On Sunday morning we slept late and after lunch made our way to Uskjo, 1.6 miles away. This was my time to visit some of the pretty islands before going home. The area has many recreational sites, set up with pontoons, toilets and barbecues. We had occasional sunshine and a mainly dry afternoon, so traversed the small island, through the woods before clambering back round the outside over the rocks.
On Monday we rose early, to ensure we could get off the pontoon before the wind strengthened, it having changed direction 180° overnight. We fished just outside the bay and caught 4 mackerel. We motored the 1.5 miles to Little Teistholmen, a beautiful place, which I had picked out from the pilot book before leaving the UK. This was where Pete had been boarded by customs and met the Hommersak Divers originally. The two resident sheep came running across the island to greet us. Then came the heavy rain, which was forecast to set in for the day. Half way through cooking lunch the gas ran out. Unfortunately the new regulator we had bought for the Norwegian gas bottle was leaking. Fortunately we had a portable gas cooker, so were able to pan fry the mackerel. There was a cheeky gull with her two young, who followed us around waiting for food, so she had the fish heads and then anything else we could spare.
The next day we left fairly early for Stavanger so we could sort out the gas and do some washing. It was a beautiful, warm and sunny day. We saw a small pod of porpoises on the way. The marina by the oil museum was almost empty, presumably because most Norwegians had returned to work after their summer break. I met a Swedish lady in the laundry room and she asked if I was travelling with children. I was puzzled until she said my clothes were so tiny. She was about 6 feet 4 and built in proportion. She went on to describe their trip from Shetland, very rough, which had damaged the sails and rigging on their motor sailer. Then they lost the engine due to diesel bug and had to limp into Stavanger. They had someone cleaning out the tanks but asked if we could look at tensioning the rigging, as they were inexperienced. Pete had a look and was able to advise that one of the chain plates had lifted. The man cleaning the tanks was heading to Maritim, the chandlery out of town, to buy parts, so took Pete with him to get the gas sorted. We then went shopping for Norwegian brown cheese and bumped into Hege, our friend and her daughter, Mina. It was a lovely surprise to see her again.
Rather than pay to stay in Stavanger overnight and to spend a final night away, we headed for Utstein Kloster, waving in the direction of Tor and Randi's house, as we passed Vikedal on Rennesoy. We enjoyed the sunshine well into the evening and had a lovely three course dinner with wine. The forecast for Wednesday was torrential rain again.
We left fairly early in a bid to make Tananger before the worst of the rain. It was actually quite warm and bright and we were able to sail and goose wing for a couple of hours. We dodged the rain well, watching it pour over Stavanger to the south. We were refuelled and berthed before the rain came. I have now packed my bag for tomorrow's flight and my return to reality. It has been a wonderful experience, in a beautiful and varied landscape, enriched by the friends we have made. Hopefully we will see you all again soon.
We have been surprised to see only two British boats on our travels. Norway is so close and such a paradise and we would encourage everyone to give it a go.