Heavy weather sailing towards Norway
25 June 2011 | Skagerrak
William
So far, the whole expedition had put us all in a rather vacation-like mood (which was all some of the crew really expected, understandably). Coming out of Fjällbacka we were quickly pulled out of this mood, however. The wind was an ok fresh breeze from South, more or less, just what the boat seemed to like best. The swells, however, from West, were quite large. My wife had the first watch at the wheel, and she later confessed that she never thought the boat would make it over the first waves. We climbed and climbed, and then over the top for the bottom of the next, for a new climbe again. But the little ship took it all in its stride, with an ensuring ease of approach and stability. This is the conditions the Hallberg-Rassys are made for, and there were only confidence to be felt aboard.
During the night it was so bad, that I had to sleep on the floor in order not to be thrown around. There are two sea-beds, but they were occupied by the crew. All one endures to keep the crew happy...
There was some seasickness, but it all calmed down to a beautiful morning which those of us at watch just admired in stillness.
We approached the Norwegian territorial border zone. So the customs were called up, and we were allowed to proceed all the way to Bergen before settling the VAT.
At around 1000 we reached Lillesand, after an exciting and just enough challenging sail.
After a short break in Lillesand, where one crew left, we continued westwards through a well known coastal area called Blindleia. This is a route inside the archipelago of the south coast, winding itself through beautiful islands and coastlines. There are thousands of places to anchor, and smaller vessels flock to this area all summer.
After Blindleia, there was a brisk motorsail with a head-on wind around 12-14 ms. Mystery trudged along without any problems at all, and after some frisky hours we arrived at Høllen. This is a small place, mostly for boaters in summertime. Very picturesque, and surrounded by spots for bathing and touring.
The photo above is of the crew, save one. I am the rightmost, holding on to my wife.