Nedre Vats in Vatsjforden has a couple of great attractions for us: an excellent view hike up 1742ft (531m) Granuten and the AF Environmental Base decommissioning and recycling facility. The massive semi-submersible crane vessel Sleipnir that we passed en route to Stavanger had removed the 8,929-ton (8,100-metric ton) Jotun-B platform jacket from the North Sea two weeks earlier and transported it here, setting a record for the largest single lift removal of a steel jacket (a fixed oil platform made of tubular steel).
We arrived at the beautiful anchorage off Nedre Vats as a light fog was lifting. Soon after arriving, we hiked up Granuten to enjoy a picnic lunch and the fabulous views, then spent the rest of the afternoon touring the area by tender and checking out the Jotun-B close-up.
Below are trip highlights from July 23rd, 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.
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Jotun-B
Position: 59°26.44’N, 5°45.16’E
The Jotun-B platform jacket at AF Environmental Base in Nedre Vats.
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AF Environmental Base
Position: 59°26.55’N, 5°45.22’E
View to the full dock-side facilities at AF Environmental Base. This shot with the 775ft (236m) ship Curlew on the left gives a better sense of the Jotun-B‘s size. The Curlew is the former product tanker Maersk Dorset converted into an FPSO (Floating Production Storage And Offloading Vessel) which had a daily production capacity of 45,000 barrels of oil and a storage capacity of 560,000 barrels. It also is here for decommissioning and recycling.
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Fog
Position: 59°28.27’N, 5°44.32’E
Fog drifting across the bay, looking south from the anchorage at Nedre Vats at the head of Vatsfjorden.
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Anchorage View
Position: 59°28.24’N, 5°44.35’E
View around the anchorage on our forward, aft, starboard and port cameras (clockwise from top left).
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Nedre Vats
Position: 59°28.26’N, 5°44.35’E
A panoramic view of the beautiful anchorage at Nedre Vats on a clear and calm day (click image for a larger view).
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Dirona
Position: 59°28.26’N, 5°44.35’E
Nedre Vats resident Geir Berg-Johannesen noticed Dirona at anchor below his house and sent an email to welcome us with a picture he took.
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Tender
Position: 59°28.51’N, 5°44.20’E
The tender tied off at Nedre Vats for a hike up Granuten.
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Hatteland
Position: 59°28.58’N, 5°44.20’E
Nedre Vats is the worldwide headquarters for Hatteland Technology. The company makes a number of products, but we know them as producers of high-quality marine monitors. Some of their better monitors are as much as 20x more expensive that the ones we chose for Dirona.
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Vatsvatnet
Position: 59°29.62’N, 5°43.33’E
Enjoying to view to the lake Vatsvatnet at the trailhead to Granuten.
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Trail
Position: 59°29.76’N, 5°41.74’E
Taking a break on the trail up Granuten. Again, it’s hard to get lost on Norwegian trails. Four red trail marks are visible in this shot.
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View to Nedre Vats
Position: 59°29.94’N, 5°41.84’E
The great view back down to Nedre Vats from 1516 ft (462 m) up. The lake we stopped at, Vatsvatnet, is on the left and our anchorage is on the right. Dirona is a small, barely-visible speck just this side of the leftmost islet (click image for a larger view).
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Granuten
Position: 59°29.90’N, 5°41.53’E
At the summit of Granuten, 1742ft (531m) above sea level, with our anchorage visible in the background on the left. This is just another “average” Norwegian hike that didn’t make the highlight page for the area. Norway is just amazing.
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Lunch
Position: 59°29.90’N, 5°41.53’E
Enjoying the view over a picnic lunch at the summit of Granuten. In the background to the west is Skjoldafjorden, a large lake-like fjord that is entered by boat through the only saltwater lock in operation in Norway.
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Runner
Position: 59°29.90’N, 5°41.53’E
James was complaining about being tired from the hike, right up until he saw this person running up the hill.
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Jotun-B from Granuten
Position: 59°29.90’N, 5°41.53’E
The view of the Jotun-B platform jacket from Granuten really gives a feel for the size of the structure.
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Snake
Position: 59°29.90’N, 5°41.84’E
A snake on the path. We have no idea if Norway even has a poisonous snake, but James hates all snake pretty much equally so we walked around it.
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Anthill
Position: 59°29.68’N, 5°41.89’E
It seems like the day for scary wildlife. This anthill on the trail is about a meter wide. Literally thousands of ants are on the rocks below us.
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Meadow
Position: 59°29.49’N, 5°42.02’E
We descended on a different, but slightly longer and less steep path, through meadows and more open fields.
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Deere Sighting
Position: 59°28.77’N, 5°41.90’E
Nothing runs like a Deere. We frequently see Deere agricultural equipment on our hikes. And since our main engine is a John Deere, James rarely can hold back from taking a picture.
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View to Granuten
Position: 59°28.85’N, 5°42.32’E
View back to the summit of Granuten as we return to Dirona. We’re always a little amazed at how much ground can be covered in a few hours of walking.
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Jotun-B Up Close
Position: 59°26.45’N, 5°44.85’E
Up close at the Jotun-B platform jacket. It’s only been out of the water for just over a week and is still dripping water and covered in strong-smelling sealife. It would have been wild to watch the Sleipnir deliver it here.
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Yrkefjorden
Position: 59°23.92’N, 5°40.87’E
Mountain scenery along Yrkefjorden, west of and perpendicular to Vatsjforden where we are anchored.
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Near Midnight
Position: 59°28.25’N, 5°44.36’E
At forty minutes before midnight the sky is still pretty bright mid-July at 59° north.
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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. |
Very impressed by your hiking! Hard to believe people run up those trails. Scenery is sensational. Other than risk from snakes and ants, is there any risk of Lyme or other tick-borne disease in Norway? It is so prevalent in the Northeast USA.
Yes, ticks are here and roughly 25% carry Lyme disease and 1% carry TBE. We are vaccinated against TBE but Lyme disease remains an issue. Generally the infection rate isn’t bad with only 438 cases of Lyme disease across all of Norway last year.
The elevated structure is a contraption for catching wild salmon.
https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilje
We figured that might be the purpose but couldn’t figure out how it would work. Thanks for the pointer to the Wikipedia page on the fishing technique.