We are now in Tananger, near Stavanger, having made our way around the south coast of Norway from Sandefjord, from where we sent our last Post (RR6).
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| Progress to date |
Norway’s south-east coast down to Lindesnes and Lista, the
headlands on the country’s southern tip, is where many Norwegians spend their
summers. It is not difficult to see why, with its beautiful white wooden
villages, and holiday homes looking across an island-studded sea. There are insignificant gaps between one
group of small low-lying islands and another – all the way to Lindesnes. Also along the coast are several splendid
archipelagos and smaller fjords with a wealth of anchorages. The current fortunately runs south-west
along the coast, although the prevailing wind is against the current.
From Sandefjord, where we dropped off Alan and Lynn who had
sailed with us from Oslo, we worked our way south out of the fjord and the skjægård. We
then turned south-west and sailed directly, across Langesundbukta (bay), past both Larvik and Langesund, and through
the archipelago on the approach to Kragerø. On our way through
the Langårsund,
between the islands of Langøy and Gumøy, the sound was so narrow and the granite walls so
steep that you could touch the sides by simply leaning out.
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| Langårsund - you could touch the rock sides |
Kragerø’s cramped lanes and alleys rise steeply from the narrow harbour
which is overlooked by attractive white wooden cafés, shops and houses. It has long been a mecca for Norwegian
artists, whose works can be seen everywhere. Edvard Munch, Norway’s most
renowned painter, who holidayed there, called Kragerø the “pearl of the coastal towns”. We’re not sure we totally
agree since we suspect that these days it would be a little too bijou in the
summer for our taste – but nevertheless it is delightful at this time of year.
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| Kragerø town |
Since the wind was forecast to increase overnight we found
ourselves a sheltered corner in Asvika bay behind the island of Skatøy. It took time to find and we therefore
arrived late in the dusk. Not clever
in rocky waters. Thank heavens for the
chart plotter. The holding was,
however, poor, so we ended up putting out two anchors with angels (to lessen
the shock on the anchor from gusts of wind).
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| Our anchor angel - about to be lowered |
As it turned out, there were no
unexpected wind shifts overnight and we therefore slept peacefully. By the morning the wind had dropped and the
sun shone out of a clear blue sky.
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| Asvikabukt - early next morning |
After breakfast in the cockpit, we
headed out of the anchorage, through the archipelago and into the open sea of
the Skaggerak. With a following wind we sailed poled out, parallel with the
coast until we approached Risør where we
snaked back through the skjægård into Risør harbour
and onto the harbour wall right in the centre of the town.
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| Risør town quay |
Risør which spreads round the hill of a gentle promontory is a
good-looking town. Its attractive, well-preserved old wooden buildings, mostly painted
white, spread up the slopes of the town from its wide and deep harbour. It has several nineteenth-century boatyards
which are still building boats today.
The town also has an active inshore fishing fleet.
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| Typical inshore fishing boat, Risør |
The fishmongers’ on the fish dock
was even better than that at Sandefjord.
We purchased local prawns and some whale meat – after taking detailed
instructions on how to prepare the latter from the fishmonger. It did not taste at all fishy – but then it
is a mammal. The closest comparison in
terms of texture and taste is fillet steak.
The Norwegians we met made no apology for hunting whales, although these
days Norway only kills whales for "scientific purposes" – before eating the meat.
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| Fishmonger - Risør |
We also went into the Vinmonopol
to purchase a bottle of Linea Aquavit.
It was included in the fishmonger’s whale-meat recipe – and is drunk as
an accompaniment. The alcohol prices
were eye-watering – twice the price of the Systembolaget in Strömstad, which
was itself pricier than the UK. No
wonder Strömstad, just over the border into Sweden, was full of Norwegians
shopping until they dropped!
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| Whale meat supper with aquavit |
After lunch in the cockpit on the
town quay, we left but kept well inside the skjægård since
it provided protection from the wind and waves, which by now had, as predicted,
increased and turned southerly. Lyngør, where we pulled onto an empty quay, is an
immaculate, traffic-free village split between the islands of Odden to the
north and Lyngør and
served by a small ferry. Everywhere was a hive of gardening activity as the
village geared up for summer. The quay
owner was quite happy for us to leave our boat while we looked round the
village and “made up our minds”.
However, he wanted £40, plus additional costs for services, for an overnight
stay. Needless to say, we didn’t linger
in Lyngør.
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| Lyngør's otherwise empty quay |
We left
under motor and travelled less than a mile down the sound before finding a
very nicely protected rock with bolts, which we could moor alongside. There was
a comfortable 2 metres of water under the keel. Interestingly, many Scandinavians we have spoken to consider rock-face mooring to be safer than anchoring in strong winds. It just takes a bit of getting used
to…! However, our experience in a
confined anchorage in Rausvågen (see below) suggests that they are correct!
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| Alongside rock-face mooring - Lyngør sound |
After another excellent fish supper and an early night we
slept soundly before getting up early to take advantage of a favourable northerly
wind that was forecast to change to the south in the afternoon. We made good progress in the open sea
outside the skjægård, before having to pull back inside it once the wind changed
direction.
We approached the town of Grimstad
through a narrow, shallow channel between Hesnesøya and Hesnes where we passed a small, ultra-attractive,
sheltered and very active local-fishing village in the Kvaløy bay. We
were seriously tempted to anchor there – but didn’t. Instead, we continued bashing our way against the waves and wind
before turning and motoring north-west through the shallow, twisting rocky
south-east entrance to Grimstad. We
berthed in the guest harbour with the intention of leaving after a couple of
hours of sightseeing.
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| Grimstad guest pontoon |
However, since the harbour master
and his team could not have been more helpful, the mooring fee was at an “out
of season” rate, there were three washing machines and tumble dryers and our
neighbours – Geoff and Ann Ashton from Inverness – were the first British
cruisers we have met since Ipswich, we decided to stay the night. We invited Geoff and Ann to supper, together
with Heinrich and Ingela Voigt – a German couple near whom we had “parked” in a
couple of previous places. They, like
us, are aiming to reach Bergen, before returning home. We had a most enjoyable evening, which
turned into a late night! It was
therefore a relief to find next morning that we were not the only ones who had
delayed their departure and had a lie-in.
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| Grimstad's war memorial |
After lunch (and a laundry
marathon) we left for the Blindleia. Everyone you meet tells you that “you must
go to the Blindleia”! One is, however, warned not to go through this
archipelago at night and to use the Båtsport
special set of charts – advice we followed.
We had kindly been lent these charts by Jim and Birthe Ammitzboll whom
we’d met in Århus. We entered the Blindleia through a narrow
passage and under a 19m-high bridge.
The height of our mast above the water is 17 metres. No problem, you
might think – unless of course it is your own boat, in which case you start
thinking about the effect of air pressure on water levels and things like
that! Fortunately we did not have to
take into account, as one would in the UK, significant changes in tidal heights
– since there are none.
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| Entrance to Blindleia under 19m-high bridge |
The narrow, twisting course
options through the Blindleia initially looked daunting but safe channels are
well marked. Even so, our chart plotter, with its capacity to zoom in for a
close look at potential hazards, yet again proved to be a very useful
navigational tool.
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| Blindleia chart showing our anchorage in Lusekilen |
We anchored for the night in the
middle of a small pool off the Lusekilen bay – which had been recommended to us
by Geoff and Ann. It was a very
picturesque location – surrounded on three sides by vertical granite cliffs
with not a house or person in sight.
We liked it so much that we stayed there the following day. In theory we had Sunday off but there is
always something that needs doing on a boat…
Even so, it was a pleasant break in a magnificent setting.
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| Lusekilen anchorage |
Next morning we continued south-west through the rest of
the Blindleia. It is very picturesque with heavily wooded islands, cul de sacs
and smart holiday houses (with their own jetties and motorboats) scattered
about. The area fully deserves its reputation as Norway’s little gem. Once through we kept inside the skjægård on
our way to Kristiansand – the largest town on the south coast. It was founded in the seventeenth century by
the Danish king Christian IV. The
streets were designed in a spacious grid pattern. The old wooden town burnt down in the mid-nineteenth century, but
the all-brick replacement was rebuilt to the original design. Today its spacious
linear layout is enhanced by the pedestrianisation of the old town and
waterfront.
We stopped there because Mike wanted to see the
remains of the German “Vara” coastal artillery battery at Møvig, a
six-mile bus ride out of Kristiansand.
The one remaining gun of the original four, with its emplacements and
associated bunkers, is now a museum.
Everything is kept in pristine condition. Each gun could fire a 500kg shell 55 kilometres. An identical coastal artillery battery was
set up at Hanstholm in Denmark. Between
them they covered the seaway between Denmark and Norway. The German objective
was to deny the Allies access, through the narrowest part of the Skaggerak,
into the Baltic, which they succeeded in doing. The 38cm guns were the same as those fitted to the German
battleships Bismark and Tirpitz.
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| German 38cm gun (same as on battleship Tirpitz) |
After lunch on the boat we continued through the skjægård
towards Mandal and anchored nearby for the night in a bay at Hækholm – after
“kissing” a submerged rock on our approach through the rock-strewn entrance.
Next morning we motored the three miles into the town. Mandal’s claims to fame are that it is the
most southerly town in Norway, has the longest sandy town beach (800 metres) and
the best salmon and trout river in the country. It is similar to other southern
towns with its white wooden buildings, wide streets and smart shops. Today it
is a major tourist resort. Great at
this time of the year, but from the postcards we saw it becomes severely
overcrowded in the season.
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| White clapboard houses - High Street, Mandal |
After the mandatory visit to another outstanding
fishmongers’, we left and went outside the skjægård directly towards Lindesnes,
the most southerly headland in Norway.
Its lighthouse, built in 1665, is also the oldest. We initially approached it to check out the
conditions. Since they were significantly more moderate than forecast, and
because the weather in this area can deteriorate rapidly, we decided to slip
round the headland while we had an opportunity to do so. In bad weather it is said to be pretty
horrific and boats have been known to wait long periods for conditions to
improve.
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| Lindesnes lighthouse - at the most southerly tip of Norway |
Once round the headland, we sailed up its fjord into
Farsund. Formerly a privateers’ port it
holds a pirate festival each July. Unfortunately it is June! From our viewpoint, the town was
particularly well sheltered, attractive and FREE – for the first two
nights. In the morning a lady dressed
in national costume visits with free rolls and a newspaper. Regrettably, we had
to leave early and missed her and the rolls!
The weather was holding and we couldn’t afford to miss the weather
window to get round the next headland at Lista, which has an equally bad
reputation as Lindesnes.
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| Farsund harbour - photograph taken at 11 p.m.! |
Immediately after Lista, the coast runs north-west and
there is no skjægård, although there are several small attractive fjords up to
Egersund. These can be explored or used
as harbours of refuge. The south-west coast, up to the longer fjords north of
Stavanger, is flattish agricultural land behind sandy beaches with gently
shelving shallows into the sea. The mountains behind form a dramatic backdrop.
As the weather was still favourable we decided to day-sail
directly the 50 miles from Lista to Egersund. This is a fairly large industrial
town, which among other industries processes large quantities of fish. A faint fishy aroma lingers everywhere. In bad weather its large harbour becomes the
principal port of refuge along this coast.
We stopped there since it was reputed to have the cheapest-priced diesel
in Norway. A statue of a nude nymph “guards” the fuel dock and the entrance
into the town harbour.
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| Nymph "guarding" Egersund fuel dock |
After refuelling (at 95p a litre) we motored four miles to
Rausvågen
anchorage on the island of Nordre Eigerøya, a peaceful land-locked pool
protected by high granite cliffs.
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| At anchor in Rausvågen "pool" (before the gale!) |
Next morning we rowed ashore and went for a long walk in
the southern portion of the island before servicing the engine during the afternoon. An idyllic location in which to do so (if
you have to!).
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| Servicing engine while at anchor, Rausvågen |
At this stage the weather was hot and sunny. In the evening we had the last of the Mandal
prawns and hot-smoked salmon for supper in the cockpit, before ensuring that
the anchor was well dug in, as high winds were forecast. Sure enough, the front came through at 2
a.m. and Mike sat up for a couple of hours on anchor-watch until he was happy
that the anchor was still holding – given that the wind direction had changed
and was now blowing straight into the anchorage.
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| Rausvågen "pool" - note narrow entrance |
The gale continued throughout the next 36 hours. At one stage during the second day,
fortunately while we were both awake, the anchor dragged and we found ourselves
without any notice on the shore which had previously been some 20 metres behind
us. Luckily we heard and felt the keel
touch the bottom, reacted immediately, and were able to drive off the steep
sandy beach. When we got the anchor up
prior to re-setting it, it was festooned with thick layers of kelp. We were instantly reminded of our
Scandinavian friends’ view that rock-face mooring was safer than anchoring!
Norway’s longest stretch of open coast runs from Egersund
to Tananger, where Ian and Ginny were joining us after flying to nearby
Stavanager airport. We therefore
decided to let the gale pass before leaving.
Not a problem, since we needed to sort out the boat to accommodate four
people and we could do that equally well in advance there as we could in
Tananger.
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| Major sort-out and inventory check of stores |
The weather did not improve significantly. We
nevertheless decided, since the wind would be behind us, to leave Rausvågen
and sail overnight to Tananger. It
turned out to be the correct decision in that we had an outstandingly good run
all the way in a Force 7 with 3-metre waves. It did rain a little, but…
We arrived at 5 a.m., put our heads down for three hours,
and have now been joined by Ian and Ginny for the final two weeks of our cruise
in Norway up to Bergen.
NORWEGIAN CHARTS AND PILOT BOOKS
We should mention that, while it has taken us some time to
get used to the 1:80,000 Norwegian charts, they are very accurate, although, as
already mentioned, a plotter, with its capacity to zoom in on detail, is at the
very least highly desirable. The
Norwegian pilot books (although in Norwegian!) complement the charts in
that they have chartlets and photographs which cover many of the complicated
areas. Unlike the RCC Baltic pilot
book, which we have already commented on as being rather superficial, we have
found the RCC Norway guide by Judy Lomax much more helpful. In addition there
is the very good Norwegian Cruising Guide by Phyllis Nickell and John Harries. After seeing a paper copy, we downloaded it
as an e-book (see: http://www.norwegiancruisingguide.com). Since you cannot
purchase it from Amazon (in the UK), we downloaded it onto the laptop and then
moved it into our Kindle via the USB lead.
It cost £16 as compared to the 2-volume paper version at £99. While the charts and pilot books have been
expensive, they have been necessary, helpful and a lot cheaper than a hole in
the hull…
In terms of weather, we have found, with our excellent
wifi mini-router, that www.weatheronline.co.uk
provides us with everything we require, with www.yr.no
as back-up. Our previous comment, early
in the trip, that Navtex was adequate for our purposes, was correct at the time,
but it does not compare with the aforementioned websites. During the initial stages of our cruise, up
to Gothenburg, we had had considerable problems with wifi in marinas and lack
of internet cafes and to a certain extent our earlier comments reflected the
fact that we did not have good internet access. What we should have done was to purchase a wifi router or dongle
to cover Denmark and Sweden earlier on.
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