The village of Sand lies in a beautiful setting where the Saudafjorden and the Hylsfjorden meet to form the Sandsfjorden. From our anchorage at Nevoyvagen, we’d already explored to the head of Saudafjorden, including hiking up 3,054ft (931m) Hovlandsnuten from the town of Sauda at the head, and had made a brief pass by tender into Sand along Suldalslagen River to the Sandsfossen waterfall.

We completed our exploration of the area with a walk through Sand, where we crossed the Suldalslagen River over the award-winning bridge Hosebrua and viewed the waterall Sandsfossen from above. After, we toured to the end of spectacular Hylsfjorden, full of waterfalls and almost completely undeveloped. A notable exception is the 160-megawatt Hylen Hydroelectric Power Station at the head, with its turbulent tailrace.

Below are highlights from July 26th and 27th, 2020. Click any image for a larger view, or click the position to view the location on a map. And a live map of our current route and most recent log entries always is available at mvdirona.com/maps.

7/26/2020

Valve Adjustment Position: 59°25.38’N, 6°10.43’E 50 hours after the cylinder head replacement, our generator manufacturer Northern Lights recommends a valve adjustment. After that first adjustment, subsequent adjustments are scheduled every 1,000 hours. On the first adjustment, we expect to see some change from the new parts wearing in. After 50 hours we would expect to possibly see some slight loosening of the valves caused by the new parts wearing in or none at all. What we really don’t want to see is the valves tightening up, the problem we had that lead to the cylinder head replacement. What we found was cylinder #1 had loosened up one thousands of an inch, cylinder #3 had loosened up one to two thousands of an inch, whereas #2 was exactly as it was 50 hours back. This is all within expectations and suggests the engine is running well and not showing excessive wear. The engine in fact is running well and is slightly quieter than before the cylinder head was replaced. The valves were previously leaking, giving the engine a bit of a metallic exhaust note. It’s now a quieter and lower tone when operating. The only issue remaining is that the rear main oil seal still is leaking. The good news is it’s now leaking a lot less than it did prior to the head replacement, but it’s still leaking and the seal still needs to be changed. It’s just no longer as urgent, and we’ll probably due the work as things slow down this winter.

7/27/2020

42 Amps Position: 59°25.40’N, 6°10.46’E The generator continues to run really well and here is holding 42 amps of load at 1745 RPM.

Gas Tanks Position: 59°25.39’N, 6°10.44’E We store bulk gasoline on the boat deck in two 29-gallon (110L) tanks. From there we transfer them to four 1.25-gallon and one 5-gallon tank to quickly and easily fill the tender. When the tender is low and all those smaller tanks are empty, we repeat the process. This is the first time we’ve had the bulk tanks out for at least eight months, so the job was a little bigger this time as the area behind needed a good scrub.

Nevoyvagen Position: 59°25.38’N, 6°10.44’E Looking north into Saudafjorden from the anchorage at Nevoyvagen.

Tender Position: 59°28.96’N, 6°14.90’E Our tender moored on the guest dock at the town of Sand to have a walk around town.

Strawberries Position: 59°29.03’N, 6°15.05’E Fresh strawberries for sale from a giant strawberry.

Sandsfossen Position: 59°28.90’N, 6°15.37’E Overlooking the Sandsfossen waterfall that we visited by tender yesterday.

Hosebrua Position: 59°28.89’N, 6°15.38’E The award-winning bridge Hosebrua just above the waterall Sandsfossen provides a crossing of and views to the river Suldalslagen and is beautifully lit up at night in the fall and winter.

Looking Down Position: 59°28.87’N, 6°15.57’E The floor and sides of the bridge Hosebrua are made with metal mesh for views to the river Suldalslagen below.

Fjordlys Position: 59°28.92’N, 6°14.99’E The ferry Fjordlys departing Sand en route to Stavanger. This is the same boat that tucked in behind when we were departing Stavanger after clearing through.

Liarbekken Position: 59°32.53’N, 6°25.89’E One of the many waterfalls, this one from the river Liarbekken, that run down into beautiful Hylsfjord.

Skakabekken Position: 59°33.46’N, 6°30.85’E The river Skakabekken gushing into Hylsfjord.

At Speed Position: 59°33.39’N, 6°31.78’E We really love our AB 12VST tender. It’s a comfortable, stable and fast ride at 32 knots (36.82 mph). A high-speed tender is a great complement to a slow-moving trawler, allowing us to quickly explore long distances away from Dirona.

Lingvangfossen Position: 59°33.57’N, 6°32.44’E The spectacular Lingvangfossen waterfall in Hylsfjord. Jennifer is barely visible at right wearing a pink coat.

Tailrace Position: 59°33.54’N, 6°35.62’E The tailrace from the 160 MW Hylen hydroelectric power station empties into Hylsfjord with tremendous force, generating choppy water and lots of spray. It’s feels like a whole different weather system around it.

Hylen Hydroelectric Power Station Position: 59°33.55’N, 6°36.00’E The 160 MW Hylen hydroelectric power station at the head of Hylsfjord was completed in 1981.

Cliffs Position: 59°33.34’N, 6°34.45’E A cleft in the cliffs, with another waterfall, along the north shore near the head of dramatic Hylsfjord.

Lovrajforden Position: 59°24.64’N, 6°12.34’E This tiny islet with a single red house and boat shed is at the head of Lovrajforden, near our anchorage at Nevoyvagen (the islet is more obvious in this picture). What an awesome setup.

Nevoysundet Position: 59°25.41’N, 6°10.17’E Passing through the narrow, small-boat channel between the mainlaina and Oyna, the island that shelters the anchorage at Nevoyvagen.

Mute Swans Position: 59°25.42’N, 6°9.70’E We’re seeing a lot more swans on this second trip to Norway, likely because they don’t range as far north as we were in our 2018 trip.

Click the travel log icon on the left to see these locations on a map, with the complete log of our cruise. On the map page, clicking on a camera or text icon will display a picture and/or log entry for that location, and clicking on the smaller icons along the route will display latitude, longitude and other navigation data for that location. And a live map of our current route and most recent log entries always is available at mvdirona.com/maps.