Month: June 2020

Saturday weather was much better and we motored and sailed south again, to Finnsnes, this time getting the tides right so that we got whooshed at great speed through the narrows at Rystraumen, 4 knots current in our favour.

Went to bed early, intending to make an early start on sunday, but managed to “oversleep” and didn’t get away until after eight. The goal was Sjøvegen and the gliding club, hopefully in time to get a flight. Fortunately the tides were favourable, and we got there almost early enough at just after to. Had tried to ring the only contact I had, to hear if there was any flying going on, but he didn’t answer, (later heard that he was not well with pollen allergy). So the only thing to do was to dig out the bike and pedal my way the the airfield. Hopes were raised when I stopped for a drink-pause at the top of a long hill, and caught a glimpse of the to-seater, high up and far away, obviously enjoying thermal lift.

It was 12,6 Km. 52minutes. Quite a challenge for artificial knees and associated weakened muscles, but we survived. Only person there, under the caravan awning, was the ground radio operator, with nothing to do. Welcoming. All three aircraft were in the sky and had been for a couple of hours. Conditions were obviously very good. Wait. Chat. Enjoy the sunshine. Aircraft landed one-by-one, and I was an enthusiastic helper to hopefully get a flight in before closing time. Hans had been up for nearly three hours, and was satisfied with the day really, but he volunteered to take me up. The tow plane had been fixed with a new(?) cylinder and piston since last week end, and was in full voice again. Bump, bump, bumpety bump over the grass and then lift off! Just as exciting, every time! The air was still turbulent, so it wasn’t too late for thermals, and the tow plane found us one at the end of the climb. Up and up and up we circled.

“You want a go?” (You bet!) Yes please. “You have control”. I have control. And I managed to keep us up for what seemed like an age, but was in fact only about 20 minutes. Hans suggested the potato field, (the brown stripe), and it helped.

The airstrip is to the right. Sjøvegan is in the distance. We are about 600 meters up.

It was quite extraordinarily satisfying to discover that flying was still completely automatic and I could concentrate on finding and chasing lift. Afterwards, Hans said, without prompting, that he realised very quickly that I was quite competent enough, (Jeeeay!) and he could relax and enjoy the view. He even complemented my circling technique. (Flatterer!).

Control back to Hans, and I took some pictures: Amazingly clear air, and view to the horizon.

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After a while even Hans couldn’t keep us up any more, and he aimed for home and the bumpy ground. 53 minutes. Pack the aircraft away in the hangar. Fill in logbooks. Sign the form as P2. Hear with the others their experiences and where they had found lift. Sit around the heating-up barbeque. Chat. Must say the experience tasted of more! What an incredible day!

Hans drove us towards Sjøvegan and a meal at the canteen at the camping site. He had much to tell. First parachuting, then hang gliding, then paragliding, then autogiro, then sailplaning. Best he said. Then he drove me to the top of the hill on the way back to Sjøvegan so I didn’t need to pedal much, I unfolded the bike, waved a heart-felt goodbye, and whooshed back to the boat. Zonk. Sleep.

Yes, what an incredible day!

Second rainy day, so, domestics and boat maintenance tasks. First engine.

A little puddle under, green water. Fill a little antifreezewater. Dipstick not at max, so fill a little oil. Check belt, (one of these new, and excellent, polybelts). Oh dear. Worn. Not much life left. Search for spare, which I know is on board. Please you boat gremlins, where have you hidden it? No luck. Google a supplier. Outside town. Google buses. Comprehensive. Choose route. Google nearest bus stop. Close by. Rain togs. Hood up, wind blowing. Folk, not really distancing, huddled in the bus shelter. I huddle too.

Tromsø is built on a high-ridged island, and the bus climbed steeply to the ridge, ran along it, kindergartens, schools, dwellings everywhere, then descended to the other side. View could have been marvellous if it hadn’t been for the low cloud and rain. Long walk to belt place. How much??? Slightly less-long wet walk back to another, but closer bus stop. Of course I should have checked, or asked or something. Bus arrives, but goes away from town. Round the whole island it seems. Oh well, more sightseeing, but not comfortable. Damp.

Back to boat. Heaters on full blast and change clothes. Better now. Install new belt. Start engine and run for a while to bed in the belt. Readjust. Lunch. Spent the rest of the frustrating day trying and in the end, succeeding, in finding an electrical anomaly which has caused worry and concern. Relief! Tidying up afterwards, and re-stowing things in a more orderly fashion revealed, guess what? The spare belt. Thankyou gremlins. Now I still have a spare belt on board.

Better weather forecast for tomorrow, saturday. Filled up with diesel and water yesterday, so we are ready to, and will probably proceed south, towards Sjøvegan again, and hopefully another ride in the sky.

Sorry, no pictures. Rain and low, grey cloud.

Alls well again.

The pause in flying activity caused a change of plan. Had to get back to Harstad sooner og later to pick up an electronic chart which was ordered earlier. So prepared to leave Sjøvegan, to return later. At the nightly half-awake task, I took a peep out of the window. This at 3 am:

So there was no excuse but to rise and shine, eat breakfast, and go. Amazing sounds in the stillness. A new one was a cascading waterfall on the other side of the bay, fed by the melting snow higher up:

It was almost sacriledge to disturb the profound peace by motoring along, but I went slowly to keep the decibels under control. No wind at all for most of the way to Harstad, so it was a bit boring amongst these high and steep mountains. Civilisation is well spread, but there are sometimes small communities which have clawed out a living in the past, and thrived, isolated except by rowing boat. Now there is a decent road there, with either a bridge or a ferry to somewhere else.

Managed a bit of sailing across the open Vågsfjord to Harstad and got there just as the town was beginning to buzz. Out with the bike and pedal to chartshop. Not come yet? Oh dear. What time does the post come? “Between 11 and 12. May not come today”. (Now ten thirty).” We’ll deliver it when it comes”. Very serviceminded! Back to boat, (fresh sourdough bread on the way), with the prospect of whiling away the day. How? New plan. Start with coffee and fresh bread and lots of butter, yum! But Lo! Just after 12, a call to say that “he’s on his way”, and sure enough a friendly, bright-yellow-jacketed man knocked on the boat and handed over an envelope and good wishes. Out with the laptop and carry out the procedure. Half an hour later, chart installed in chartplotter, and all systems go. Nuther new plan. OK. Goal Tromsø. Trip to food shop. Fill water. Now too late to go very far, so we puttered to a little island, Kjøtta, about five nm away, which looked to have a sheltered bay for anchoring. Yes indeed. (68 52.6 / 016 42.04). Beautiful evening to enjoy the P&Q, birds, and sounds.

Woke again at very early, fantastic morning sunshine, so decided again to leave. Forecast was for a SW breeze which should waft us along nicely. Left at 05:15. Back out into Vågsfjord, and the 10 to 12 kt breeze. Up sails and at last enjoy some proper sailing, wind pilot doing the steering very well. Not very long in paradise. Wind gradually increased, blowing up short, sharp waves, on the quarter. Soon one reef. This was definitely not forecast. Then second reef and half-roll foresail. Rushing and rolling and crashing along at max speed. Exhilarating, but rather tiring. Into next fjord, and the wind disappeared. Just like that! These mountains have a decisive effect on the wind. Back to motoring, and coffee, and sourdough sandwiches. Finnsnes appeared at about 12, and as it was so early, I decided to carry on, and on, and on. Bits of sailing, most motoring and sightseeing. How about the giant’s toothbrush?

This was 23 June, Midsummer’s Eve, when folk gather at the shoreline, barbecues get fired up (down south folk enjoy a swim, but not here, water temp 11 degrees), and giant bonfires get lit, to mark the summer solstice. I saw several, this one must have at least had som old tractor tyres in it to make such a smokescreen:

By then I was optimistically eyeing getting to Tromsø in time to find a restaurant, but then we got to Ryøstraumen, with still a couple of hours to go. When your boat, engine at full chat, does 6,1 knots through the water, and the water is going the other way at 4,5 to 5 knots, progress is incredibly slow, and one has plenty of time but no opportunity to admire the view, and people enjoying watching us, close by. The water swirled and rushed, needing very close attention to steering. Gulls and terns were having a diving ball, with the turbulence stirring up fish, totally ignoring us. Good luck to them, I’m too busy to take a picture. It took seemingly ages to get into calmer water, and the counter-current, though less, was still significant out into the open fjord, so progress was much slower than hoped. Tried sneaking my way out of the mainstream by steering close inshore, but it was still 1 to 1,5 knots against. Note to self: Find out about tides and currents and timing, before returning!

So into Tromsø, the major city here north. Lots of building activity and colourful blocks of flats and office buildings. Hotel in the center like a ship, overlooking the guest harbour. Not many guestboats, but plenty of other vessels of all kinds. It was nearly 7 o’clock by now, so by the time we had tied up, chatted to the other two sailing boats, (thankyou for helping with ropes, where’s the diesel?), and hoisted the cockpit canopy, (rain forecast, but not here yet), muggins was fairly out of energy, so no restaurant. Instant tour-meal. Boiling water into the orange bag, stir and spoon-eat. Nourishing, quick, but not exactly gourmet. Satisfied with the day. Zonk. Sleep.

Today, overcast, but not cold. A trip later to the tourist info office. Must walk, (or maybe take the bus), over the bridge to the Artic Cathedral. Seen once before, which left a strong impression. Might take the funicular up the mountain, the view of the city must be amazing.

Take it easy though. Long day yesterday, restitution important.

Alls well!

Arrived at the airfield full of energy and optimism, to find the group all gathered in the hangar with the towplane, oozing av disappointment and looking glum.

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On inspection, a small crack had been found in one of its four cylinder heads. So, no towplane, no flying. Much discussion as to where another part could be found, but no conclusion. Summary by the chief: “It doesn’t help to be irritated, and no one knows how long the repair will take”. I managed to say a few words in appreciation of their welcome and their hospitality, and a strong wish to come back again when they can fly again.So, pack away the aircraft and all the clobber, close down and disperse. Thankyou all you nice people!

Back to boat, and eat lunch. Pause to decide what and when to do next. If the forecast is correct, and the wind blows from the east later today, we will sail back to Harstad and collect the chart waiting there. Next goal is Tromsø.

Life could be much worse.

Talk about lucky. Since we got here, there have only been wispy clouds and 24 hour sun. Yesterday, saturday, was spent at the Salangen Seilflyklubb, Elvesness airfield. This was my goal for the summer, eased by starting from Ålesund instead of Åsgårdstrand, and I sure am pleased to be here. AND I got a ride in a sailplane. Jeay!

Salangen Seilflyklubb is a small group of enthusiaster, 12 present yesterday. The club owns one two seater, a “Blanik”, and two single seaters, and a few other single seaters privately owned.

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The grass airstrip lies 6Km as the crow flies east of Sjøvegan, beside an idyllic lake at the west end of the runway. (Don’t undershoot on landing). The club rents the end of several enormous hangars, relics of byegone days of official activity. The very first activity here, and only the second aircraft activity in Norway is commemorated in this monument. Note the aircraft, a Bleriot no less! That dates it.

The club is run very much on a cooperative basis, and the headquarters are simpe, but effective. This was the first day of activity this season, so there was lots to do. All qualified pilots had to have a confirmatory two-seater flight, before the pupils, three, before me, so I came at the end of a long day, when the air had largely settled. Magic, as always, at the feeling at take-off, after a rushing, bouncing ride when suddenly all is smooth. Towed up to 600 meters, back over Sjøvegan, where I could see my tiny toy boat, and then calm. What a sight! Green valleys, with snaking rivers, dotted farms, dark woods lying up the sides of snow-capped mountains. My P1 let me have a bit of a stir, but when we did hit the hint of thermic lift, he took over and tried. We didn’t really climb, but just reduced sink a bit.

Didn’t take any pics from the air. Had decided to concentrate on the fact that I was flying again. Pics on next flight. The chairman, Bjørn, who very kindly picked me up and drove me home, he’s beside the monument, (6 Km turned out to be 13 on the road, so I gave up on the intention to bicycle), says I am very welcome to stay as long as I like and have as many flights as there is space for. What an offer! So I shall remain for a few days, since the forecast is for continued fine weather. Fantastic!

Today sunday, activity starts after church time (there is an active chapel at the other end of the runway), so maybe I won’t get a flight today. I shall concentrate on my task, which has been to collect the tow rope after it has been dropped. Lots of walking on fairly bumpy grass, makes for very good knee-therapy. Take more to drink with me today!

Alls very well!

It all started so promising. Forecast. Sunshine. Cloudless sky. Northwesterly breeze. Up mainsail in the harbour, turn around and unfurl the foresail, sail out of the harbour and stop the engine. That must be the shortest enginerun this year. For about an hour all was quite perfect. Got the windpilot working, (should be a short video here, but all attempts to upload it have failed, sorry!), and could at last stop the autopilot. Bliss!

Then the clouds started to appear, and then they crept down the mountainsides, and then the wind changed in both direction and strength. Waves increasing, very choppy. Now almost closehauled. Much spray. Wet. Stow windpilot. Steer self. More wind. Reef main. Even more wind. Second reef. Roll in foresail to half size. Still doing over six knots. View now of waves and spray only. Good things, digital maps and GPS, aren’t they? Found waypoint at the end of a fjord and turned into it. Wind and waves now aft and just as strong. Rolypoly. Next waypoint at a steep mountainside and turned again. Waves tamed. Wind still following us. View returns. Under a bridge. Turned west into broad fjord, with mountains all around, and no-cloud sunshine. Very comforting and warming. Wind now very fickle, sometimes ahead, sometimes aft, sometimes not at all. Engine helped. Even the gulls tumbled about. Last turn into a broad, much more friendly fjord, almost a very large bay, and sail to Sjøvegan. Stow sails. Where is the guest harbour? Charts and chartplotter no help. Google Earth showed a long wall where the portside pole marker should have been. And Lo! behind the wall, a long pontoon. No other boats. Tie up.

Best day’s sailing so far, with all the variations. Time to relax. Food. Snooze.

Alls well!

68 48.1 / 16 32.8, guest pontoon. All on our own.

After sunday’s relaxing day, contact was made with the local Raymarine office, and after some discussion, young Sondre came on board with a large backpack full of tools and instruments. He started by finding out that his vintage instrument, (new one away for calibration), for measuring antenne performance was very underperforming, and had to give that up. Next was to change several suspect plugs which might have got wet and corroded. Coupled up the new VHF antenne, which was installed while in Bodø, directly to the VHF radio, and communication with Coastal Radio North was “loud and clear” over both local and distant transmitters. Checked again with the mast-head antenne connected. Again good. So maybe I don’t have to get up to the top of the mast to fix problems there. Whooppee!. Step 1 success. Next, Sondre used my MacBook to download the latest AIS software. That took time and amusement, because he had never used a Mac before and his rapid fingers took several wrong navigations. Installed the software, and coupled the new, now checked antenne directly to the AIS unit. Switched on, and almost immediately there was Josin on MarineTraffic. Step 2 success. Then coupled up the splitter, which divides the antenne signal between VHF and AIS. Definitely worse performance. Discussion. Phone call to office for advice. (local dialect, rapid, difficult to follow, but definitely derogatory remarks about splitters in general, and no upgrade available). Conclusion: Cut out the splitter and have dedicated antenne to AIS and VHF radio. Logical. Simpler. Probably more reliable too. So Sondre, most helpful, returned to the office from a probably-cured Josin, and a happier skipper. First test was today, when we puttered round to the other end of this comprehensive harbour,

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to fill up with diesel, and back. Logg recorded 2,3 nm. MarineTraffic followed us every step of the way. Most encouraging!

We will have to come back to Harstad in a few days to collect new map software for the chartplotter, which couldn’t be downloaded, but had to come by mail.

Yesterday, tuesday, Laundry day. Facilities are in the back of the quayside restaurant, (fish and chips place), but opens at 11. Vintage machines which had to be fed with tokens, (available at the counter), very noisy, but reasonably effective. Cabin full of hanging not-quite-dry washing rest of the day.

Dug out the bicycle yesterday and went for an explore and a bit of shopping at the Marina. Shopping unsuccessful, but pedalling good. Harstad is a mixture of old and shabby and new and bright. Lots of building activity. Enormous new shopping center down by the marina, which has had the inevitable effect of bleeding the center of the town for shops. Harstad still has managed to maintain its center square, with restaurants and hairdressers and coffeshops with their chairs (with encouraging rugs), and tables in the sunshine.

Weather still brightly sunny, but with a chilly north-easterly wind. Forecast for tomorrow is for a gentle westerly, which should waft us eastwards to the next stop, Sjøvegan. Sailplane club there. Trip in sailplane organised, (as eager passenger, hopefully allowed a stir).

Alls well.

Nordskot to Skutvik wasn’t very interesting. Frustrating because, whichever way Josin pointed, the wind was always against, even when the prevailing wind blew across the fjord and mountains. No sailing, again! Skutvik wasn’t open yet. Very quiet. An early night.

Early morning strong sunshine had me up early, before 6. Clear water had me tempted, but I resisted. (11,5 degrees). Forecast good for sailing later, so, through the pre-voyage list, and away before 8.

Investigated a Plan B place on the way, bak Hopøya, perfectly sheltered bay, narrow entrance. To be remembered. Pos 68 08,0N 15 24.5E.

Tried to take a panoramic pic of the “Lofoten Vegg”, but succeeded in only a normal one. Still a long way away though.

Then, as the day got warmer, yes a good deal warmer, and the northerly wind died away, strange sights appeared, in mirages:

Just south of Lødingen, on the west side of the fjord, “nine sisters” basked in the sun: (beats Nordland’s famous Seven!).

Then in to Lødingen. Not very inspiring, and as it was still only about two o’clock, and that the promised southerly wind had started to waft its way, I decided to carry on, with Harstad as a distant goal, and several possible stopping places on the way.

We motor-sailed, then sailed, most of 10 nm up the gradually-narrowing fjord, until it turned east, into Tjeldsund, whereupon the wind turned east too. These fjordwinds. Never reliable and friendly. No wonder almost all pleasure boats are motor. Tjeldsund is relatively narrow, (for a fjord), and also relatively shallow in places, so there are strong currents. We had experienced a gentle following current up the previous fjord, and as the tide hadn’t changed, expected a following current here too. But No! suddenly 2 to 2,5 knots against. Good to have a powerful engine. The current isn’t constant, it swirls and swerves, making for exciting steering, (autopilot couldn’t quite cope). Then wind aft again, but not quite enough to stop the engine. Fjord turned north again, and equally unexpectedly a strong following current rushed us along. I do not understand! Tides is trikky! Then into open waters, and round small islands and in to Harstad harbour. Enormous. Where’s the guest harbour? Just wait a while, as it is evening, and maybe another boat knows where. Yes. We followed. Lots of space, even for a saturday evening, Parties on cruisers. Fishing men on the quayside. Bicycles and prams on the promenade. Fast ferry arriving and disgorging the last passengers of the day. Restaurant at the end of the pontoon. Why not? Fish and chips. Good too!. Back to boat and straight to bed. Zonk asleep.

Long day. Much to see and experience. 12 hours on the move, and nearly 70 nautical miles. Maybe a personal day-best.

Took it easy today. Domestics. Office work. Almost drizzly weather. No walk, no sightseeing. Touristinfo office shut. Excellent Thai takeaway on the quayside. Tomorrow will visit the local Raymarine experts, to get help with my erratic AIS and others.

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Sleep now. Do I dream of a sleeping mountainVampire, or of a creeping monster with enormous white teeth?

Alls well.

Yet another northerly wind day, cloudy start, sunny later, a little sailing, much motoring, therefore sightseeing. A detour to a PlanB place opened up a perfect anchorage, clear green water over a sandy bottom, and a beach. Position noted.

Onward through islands, mountains to the east, then when nearly to Nordskot, this:

A remarkable, overhanging colossus, locally called “The Ape”. A closer look:

Then in to sleepy Nordskot, a sunbathed bay, few houses, lots of boats, and a local shop, 10 to 16 on alternate days out of season. Facilities also in the shop, so showers etc only on alternate days. The Ape not so visible from here.

Last time I was here, the local “pub”, (old harbour building), was full to bursting to hear a summer-local lady describe her ascent of Mt Everest.

We were moored to the seaward side of the main pontoon, the north wind creating chuckling little waves against the hull. Pleasant, until in the night, something making waves rushed past causing Josin to dance and bang against the pontoon, waking me up. This had compensations. I was able to follow the “sunset” and “sunrise” of the midnight sun, last seen climbing the sky at 4 o’clock. Magic! Woke again before 6, all in the shadow of the protective mountain.

“Han ser ikke soli som lenge søv”. Where have I got that from? Shortly after 6, the sun climbed over the mountain to this:

Breakfast time now. Dip in the oggin? No way, water temp only 9 degrees. Where to today?. Probably Skutvik. Plan to be in Harstad on sunday evening. AIS expertise in Harstad monday.

Alls well

I wrote this yesterday evening, and thought I had posted it, but it just dissappeared, so I will try and recreate it.

Taken at about 21:45. Not really sunset either. If the clouds do not shut it out, the sun is shining when I go to bed, and when I wake up. Eyeshade very needed!

In an earlier incarnation, (it must have been a less intelligent one), documentation of solutions was not a priority. I could remember it all, right? Ha! So I spent just as much time finding out which cable was which and where it went, as it took to install the new antenne and create a better layout. The feared acrobatic rummaging about in the cockpit lockers to find old cables and install new ones turned out to be not so strenuous after all, and I experienced a bit of physiotherapy too. The knees survived. Extracted and used the bicycle too, to go to to the boatbits shops again. You always need some other bracket, or connector or somesuch. Bodø has excellent bicycle tracks. The sun shone and the wind blew, so going one way was a pleasure.

New cables have legible tags on both ends, so Josin is now VHF legal. We can proceed on our way. Not so sure about the AIS and MarineTraffic though. Tomorrow will tell.