Sandnessjoeen
19 June 2013
Well, here we are. Parked up on the Gjesterbrygge in Sandnessjoeen directly opposite a Swedish couple in their Halberg Rassay 62.
We've crossed paths with them in a few harbours and its about time we said "Hi", So I'm off shortly to A) see if we can find people to talk to and B) seriously, see where we can get a weather forecast.
The Norwegian equivalent of what was Clyde Coastguard giving the Inshore Shipping Forecast is "there's nothing nasty coming your way". I presume they also have an announcement that says, "Whoa, jeez, you wanna see what's coming your way". Fortunately we haven't heard one of these yet.
Given what forecast we had said there wasn't any wind today we had a late start. I lay in bed while Anne got up and did the laundry. (In my defence, I did do an oil change this evening!).
Back in Orkney, Mike, our Port Office from the OCC said to me as we discussed our travel plans and the absence of wind, "I've never heard of anyone motoring to Lofotens". Well, that may be us. We seem to have alternate days of wind and calm. Tomorrows forecast is good however so if we wake to the sound of a decent breeze we plan on getting up at the crack of dawn, and making a start on the 80 miles to Bodo..... the other side of the magic, Arctic Circle.
It's a funny or at least a new and slightly strange mind-set we've got into as regards distance. When we were in Oban and Largs, a days outing would be perhaps 25 miles to Tobermory or Tarbert. Now, 40 or 50 miles is our norm and picking off an 80 miler is no big deal..... as long as there's a decent breeze.
I always remember Anne's dad, when he was running his RYA training school. Some weekends George would clatter off Largs, Bangor, Campbeltown and be back in Largs on Sunday night for dinner. For many, that's a summer cruise. We seem to have got into the same mode, which is just as well as we are now 1,119 miles from our daughters wedding!
Having checked our flights yesterday where the cheapest round trip was nearly £1,000 our plan to leave the boat up here before heading back for our Fiona's wedding got ditched. Plan A is therefore to do the next two or three weeks cruising the Lofotens then, when the Norwegian forecaster finally says, "Whoa, jeez, you wanna see what's coming your way". If its anything north of west then we're outta here and making a dash for Alesund, Lerwick or Kirkwall.
However, that's a few weeks away so meanwhile we will press on and see what it is that makes the Lofotens the "must do" cruising destination.