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| Progress to date |
We had reached Tananger at 4 a.m.,
after an overnight downwind sail outside the skjægård in a
Force 7 from Egersund. On arrival we simply berthed on the inside of the
harbour wall and went straight to bed. Later in the day, after the wind had
dropped, we moved onto the small guest brygge [quay] in the north-west corner
of the harbour.
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| Wet weather gear drying at Tananger after bumpy ride from Egersund |
Meanwhile, Ian and Ginny Ross
arrived, having flown into Stavanger airport from where they caught a bus to
the harbour. Within an hour, Ian landed
his first fish – a 3lb pollock. It is
an excellent fish to eat, similar to cod in taste and texture.
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| Ian and Ginny - travelling light! |
We
chose to stay in Tananger rather than Stavanger since it was a more rural
location, was closer to the airport and, at £11 a night (all in), was a third of
the price of the notoriously more expensive oil-town marina in Stavanger.
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| Statue of lighthouse-keeper's daughters on quay at Tananger
see www.lighthousesofnorway.com & scroll down to "The Girls of Flatholmen Lighthouse" for full story
|
Tananger’s harbour complex is a
large, very well-protected landlocked area created by linking the mainland to
two small offshore islands. It has a number of major oil terminals and
commercial harbours in the artificially constructed outer harbour. These do
not, however, impinge on the old, natural inner harbour where yachts can berth
and the inshore fishing fleet is based.
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| Fishing boats at Tananger |
From Tananager we took a day’s
trip to visit the dramatic Preikestolen (Pulpit Rock) on the Lysefjord. To get
there we went by a combination of buses and ferry before completing a 5-hour
round hike up to the rock. The
604-metre-high rock with its dramatic vertical drop straight down to the fjord
is a photo opportunity. Unfortunately,
we got only glimpses of the fjord since we were mostly in cloud. That did not
stop us, however, from getting Helen to pose on the edge.
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| Helen on edge of Pulpit Rock (604 metres vertical drop below...) |
On our second day we took the bus
into Stavanger. The city sits in the south-west corner of a large bay protected
by islands and fjords. It is a busy commercial port and has been a major
trading centre since 1125.
Its impressive stone-built cathedral, which dominates the
main harbour, is part Anglo-Norman, part Gothic and is dedicated to St Swithun,
the ninth-century Bishop of Winchester.
In the absence of local skills (since everything locally was built of
wood), English stonemasons were brought in to work on the building in the
twelfth century under the supervision of the then Bishop of Winchester.
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| Stavanger cathedral |
Once a major herring port,
fish-canning centre (with over 70 canneries) and then a ship-building centre,
it now not only constructs rigs for Norway’s offshore oil fields but also has
several oil refineries. It has an
especially spacious and colourful inner harbour which easily accommodates both
huge cruise liners and the large number of ferries which serve the city and the
islands.
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| Stavanger harbour |
Another link with Britain is the
“Broken Column”, 23 sculptures by Antony Gormley, best known for The Angel of
the North. Each sculpture is an
identical blank-faced human figure made of burnished cast iron, strategically
positioned around the city. The
supposed aim is to illustrate the many facets of the city and, for that matter,
life and death! Frankly, we thought they were a bit of a con-trick – rather
like a number of exhibitions in the Tate Gallery (remember the bricks?). However, everyone to their own.
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| Mike with one of Antony Gormley's 23 statues in Stavanger |
We were far more impressed by the
delightful old quarter (Gamle Stavanger) which overlooks the harbour. The
narrow cobblestoned walkways pass between rows of eighteenth-century white
wooden clapboard houses, all immaculately kept and adorned with hanging baskets
and trellises.
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| Gamle [Old] Stavanger |
North of Stavanger is the start of
Norway’s “Fjord Country”, with long dramatic fjords lying in deep gorges cut
between the mountains by the retreating ice age. Along the coast there is an outer fringe of sheltered islands,
some very large, many little more than skerries. This island fringe is cut at
intervals by wide sea lanes, which on a chart look like horizontal slashes from
the heads of the major fjords through the islands to the open sea.
The complex of fjords between
Tananger and Haugesund, the next leg of our cruise, is known as the Bay of
Islands – for obvious reasons. In many ways it is similar to sailing in parts
of the west coast of Scotland, with its mountain backdrops, or in the Greek
Islands.
Valerie, our live-aboard neighbour
on the guest brygge at Tananager, an ex-North Sea diver and now part-time
assistant harbour mistress, gave us what proved to be good advice on places to
visit on our route north to Bergen.
Initially we went 35 miles
north-east to Sandangervågen, a
very pleasant, almost enclosed anchorage on the east coast of the island of
Rondøy. Good holding in 13
metres, surrounded by wooded hills that acted as an effective windbreak. We
arrived late afternoon and after anchoring had a pleasant evening in the sun in
the cockpit.
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Exit from Sandangervågen anchorage, next morning |
Next morning we headed west
towards Skudeneshavn, at the south end of the island of Karmøy. On the way
Ian caught two large pollock while trawling feathers behind the boat. We had them pan-fried that evening, together
with one fillet which we turned into ceviche and ate as a starter.
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| Two of the 17 fish caught by Ian |
We stopped in Skudeneshavn since
it was holding a 4-day music and classic ships festival.
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| Classic boats at Skudeneshavn's Boat and Music Festival |
Fortunately, we arrived just
before the rush and found a good berth on tyres against a wall. Our Norwegian neighbours, Kjell and Venke
Fagerland, who rafted against us, told us, to our surprise, that we had chosen, unwittingly, the only “free” (in
terms of cost) location in the harbour, against the quay of a company for which
he had worked. Later on, he even arranged for us to have free electricity! The mass
of large motorboats and yachts that arrived later all ended up rafting at least
four deep on the opposite side of the channel.
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| Late arrivals rafted out in Skudeneshavn |
Our next port of call was
Haugesund – 30 miles north. To get there we had to beat south out of Skudeneshavn
against a serious Force 7 before turning north and running downwind up the
Karmsund, the sound between the mainland and the east coast of Karmøy.
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| Haugesund waterfront viewed from bridge |
Haugesund is a large industrial
and commercial centre – and another major player in the North Sea oil industry.
Interestingly, it acts as host to the Norwegian Film Festival in August each
year. Its principal claim to fame, however, is that it is the hometown of a
local baker Edward Mortenson, who emigrated to the U.S.A. His daughter Norma Jean was otherwise better
known as Marilyn Monroe. Haugesund also
provided the copper to build the Statue of Liberty (most people don’t know
that!).
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| Marilyn Monroe |
That evening we were joined by
Rozanne Marsh, a graduate in Ocean Science, who was happily working, for a
pittance, on SY Mathilde, a Norwegian sail training boat.
Next day, on her recommendation, we went to and sailed past the replica
Viking ship that is nearly complete and is being built to sail around the
world. It is 36 metres long and will have a crew of 50. We will follow their progress with
interest.
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| Round the World Viking ship, Haugesund |
From Haugesund we sailed due north
out into the open sea with a Force 6 behind us for the 12 miles up the coast, before we
were able to turn northeast on to a broad reach into the Bømløfjord. This
fjord leads into the main Hardangerfjord which continues for some 100 miles
inland to Ulvik. The shores of the
fjord are initially hilly but not steep.
As we progressed the sides became much steeper.
We pulled in for the night on to a
floating pontoon in the unspoilt hamlet of Huglavik – which had been
recommended to us by Kjell and Venke in Skudeneshavn. A delightful and well-protected location surrounded by steep
wooded hills with mountains in the background. We were the only cruising boat
there.
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| All alone on Huglavik's floating pontoon |
Since the wind, while slight, was
in the right direction (for us) we continued sailing up the Hardangerfjord to
Sunndal at the end of the Maurangerfjord, an offshoot of the main fjord. On the way we celebrated Mike’s birthday
with a very well-fortified cup of “ship’s” coffee and a slice of honey cake.
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| Mike's birthday |
We sailed all the way up the fjord, on either a beam reach or a run, with a light-weight genoa, full main and mizzen. In flat water with only 10 knots of fickle wind, we averaged 5 knots – which was quite good for us.
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| Sailing with light-weight genoa up Hardangerfjord |
By this stage the walls of the
fjord were very much steeper and there were many waterfalls coming down from
the snow-capped mountains and glacial fields above. That afternoon we reached Sunndal, a small hamlet huddled at the
foot of mountains with an offshoot of the Folgefonna glacier in a valley
behind, and a glacial stream running through the hamlet and into the fjord. The water was very cold.
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| View from the fjord of Sunndal harbour with glacier in valley behind |
The following day we caught a bus
through the 11km-long tunnel under the glacier to Odda, on the other side of
the mountain. It is an industrial iron-smelting town and as such not
particularly attractive. That said, it
has a wonderful location at the end of the Sorfjord and is surrounded by
snow-covered mountain peaks. It is also
a gateway to the Folgefonna National Park, home to the Folgefonna glacier which
we wanted to visit.
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| At the foot of the Buer glacier |
We had been advised that it was an
8-mile hike up to the glacier from the centre of Odda. However, our luck held again! The bus driver
kindly took us an extra 3kms off his route to the edge of town. Soon after we started walking, an elderly
farmer and his wife, on their way to tend their mountain sheep, stopped to
offer us a lift. They took us to the
start of the trail up to the glacier!
The latter stages of this were more of a scramble with ropes left
permanently in place to assist one climbing up and subsequently abseiling down
the more difficult granite rock faces.
Unfortunately, no one offered us a lift on the way back!
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| Abseiling down from the Buer glacier |
That evening, Ian caught his first
mackerel while spinning. They were
large fish that gave quite a fight on light tackle – although our object was not
sport but the pot. In total, Ian
caught 17 fish during his holiday with us.
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| Ian catching another fish - while spinning |
Fortunately, while still slight,
the wind had changed direction again and we were able next morning to sail
south-west down the Hardangerfjord for some 20 miles or so. It was the first time this year that we have
used the spinnaker.
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| Under spinnaker back down Hardangerfjord |
We then turned north and motored
six miles through the narrow Lokksund between Tynesøy and the mainland before pulling into Gripneshavn on the island
of Tysnes for the night – another landlocked, very-well protected anchorage.
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| Gripneshavn anchorage |
By now we were in the Bjørnafjord which leads up to the Korsfjord into Bergen,
some 60 miles away. There was no wind
so we had to motor all the way in bright sunshine to the island of Lysøen. There we found a rock-face mooring in Lysøvågen, a
well-sheltered creek surrounded by lush woodland. After a while we realised that we had finally reached a tidal
area as we watched the depth sink to 0.5m below the keel, before starting to
rise again.
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| Rock-face mooring, Lysøvågen |
We visited Lysøen in order to see the exotic nineteenth-century
villa and grounds of the celebrated Norwegian violinist and patriot (and, it
would seem, heart throb!) Ole Bull. To
do so we had a very pleasant walk across the island through the landscaped
woods on paths made of crushed shells – Ole Bull’s project after he bought the
island. In the house, two of his
violins were on display. He had had them made especially to enable him to use
four fingers on the strings, a particular technique that he used.
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| Ole Bull's Villa |
We left Lysøvågen after our “shore party” (Helen and
Ian) had taken the dinghy ashore, untied the lines and returned to the “mother
ship” out in the creek.
We had seen on the internet that England was having some
really awful weather. In Norway there
was a heatwave. All to do, we understood, with the position of the jet
stream. We have been particularly lucky
in this respect, since the Bergen area has the reputation of being the wettest
place in Norway, with an average of 260 rainy days a year!
It was very hot as we motored north in zero wind inside
the long large island of Sotra. Shorts
and T-shirt weather! On the way we
passed a huge opening in the cliffs – a former German U-boat pen. At the north end of the island of Sotra we
entered the Byfjord and went into Strusshamn at the southern tip of Askøy. What was described in the Norwegian
Cruising Guide as a “peaceful” anchorage has now filled up with floating
pontoons and local motorboats. We
managed to find a section of granite cliff still studded with old pitons to
which we tied up. We could only have
got ashore by dinghy – but didn’t need to.
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| Moored to granite cliff, Strusshamn, Askøy |
Next day, we slipped our lines and motored the remaining
four miles to the Vågen (Bergen’s old harbour). There, after Ian had jumped ashore and moved
a small motorboat a few feet we managed to squeeze into a space on the wall
right at the head of the harbour, close to the open-air fish market on the
quay.
The waterfront adjacent to us was lined with picturesque
wharfs with narrow streets of old houses behind them – the Bryggen, which is a
UNESCO World Heritage site.
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| Waterfront - Old Bergen. Note the Maria Kirke in centre background, the restoration of which is being managed by our friend Sverre (see below). |
Ian and Ginny left very early on Sunday morning to catch
a bus to the airport. Later that day our Norwegian friends Sverre and Gunhild
Faugstad came to collect us for a day’s outing. Sverre manages refurbishment projects on historic buildings. To begin with we were given a private tour
of the Maria Kirke. This twin-towered stone church in the old quarter is
Bergen’s oldest building. It has been
closed to the public for the last two years and is not expected to re-open until
2015. We were very privileged to be given
an insight into the project and were fascinated to see what is being done by
his team.
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| Sverre in front of Bergen's oldest church, which he is refurbishing |
By way of contrast, they then took us to see the church
at Fana which has already been refurbished under Sverre’s management. Since it had been in poor condition (like
the church he is currently refurbishing), it was amazing to see what could be
achieved.
Next on the tour was the wooden stave
church at Fantoft. Only 24 such churches still exist in Norway. They represent
the country’s most distinctive architectural legacy.
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| Wooden stave church, near Bergen |
We spent a very pleasant evening at their house where
Gunhild prepared (while Helen took notes!) a traditional Norwegian meal of
klippfisk (salted cod). It was delicious and we now have the recipe to try for ourselves.
On Monday we treated ourselves to an excursion inland.
Although fjord scenery is spectacular it does not make for good sailing. There
are few anchorages, often no wind or alternatively too much wind. Sailing, as we have done, in the inner leads
to the fjords and in the outer bays behind the skjægård is much better. Fjords are best viewed by train, ferry or
car.
We therefore booked the “Norway in a Nutshell”
excursion. The first part involved a
train ride, via Voss, to Myrdal on the Bergen to Oslo line – 140 miles from sea
level to 1222 metres. In Myrdal we
changed to the Flåmbana [Flåm railway]. The 20km ride between Myrdal (at 899m) down to Flåm
at sea level was the highlight of the excursion. We were relieved to read that
the train had five independent sets of brakes, as the descent is steep! The train stops for five minutes to allow
photos to be taken of the mighty Kjosfossen.
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| Kjos Waterfall from Flåm railway |
The ferry trip from Flåm to Gudvangen via the Aurlandsfjord
and Nærøyfjord
(offshoots of the Sognefjord) showcased the best of fjord scenery – snow-capped
mountains, steep granite walls, roaring waterfalls and deep blue water.
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| Fjord scenery as seen from ferry |
The last part of the trip included a coach ride along the
old pack road to Stahlheim, involving eighteen 180° hairpin bends.
Fortunately, the driver had been doing the same route twice a day for 34
years and as we looked over the edge of each bend we found this fact
consoling. At Voss we caught a regular
regional train back to Bergen.
We are now preparing to depart Norway for the Shetlands –
weather permitting.
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