From Måløy round Stad, to Larsnes and beyond.
Forecasts were reasonably correct, and three other sailing boats must have read the same, as an hour after leaving Måløy they appeared from other harbours, all heading north to round Stad. (62 12.2N / 005 5.6E).
Stad is notorious for confused winds, currents and waves. Especially in winter and for commercial traffic it is a problem. So much so that there is a plan to bore a tunnel through the peninsular further inland. Crazy idea? Makes sufficient sense however that plans have been drawn up, proposals made and finance is in now place for a serious project. It will be an enormous undertaking. For those interested, try google “skipstunnel.no” and wikipedia “Stad ships tunnel”. It hasn’t been in the news recently, so the timetable has almost certainly slipped. It would have been quite an experience to go through in Josin, but I’m not convinced that it will be ready in time. Whatever….
Anyway, this time round was windy, luckily following, and large, confused seas. Very roly-poly-up-and-down. Because the land is high and near-vertical, down to an undersea ledge, ocean waves get raised up by the ledge and then get reflected back out to sea again. The result is as described.
All four sailed round in good time, waved to each other goodbye from our fleeting wave-tops and went our different ways. We headed 90 degrees east, oddly enough with still a strong following wind, to Larsnes (62 12.4N / 005 34.1E), a familiar harbour. But Lo! it wasn’t familiar at all. The guest harbour as I knew it, shared with the ferry, was now occupied by an enormous barge with everything needed to make a new something there. It was by now very late evening and no one in sight to ask, so I tied up to something solid and hoped for the best. (Left very early next morning, before work started again. It being a saturday, perhaps it didn’t).
Under threatening black clouds and drizzle, we motored off to find a place where we could anchor up for a night or several, as the forecast was just gloomy-and-rain depressing.
On the way, it gradually became absolutely flat calm, no wind, no waves, and no rain, and an excellent opportunity to try and reset the electronic compass and autopilot, as although they functioned, the display showed we were crabbing along about 10 degrees to starboard. Irritating, but not dangerous. A long process, with imaginative re-readings of the instructions which I happened to have on board for an earlier model, resulted in success. Observers, mostly patient gulls (who concluded we were fishing as we were going round and round in circles several times), and human ones, who could have begun to think we were in trouble. No, all turned out well. And no more crabbing. The instructions, in paper form, were stowed just before it started to rain again.
After nosing in to inspect possible anchorages, we ended up in a tight bay on Eika (Oak) island, (62 14.6N / 005 53.5E) and intend to stay safe here until the weather improves.
Maybe some more weather (ish) pics from a deep fjord. The squashed rainbow was in another direction.
Alls warm, dry-ish well.
WaitingJohn.
Josin's 2025 cruise 