It has been a relatively mild winter, and not much snow here in Bergen this year. But you never know in advance, so the boat was duly prepared last October for winter. A cover designed for this HR model was bought and put on (photo illustrates the result before tweaking), motor winterized, all interior lockers opened, loo prepared with coolant, and sea-cocks locked.
There has been no humidity inside, but a couple of winter storms occasioned a small dent in the hull. No drama, but it has to be repaired before the season starts. Next year she will be put on land.
Otherwise things have gone pretty smooth, with just a couple of battery charging periods.
The sails have been with the sail loft for cleaning and storing during the winter. Apart from this I do not see much shopping for items. I did buy a Gyb'Easy boom brake, which I hope will ease downwind sailing nerves. Report will follow.
We are now preparing for taking down the cover, and prepare for setting the boat on shore for cleaning underwater hull, polishing and doing the maintenance belonging to the season.
Plans for summer are relatively modest because of some practical issues. We intend to spend the summer cruising the West Coast between Bergen and Stavanger, which is of course outside our own doors. At the same time this area is full of attractive places and usually not completely crowded.
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07/30/2011, Bekkjarvik
Bekkjarvik
The weather has been pretty awful this month, and a lot of work piled up while we were cruising the coast. Therefore, this is our first weekend out. We decided to go to Bekkjarvik (see earlier post) via Kleppavika. Bekkjarvika is a popular port, being the second larges village in Austevoll (between Haugesund and Bergen). Kleppavika (http://www.geonames.org/3250993/kleppavika.html) is a privately kept small harbor being very well protected from the sea and winds, lying between Bergen and Bekkjarvik.
The forecast for the weekend was very good: warm, sunny, some fresh winds Saturday calming Sunday: As perfect as it comes in this area. It is quite possible to sail all the way to Bekkjarvik from Bergen in one go, but we started late in the afternoon from work and there is about three hours to Kleppavika - just time enough for a late dinner. We had not been here for many years, and were worried about there being space when we arrived. There are not many alternatives if one wants water and electricity, which we have been spoiled for the last weeks. It turned out there were room just for us when we arrived. Lucky this time! Lots of friendly people, even some old friends to chat with.
The place has been quite developed since the last time, with wifi and electricity in addition to water. They even have their own web-page with a camera, so one may look for available space on the way in. There sure was no such thing in 1992, when we sold our last boat!
We had a frisky sail to Bekkjarvik the day after, winding inside the archipelago between small islands and then some open sea. This is a most beautiful area for cruising, but still not too crowded since boating tourists tend to concentrate on the south coast of Norway where the climate is better. The way into Bekkjarvik is quite narrow (http://www.geonames.org/maps/showOnMap?q=bekkjarvik), at least for commercial vessels. Therefore, it is best to tie up deep inside the harbor. For us, the only space left was right at the narrowest, and had to live with the too exciting passing of large ferries several times during the day. Otherwise it is a bustling and beautiful port, with all kinds of services at hand.
We had several boats lying at our side: one large and old wooden Colin Archer-designed boat sailed by a young couple. We were also visited by the complete opposite: a small dingylike sailboat with a cockpit just large enough to stretch out in. The young couple sailing it seemed to have a great time, though. The hot weather helped, I am sure (as the lack of years!). Still, it reminded me that it is the living experience that counts, and equipment can easily stand in the way when given priority.
Sunday, we motored home due to lack of wind, feeling very lucky to have this kind of nature right outside our doors.
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07/12/2011, Bergen
Cleaned teak deck and treated it with Boracol. This is a stuff recommended by Hallberg-Rassy. It soaks deep into the tree structure, and inhibits the development of mold, slime and rot. Some of my friends tell me that it also makes the teak keep its brown colour when wet (instead of the almost black colour found on boats older than a couple of years or so), at the same time protecting the silver shade when dry.
It is easy to apply with a brush, but it is amazing how much teak there is on a relatively small boat like this (34 feet), when working this way! The work took about six hours while I had guessed two. It is called optimism.
Soon after applying (the teak is supposed to be clean and dry) the deck looked untreated, in this case as new. After a couple of days (I am writing this in retrospect), I noticed that the colour was much more brownish when wet than earlier. I have also noted, however, that the teak seems to be softer on the surface. When stepped on wet a kind of scratch becomes visible. Some friends of mine have experienced the same thing, and assured me that scratches like this do not run deep. I will follow up on this matter later on.
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06/29/2011, Bergen
After a quick breakfast we turned towards Blindleia, a route through the beautiful archipelago north of Haugesund. The rain was pouring down now, a sure sign of having arrived at Vestlandet (West Coast of Norway).
The only comfort was that the Hallberg-Rassys are built for this kind of weather, and the windscreen with the attached canvas made it almost comfortable on board. I realized, though, that a remote control on the autopilot would have been perfect. That is now on the list for next year!
We found a spot in Bekkjarvik, and had lunch in the old Inn (Gjestgiveri) http://bekkjarvikgjestgiveri.no/?lang=en. This was established sometime during the 1500s, by order from the then king, Kristian IV. Today, they serve the area all year round, and boasts an excellent kitchen.
After enjoying the hospitality it was out into the pouring rain again towards Bergen. Our last crew, and skipper this far, was let ashore at Bømlo - about five hours from Bergen. He had been offered a skippering job to Shetland, and was boarding that yacht the following day.
The rain was slowly replaced with just a grey sky and the two of us just enjoyed a lazy trip home. I was playing with the plotter and AIS, and picked up a signal which we recognized from some program at the Travel Channel: Distant Shores (www.distantshores.ca). It was really this pair on their way to Bergen. Looking forward to their film from Bergen!
We reached Bergen in the evening, tied up the boat and called for a taxi home. This was the conclusion of one year's planning, preparations, and a wonderful sailing expedition through some of the best Scandinavia has to offer cruising sailors.
The Hallberg-Rassy 342 did the journey without any problems at all, and inspired confidence and wellbeing throughout it all. It was always a pleasure going into harbours: lots of admiring looks and comments. These are popular sailing yachts but not often seen, as they are relatively expensive. But then again, there were no problems, and everything worked perfectly the whole time except for the lead in the windshield (actually produced by a Norwegian company for HR...). We had a wonderful trip, not the least thanks to the boat itself, and the yard building it.
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06/28/2011, Bokn
We woke up to a grey morning, had breakfast and went to Sagvåg for servicing the motor (in order to keep the warrant conditions). After this through Haugesund and over Sletta to a small harbour with no service.
Haugesund is a largish city, known for its shipping, fishing, and industrial activities. It is also the home of a reknown film festival, a jazz-festival, and the Norwegian version of Oscar for musicians, among other highly regarded cultural events. The city is in two parts with a channel in between. Motoring through this channel is a feast for the eyes, as can be seen from above.
Sletta is an area north of Haugesund which is infamous for being treacherous in bad weather. Quite a number of ships have gone down here, and the sea can be very rough. We were lucky apart from a thick but manageable fog. We had radar and AIS, but would have made it without problems without.
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06/27/2011, Jæren
First to Egersund for water and fuel. One more crew left for sailing with family (first passage would actually be Oslo - Fjällbacka). We had the forecast from Frivind, which was kind of worrying: at first strong winds from SSW, turning into stormy weather with lots of rain and lightening: the following text from our forecaster, in large letters as received, sums it all up neatly: "YOU HAVE TO BE IN HARBOUR THIS EVENING".
We got the message, but wanted to take advantage of the southerly winds. So off we got. It turned out to be exhillarating. Sunny and around 14 ms. Most of the time we sailed just under a slightly rolled up genoa, and the autopilot (which turned out to be a better helmsman than all of us, even our experienced skipper - thank you very much Furuno!). We relaxed after a while, finding the rythm. My wife relaxed too much, stretching out in the cocpit until a freak wave threw her off. She hit the opposite bunk on her chest and had an extremely painful strain. We were worried it had broke, but after a while she got her breath back and we knew the affair had not turned into total disaster. It would have been extremely difficult, in those conditions, to handle a punctured lung or even a broken rib. One should never forget that sailing in small crafts at the ocean, even outside the coast, will always be a demanding sport.
Eventually, we passed Stavanger, sailed over Boknafjorden, and tied up at Føresvik, Bokn. The night offered a spectacular storm, but we slept through it without any worries. A friend of mine had been flying through this weather, and afterwards told me that the plane had to slalom between several small hurricane centres. We thought we had seen one of those out to west on our trip over Jæren, but laughed it away. Just as good not knowing, at least when there is nothing much to do about it anyway.
By the way, the photo is from Skagerrak. I just liked it.
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