Hopsjø: 63 37.7 , 8 43.2
To quote my favourite satirical poet, Spike Milligan, “The sky must have holes for the rain to come in, but the holes must be small, ´cos the rain is so thin”.
This morning’s rain is a bit thicker. Individual drops big enough to create the pillar and ring pattern. Wet though. There are sufficient of them that even the local heron, standing sentinel in the shallows, gave up. I had another snooze and a late breakfast.
Hopsjø is a place of history. One of the largest trading and fishing centres in the area from the mid 1700s, through 1800s and into the 1900s. The buildings are well preserved, with an “everyday-things-from-the-past” museum, and well used in the summer months, including a very good restaurant. Lots of cabin cruisers arrived in the late afternoon and enjoyed the restaurant and terrace in the sunshine.
Getting here was interesting. First an over-optimistic attempt to genakker-sail, which due to the only very weak breeze, caused more sail-and-ropes poggles than usual and resulted in lack of success and pride.
Then there was the Coastal Watch, (Kystvakten), in action to service a lighthouse. The ship just nuzzled in to the rock and kept the engine going to hold it there, while men went ashore, (one up on the lantern tower, one going there). Glassy sea, just the right conditions.
Next an approaching workboat with a barge under tow. These workboats are special to Norway I believe, due to the regulations governing ship construction. They are 14,99 meters long, (rules split at 15 meters) and almost as wide, on a catarmaran hull. Ugly but effective. Relative speeds indicated that the entourage would catch me up just as we were getting to a very narrow space, so just before we got there I held out my left arm demonstratively and ducked into a convenient small bay. Demonstrative waving of thanks from the captain, head out of bridge window, and crew, on side deck. Followed them at a safe distance, until the barge was delivered to a shipyard. Surprising to find such a comprehensive activity out here amongst the islands. Barge unfortunately just out of the picture.
As you can see from the picture, the sun now shone from a cloudless sky and I enjoyed the rest of the motoring day against wind and current getting sunburned again. That was the second day this summer!
Enjoyed a very good dinner of succulent steak of red deer, (hjort), but disappointing veg, and a delicious but anonymous creamy desert.
Today was forecast to be both rainy and wind-against, so I had planned on staying here until tomorrow. But it has stopped raining and the wind isn’t blowing so I need to make a decision. Coffee first.
Alls well.
Josin's 2026 blog 