The alarm sounded at 0500 and the day was dawning with a blue sky and no wind. The forecast was for warm, dry, sunny weather, starting with a light NE wind which would veer SE and slowly strengthen as we headed north. We departed Baly at 0530, as the sun broke the horizon and the wind was 2 knots ENE. We motored south towards Lindesnes. We could see a couple of yachts heading from Mandal. As expected, it was going to be a popular day to round the notorious headlands at Lindesnes and Lista, given the strong W winds we'd had for the last few days. The sea was pretty calm and we were able to get close in for photos of Lindesnes light. As we headed towards Lista there was a long line of yachts behind us, all going north - Bliss, Desire, Lazy Days were those we could identify on AIS. All were bigger than us and slowly caught up and passed us although we never lost sight of them. All were motorsailing with both sails up. This seems to be a common practice here. Norwegians also favour med style yachts, usually in excess of 40 feet but this is understandable given their cruising grounds. We had our mainsail up for a time but dropped it once it started flapping. The wind was not filling in per the forecast. On our way south, we had seen a yacht on its side on the beach near Lista, perhaps a recent casualty of the rough seas in that area but it had gone as we passed on our return. As we passed Lista point, Pete decided, having rejected the luxury shower available in Baly, to have a solar shower in the cockpit. I had to add some hot water from the tank but it was still a bit on the cool side. Luckily the weather was scorching and he soon warmed up a bit. I joked that there was a yacht coming the other way but actually it was the one that had most recently passed us. As it was only 0930 and a beautiful day and the next day's forecast was for 40 knot E at Egersund, we decided to keep going to Tananger rather than overnight at Rekefjord or Egersund. We estimated we would make Tananger around 2000 hours. Pete has always told me that on long trips you do as you would at home, so before lunch I gave myself a manicure, including clear polish and after lunch I soaked my feet and had a pedicure. The sun got hotter and hotter and we had to move around the yacht looking for shade. It was probably the hottest day so far and we were north and west of Lindesnes (for you, Hans!). At 1635 we put the genoa out and managed to sail for 25 minutes before putting the engine on again to help us along for the next hour. At 1800 we reached Jaerens Rev buoy and the wind arrived. For 52 minute we had great sailing with the promised SE, getting up to 22 knots. We powered along at up to 7.2 knots on the foresail alone. Eventually though we dropped the sails and put the engine on for the last couple of miles to Tananger, mooring up at 2010. Out of 14 hours and 45 minutes we only managed 97 minutes under sail power alone. Tananger was a busy port that night and the following night, as more yachts arrived who had broken their journey in Egersund. They had had an uncomfortable trip north starting with 35 knot winds. XC weather has been great here. We had that forecast, the Norwegians (www.yr.no) did not.
Having moored up, we had pasta and a beer and went to bed, sleeping soundly, with no alarm set for the next day, having decided to stay put the next day. We shopped next morning and caught up with the blog. It was warm and sunny again, so we had a very short and cold swim and relaxed.