Debi and Jack sailing on SV Iroquois

June 24 we had a day of rest and recuperation in Nordskott. We walked up to the top of the nearest 'peak' and enjoyed the view. We registered for the Vestfjordseilassen, "a race" from Nordskott to Kabelvagen in the tradition of generations of fishermen and even the Vikings and in the evening there was a seafood table, a generous buffet of Norwegian specialies which included the best lutefisk I've ever had, it was actually good, and not just the best of inedible. In fact we had no idea it could be so delicious, but it was. There was also cod tongue, another Norwegian specialty, and of course whale meat both grilled and rolled in lefse. There was so much other seafood I can't begin to list it all. We all enjoyed it immensely and overate. Then we walked around the bay and collected wildflowers. The Swedes in our group explained to Jack that at midsummer a woman is supposed to pick a bouquet of 7 different flowers and sleep with it under her pillow, the man she dreams of will be her life's love. We collected 24 different types of flowers but left them on the table at the sailing club. Before the skippers meeting we watched the viking ship arrive. It's sort of like civl war re-enacters--they dress in costume and try to play the part, including singing on arrival and departure. There are a few details that jolt you like the chart plotter and solar panels and the liter bottles of Pepsi, but you can imagine the terror that might be produced by their approach. There were also quite a few traditional fishing boats that particpated in the 'race' to Kablevagen. The tradidional fishing boats are really just smaller versions of the viking boat, but some have small cabins at the stern and most have very small engines, they were traditionally sail boats that could also be rowed. One was 45 feet and would have had a crew of seven. The viking ship was almost twice as long. The sails of the viking ships, not this one, were made of wool because the lanolin protected them from the seawater.

June 25 started at 6:30 a.m. with three alarms to assure adequate prep time for the annual Vestfjordseilassen. The event organized by the Bodo Sailing Club attracted sailors and boats from all over Norway and the world;thanks to the Arctic Rally that we are sailing with which represents Sweden, Norway, Scotland, England, and the USA. The skipper's meeting the night before announced that there were very few rules: no motors, no rowing (except for the Viking ships), and no autopilot. The trick was that on race day there was also almost NO wind. Makes for very interesting sailing. We enjoyed watching the other boats, mostly ahead of us, try to reach the other side of the inlet and cover the horizon below the very jagged peaks of the Lofoten Island Peninsula. After a rough start, we sailed pretty well until a half mile from the finish when the wind speed actually dropped to zero and held zero for over half an hour. The awards ceremony in the village square later that day recognized every boat in our group, and we were happy to have finished the race before the cutoff time and walk away with our completion plaque.

June 26 we left Kablevagen midday and went fishing with Detour, the other American sailboat in the arctic rally. As soon as we stopped and dropped lines people started catching fish. I caught a large pollock and Jack and Carrie got a cod. Brian, of Detour, got a huge cod. They got some other cod and pollock too. We also caught lots of little guys that we let go. Eventually we drifted and sailed close to Henningsvaer, where we went in for the night. We plan to cook our pollock in salted seawater and panfry the cod.