be in northern Norway.
The notorious stretch across Folla was forced at the crossroads, and later in the evening we were able to squeeze in between the local motor boats at the guest pier in Abelvær.
We continued north through narrow straits and passages, past Rørvik to Eidshaug, where we left the ship for a day while we travelled inland to Knutåsen.
That's where Tyri, her Henrik and his parents lived. Here we took part in smoking wild sheep, feeding woolly pigs, picking mushrooms and cooking dinner together late into the evening. Another highlight.
Plenty of mushrooms in the forest provided a delicious accompaniment to dinner.
Finally, we were in Northern Norway. The wind carried us past Leka northwards to Torghatten, where we dropped anchor just below the mountain with the famous hole. Two other boats were already moored here when we arrived, but there was plenty of space.
The Helgeland coast delivered, even though we sailors would have liked a little more wind from the right direction. However, the light winds meant calm seas, which gave us the opportunity to visit the outermost islands north of Vega.
Here, there are traces of people having lived here since time immemorial. Caves with traces of human activity dating back to the stone age in Lovund, church buildings with timber from the 1600s in Skålvær, and dramatic war history from Lånan, where they still guard the eider ducks in the so-called ‘e-baner’ and stone houses, where they collect down after the breeding season is over.
Skålvær is another very beautiful island. I visited last year and would love to show Katrine the place.
As soon as we had moored at the jetty, where local children were eagerly fishing for small fish, an elderly couple came strolling by, curious to know where the ‘strangers’ had come from. "Mountain sailors" like us tend to arouse a little surprise among locals when they hear where we come from, but it often provides a good opportunity to strike up a conversation with people.
So now, too, and not long afterwards, we were invited to visit the church, which they were very proud to have managed to keep in reasonably good condition. Most of this was based on voluntary work and joint efforts. The history of the church is, in short:
Charlotte Røring, widow of the merchant of Skålvær, wanted to fulfil her husband's wish to build a church on the site. She sent her youngest son out on a shopping trip with the order: Buy a church.
Her son found one for sale in Malm, at the innermost part of Trondheimsfjorden. The timber, which dated back to the 1600s, was in good condition, so the church was purchased and transported to the island north of Vega, where it was erected in a year's time through voluntary labour.
We had an unforgettable time listening to countless stories about people and events throughout the ages at the weather station.
We were shown the venerable church book in which widow Charlotte Røring wrote the note with the story of the acquisition of the church.
The experience reached its peak when the elderly lady sat down at the organ and brought to life the old church organ that had been built by a local blacksmith in Helgeland. The organ's tone was delicate in the highest notes, but with ‘Blott en dag’ flowing from the larger organ pipes as well, the atmosphere became powerful and unforgettable.
Helgeland's largest island, Lånan, lies far out to sea. The island is so flat that from a distance it almost looks as if the houses are floating directly on the sea.
As we sailed into the harbour, we spotted two moose standing on a grassy islet nearby. This caused quite a stir among the residents when we told them about it, as it had been a long time since moose had been seen on the islands.
During WW2, those who lived here became involved in illegal activities and arms smuggling. The Germans and the Rinnan gang were about to crack down on these activities, so the residents had to be evacuated in a hurry. One night, a British warship came into the harbour, and the residents were given an hour to pack what they could carry before being evacuated. However, an elderly couple chose to defy the danger from the Germans and stayed behind to look after the livestock that were kept in stables in various places on the island. These two are the ancestors of all the families who now have houses on the island.
Some families stay here every summer, and they are all related to each other. The women on the island guard the eider ducks as they sit on their eggs. Normally, landing is prohibited in June and July in all protected areas, but here on Lånan you can join a guided tour on fixed trails together with these bird guards.
The houses used by the eider ducks, known as ‘e-baner’, are maintained by the local people, who are paid in the form of down left behind in the nest when the eggs hatch and the birds leave. Unfortunately, there has been a noticeable decline in the number of birds nesting.
We were given an introduction to how the work of collecting and cleaning the down is done, but the temptation to buy a genuine eiderdown duvet for cold winter nights was quickly put aside when the price was revealed. A top-quality winter duvet can easily cost up to NOK 100,000.
The journey north continued via Lovund, Træna and Selvær. These are well-known landmarks that have been used to navigate these waters since time immemorial.
Lovund is characterised by great optimism, and the fish farming company Novasea is ensuring that the place flourishes. The same cannot be said about conditions on Træna, but fishing keeps the permanent residents alive, and we could see some construction activity here and there. Selvær was the pensioners' island.
The approach to the new guest harbour may seem a little tricky, but it has been dredged and has good depth.
View down towards the guest harbour from the steps leading up to Lundeura in Lovund.
Lovund new guest harbour
The mountain Trænstaven, A well-known landmark that has been used to navigate these waters since time immemorial.
Guest pier in Selvær. A safe harbour, but not many people come all the way out here, even in the middle of the summer holidays.
On Selvær, where about 20 people live, they have lunch and cake in the old schoolhouse a couple of times a week during the summer. We were lucky and happened to be there on one of those days, so we left with our stomachs full. One of the permanent residents sat down at our table, and we got the impression that the atmosphere on the island was a bit subdued. The last family with children had moved away, and apart from a young couple from the Netherlands without children, only pensioners remained on the island. For the time being, the ferry and route boat run a couple of times a day, but a notice about a public meeting that same evening, where the topic was the county council's proposal for a new route service, revealed that the spectre of closure was looming.
Myken, with its ‘world's first Arctic whisky distillery’, didn't quite deliver this time. The food at the restaurant and the tasting of the local gin and whisky didn't quite live up to expectations, but that didn't dampen the mood in our part of the dining room. It was fun to be seated at a table where we didn't know anyone beforehand.
The name of this road in Myken is perhaps synonymous with the condition of the place...?
Eventually, the wind became more favourable, and we had a pleasant sail via Gåsvær at Støtt to Bodø. There is little that beats sailing between the islands near the glacher Svartisen, which did not live up to its name as it glowed in the sun.
Bodø was a stressful experience with lots of holiday boats and crowds of people along the quayside, but we caught some fresh prawns and enjoyed a soft ice cream in the sunshine and beautiful weather before fleeing to Osholmen on Landegode, a beautiful natural harbour where we dropped anchor. Here, steep mountainsides provide excellent acoustics for the cries of the sea eagles.
On the white sand of the shore, the oystercatcher played, and together with a flock of great knots, we were treated to a real whistle concert. The sun and beautiful warm weather made us hesitate as long as possible to leave this gem of a place, but the wind was good and we were going to cross the Vestfjorden to Røst or Værøy.
While the deluge "Hans" ravaged the southern parts of the Kingdom, we enjoyed fantastic weather in the north.
The sail across Vestfjorden offered rough seas and difficult conditions at first, but eventually it turned into a pleasant sail with good momentum. After some deliberation, we ended up on Værøy. Here, in addition to old acquaintances in the restaurant industry, there were steep mountains, so there were prospects for both exercise and culinary highlights.
The trip up to Håen was incredibly beautiful, and the view from the top, looking out over Måstadvika, was priceless. The sea mist came and went around the peak, creating a magical atmosphere.
Lofoten and Værøy Bryggehotell, where an old acquaintance of Katrine's had settled down and served fantastic food, so the day was perfect in every way.
So far on the trip, the wind has been light, mostly blowing from the north. Now it changed, and we could ‘stretch our legs’ and really let the boat come into its own on the journey further north. An easterly wind meant that we set course on the outside of Værøy and Lofoten.
What a sight, and what a sailing experience. The Moskstraumen, which runs between the island of Mosken and the mainland south of Lofoten, is one of the strongest maelstroms in the world. We held our own in the sea, keeping a good distance from Mosken and thinking we were safe from the current, but we were wrong. Wind against the current can create very high and steep waves, and suddenly it was as if the sea rose straight up out of the ocean. The difference between the calm sea and the raging current was like a line. Suddenly we had our hands full, but Moon is designed to handle such conditions, with its long keel. With the sails reefed, we let it be, and slowly but surely we pulled ourselves through the current. On several occasions, the sea spray washed over the deck, so we got thoroughly washed, but we never doubted that we would make it through. The current is about 5-6 nautical miles (10 km) wide, so it took just over 2 hours to get through and into the lee of Lofotodden. There we were rewarded with a spectacular view.
Seen from the outside, Lofoten is simply magical, with its steep and wild mountainsides rising straight up from the sea. We had hoped to be able to ‘land’ at some of the beautiful beaches between the mountains, but since Katrine, the only experienced paddler on board, is ‘single-handed’, with only one hand functioning, I did not feel confident enough to manoeuvre us both safely ashore. The heavy swell and strong currents made landing with the dinghy simply too risky.
On the outer side, we were completely sheltered from all tourism, and we only saw two other sailboats. There were no ‘rabbit crushers’ in sight. In the evening, we moored in the fishing harbour at Ramberg, which was also blessedly free of tourists. However, we could follow the constant stream of motorhomes from a safe distance. Lofoten is definitely best seen from a boat, but even better, Vesterålen was now waiting for us.
Here, natural gems are lined up in a row. We had set our sights on Lonkanfjorden and a summit hike onthe mountain Møysalen, but the weather forecast predicted rain and storms up in the mountains, so we changed course and headed for the outer side of Bø and Hadseløya. Here we anchored in Naklingvågen on Gaukværøy, where we were safely sheltered from the east wind.
A little further north lies Stø with ‘Dronningruta’, which is a 5-hour mountain hike between Stø and Nyksund.
Stø guest pier.
It's just uphill from here.
The sun shone down on us for most of the trip.
Admittedly, we did get one of only two (!) proper rain showers of the trip just as we were getting back on board the boat in the harbour at Stø. Perfect timing.
Stø in Vesterålen is a safe harbour, but it's a long way to the shops.
Northeasterly winds meant that we continued on the outer side, and had a wonderful sail northwards along the ever-beautiful Andøya.
The first stop was Bleiksøya, where there were still some Ludefugl that had not yet removed their young from the nest. It is not only Torghatten that has holes in it. Beiksøya also has a hole large enough for a person to squeeze through.
Safe behind the pier in Bleik harbour, with Mount Røyken in the background.
Andenes provided warm, pleasant days and many enjoyable reunions with friends and acquaintances.
We got our heart rates up on a quick summit hike on Måtind, but quickly regained our calm strolling in the evening sun along Bleikstranda beach with the distinctive Bleiksøya island in the background.
The tourist flow out here is considerable, and my old workplace, Whale2Sea, has had full boats throughout the summer with guests who want to go out to sea to experience close encounters with whales.
I´ve worked as a captain on one of the rib´s at Whale2Sea for several years in my previous life, so when one of the captains had to cancel an evening trip, it was great fun to be able to jump aboard the Rib and head out to Bleiksdjupet, where we found two sperm whales lying in the wake of the blue whiting fishermen, hoping to sneak some ‘fast food’ from the lines when the fishermen pulled in their catch.
Whales at sea are always a wonderful experience. Here is a sperm whale diving.
Another wonderful experience at sea. Not much beats a successful boat trip in the midnight sun on an almost flat sea.
The broad smiles and laughter of the happy participants on the trip brought back many fond memories, and at that moment I wondered why I had moved away from this.
With that, the northernmost destination of the trip had been reached, and 688 nautical miles had been sailed so far. Now we set course south again towards longer and darker nights, but first to inner Troms to visit Tyri and her Henrik in Setermoen. The trip continued on the inside of Lofoten via Harstad and Kjeldsundet.
Kjøtta, northeast of Harstad. Another protected spot on earth.
Stop by Harstad to visit friends.
Continue southwards through Tjeldsundet to Forosbukta at the southern tip of Tjeldodden, opposite Lødingen.
We had to stop by Trollfjorden. So did the others. We thought the military aspect of the trip was over after we had visited Setermoen camp, but no, here we met the US Navy.
The hoovercraft kept up a steady pace to and from the killer ship with curious crew members from the mother ship.
Inside the belly of the mother ship, crews were picked up and delivered.
Heading south in Øyhellsundet towards Store Molla via Svolvær
The fisherman's wife, at the entrance to Svolvær
The fine weather just kept going and going. Couldn't be better.
At Støtt, my ‘old love’ "Bluebird"was lying in the sun. Two beautiful ladies...
Sea like fish oil, as fishermen say when the sea is as smooth as glass, as we meet Havila Kystruten on its journey north.
We met Hans, a fellow sailor, with his boat ‘Anna’ in Klokkargården on Rødøya. He was alone on board, heading south after his summer trip in Finnmark. Two Koopmans boats together is not very common in Norway.
On Rødøya, there is a stone staircase leading up to the mountain Rødøyløva. Today's exercise trip, with fantastic views.
From the top of Rødøyløva, you can see much of Helgeland, here with Lovund and Træna furthest to the west.
To the east, you can see Svartisen, Norway's second largest glacier.
Just south of Sandnessjøen, The "Seven Sisters" mountains.
Time was running out, and we had to think about how to continue our journey home. The wind was coming from the northeast, so we decided that the best thing to do would be to head out to sea and set course for the south.
It was perfect for a night stop at Sklinna, which consists of a few small islands west of the sea just north of Vikna. The place was mentioned in the weather forecast for fishermen on the radio when I was a young boy, but I had no idea where it was at the time.
It was still a long way home, and we were starting to run out of time, so we were up and off before sunrise the next day.
Lovely weather and good speed throughout the day heading south.
Sunset somewhere west of the islands off the coast of Trøndelag.
The midnight sun and the bright, beautiful nights were gone, and we sailed in almost complete darkness. The night was exhausting, with constant wind shifts and adjustments to the sails. Early in the morning, we saw land at Bud, and by midday we were safely moored in our home port of Elnesvågen.
