2) Ålesund To Brekstad

We left Ålesund on wednesday in glorious sunshine and a gentle breeze on the nose. Engine on of course. a clean hull and a polished propeller make good speed, nearer 6 than 5 knots. Bodes well. Compass needs re-calibrating, the instruments show Josin is heading about 30 degrees to where we are actually going.

Snow the last few days show the mountains in all their glory.

And then sometimes strange shapes appear which you don’t see otherwise: Is this a sleeping dog, with enormous paws? Or is it a turtle?

Then, after hours of pottling along, the only sight of interest being the early stages of a long bridge being built, on three artificial islands, over to Lepsøy. Odd to see a road-going crane perched on the rockfill. Admiring the view along the way we got to Bud, 62 54.3 / 006 54.4, a normal place to stop before traversing Hustavika, which can be rough, due it being open to the North Sea.

Not today though, thursday, it was flat calm, in exceptional visibility, so navigating the first intricate bit, was a doddle. Goal was Kristiansund, but conditions were benign, speed was good, helped at times by a following current, and it seemed too early to stop, så Plan B. Straumen, på Smøla. 68 19.8 / 008 04.7. 45 nm for the day. Good progress.

Friday, yesterday, had it all. A reasonably early start, again in flat calm conditions and glorious sunshine, was initiated by a heron slowly and majestically flapping past to land at his fishing spot. We approached, very gently, and rewarded to see him spear a fish and flap back to his nest. Then a bit further on, an eagle demonstrated how to catch a fish his way. Wow. Seen pictures before, by not for real. He was hounded all the way back to his nest by bombarding gulls, who tried to relieve him of his catch, but they didn’t succeed.

On and on up the Trondheimsleia, a wide, very long fjord with little to admire. Windmills undecided. There was indication of a coming of wind. YR.no had forecast such, but got it rather wrong. A fickle breeze which came and went in many directions, to the frustration of this sailor, until we gave up and motored again. Then the weather started to change. Wind, yes, but not really sailable, until conditions began to gradually deteriorate. Cloud cover getting thicker, sailable wind, at last, and temperature falling. (Unusual, from 1024 mBar at day start to 1009 mBar at day end). Full sail and a reasonable speed. Over the next hours, wind increased from the south, (we were headed ENE, so, good) current turned against, kicking up short sharp waves, and the occasional rain shower. Sail gradually reduced until with rolled-in foresail and two reefs in the main, and we still sped through the water. Max windspeed i saw on the instrument was 38 knots, more than twice what was forecast. Exciting! My otherwise highly dependable autopilot, whom I call Rorbert, (ror means tiller in Norwegian), couldn’t quite cope with the effect of sudden waves, steering in a succession of not-quite-stable zigzags, so I had to steer. Kept me busy. But we got a bit wet and somewhat cold. (Who forgot to lock down the front hatch before starting off? It leaked!). The last two hours were very frustrating, with no less than two to two-and-a-half knots of current against, making progress very slow. Finally reached Brekstad, (63 41.2 / 009 40.3), and the protection from the worst of the waves inside the harbour wall. Wind still over 30 knots, and a bit of a pantomime ensued, trying to keep the boat reasonably out of harms way while getting the very reluctant rest of the mainsail down. (The halyard had somehow inviegled its way into the sailtrack). A fishing boat skipper waited patiently on the pontoon to grab my lines, and made suitable (local dialect, indecipherable in the wind) comments afterwards, with a broad grin on his face. Wind was blowing off-pontoon, so his help was invaluable.

Took some time to get properly tied up, with many ropes and fenders, sail stowed, and kettle on. That cuppa tea was nectar! Sleep later was difficult as the dancing, corkscrewing motion and tugging of moorings, were not easy to shut out of the consciousness.

All calm again this morning. Late breakfast and a wander into town for an unobtainable kitchen thing. But, there was a bakery open doing good trade, and I succumbed to a very sticky bun and a coffee. Back to boat and sleep som more!

It transpired that a narrow front had gone through, not forecast by YR.no, but reasonably visible on The Met Office’s synoptic charts which I looked at afterwards. Moral: Check all sources of weather information! They might even agree.

YR.no says nice day tomorrow, with winds slowing down mid morning, and in a sailable direction. Let us hope it checks!