After two months of near-continuous cruising in Norway, we’d covered 640 miles and made 33 stops. Yet we had only reached Bergen, a mere 102 miles north of our port of entry at Stavanger. The Norwegian coast is a complex and interesting one, with a seemingly endless number of high-quality anchorages and attractions.

We departed Hardangerfjord at Norheimsund and, over four days, traveled to the island of Osteroy just north of Bergen. This was a microcosm of our full cruise, in that we covered 116 miles, but with a point-to-point distance of only 20 miles. During that time we also took advantage of some poor weather to remanufacture our watermaker, and caught the first NFL game of the season.

Below are highlights from Sept 11th through 15th, 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.

9/11/2020

Lukksund Position: 60°3.06’N, 5°42.35’E Looking back to the bridge across the narrow and scenic channel Lukksund as we exit the Sunnhordland district towards the Bergen area.

Rygerfonn Position: 60°3.62’N, 5°42.49’E The Hardangerfjordekspressen ferry Rygerfonn underway from Bergen to Rosendal.

Too Shallow Position: 60°16.76’N, 5°40.05’E We considered anchoring a the small bay at the head of Adlandsfjorden, where our charts showed 20ft of water. But we bailed after seeing depths of 10ft on the approach and anchored off Adlandsholmen instead.

View Home Position: 60°16.66’N, 5°39.87’E Beautiful modern view home along the shore of Adlandsfjorden.

Watermaker Reman Position: 60°16.04’N, 5°38.73’E The watermaker motor issue has gotten worse over the past few days. Today we tackled the job of servicing the very-built-in system and removing the very-built-in pump and motor. We ended up replacing the motor, which addressed the inrush issue, and also replaced the control panel and the membranes. The only major component we didn’t replace was the pump itself. Read more …

NFL Position: 60°16.05’N, 5°38.71’E Watching the first game of the 2020 NFL season as the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Houston Texans. It’s a little odd seeing the stadiums so empty due to pandemic restrictions, but we’re glad the season is running at least.

42 Knots Position: 60°16.04’N, 5°38.73’E A small storm system is passing through, bringing gusty winds. We’ve seen 42 knots at the anchorage off Adlandsholmen.

9/12/2020

Pump and Motor Position: 60°16.05’N, 5°38.73’E Yesterday afternoon we disassembled the watermaker. Today we replaced the motor and re-assembled the unit. The watermaker is now again fully operational.

9/13/2020

Membrane Replacement Position: 60°16.02’N, 5°38.73’E We have a couple of maintenance items that we decided to do while the watermaker is being worked on. The system has just over 2,000 hours on it and is due for its second membrane replacement. The first set lasted about four years in heavy use and this set has gone just over six years. Given that we run 175-200 hours per year, this feels like excellent membrane life. The other issue is a small one that doesn’t affect the operation of the system. About six years ago, the NVRAM that stores the last maintenance interval became corrupt and so it frequently flashes the “service required” light. This doesn’t affect the system in any way, but since we’re there, we might as well repair that as well.

Flushing Membranes Position: 60°16.02’N, 5°38.72’E When membranes are replaced, they water maker needs to be run for an hour, discarding the water, to ensure it’s clean and safe for human consumption. We connected a garden house to the water maker output to run the first hour of product water overboard. It’s nice to see the system running well and producing a bit more than 25 gallons per hour.

Happy Hour Position: 60°16.03’N, 5°38.71’E Conditions calmed considerably in the anchorage at Adlandsholmen today, so we enjoyed a well-deserved Happy Hour on the back deck after completing the watermaker reman.

9/14/2020

86 PPM Position: 60°13.27’N, 5°35.42’E It’s wonderful to seeing the watermaker producing freshwater at 86 PPM (parts per million of total disolved solids). Before changing the membranes, we were only able to produce water in the 650 PPM range. (Seawater starts at about 30,000 PPM and, according to the Safe Drinking Water Foundation, less than 600 PPM is good quality and less than 300 is excellent). We probably could have run these membranes another 6-12 months, but since we were in there servicing it, we decided to change them.

Private Islands Position: 60°14.40’N, 5°11.65’E The channel Bukkasundet south of Bergen is full of tiny islands, each with a private home. What a nice setup.

Airplane Position: 60°16.45’N, 5°11.39’E Occasionally we pickup an airplane on AIS, showing an airplane symbol. This one is taking off from nearby Bergen airport at 82 kts (94 mph, 151 kph).

Askoy Bridge Position: 60°23.44’N, 5°12.24’E About to pass under the Askoy Bridge just outside Bergen. When completed in 1992, its main span of 2,789 ft (850 m) was the longest suspension bridge in Norway. It was superseded in 2013 by the Hardanger tunnel-to-tunnel bridge that we passed over and under in Hardangerfjord, with a main span of 4,300 ft (1,310 m).

KL Sandefjord Position: 60°23.84’N, 5°13.70’E The anchor handling tug supply vessel KL Sandefjord holding station just west of Bergen. When launched in 2011, the manufacturer claimed it had the largest bollard pull in the world of 390 tons.

View Home Position: 60°28.69’N, 5°15.15’E One of the many beautiful, modern view homes just outside Bergen.

Tyrving Position: 60°30.62’N, 5°15.30’E The fast ferry Tyrving roaring south from Bergen harbour.

Waterfall Position: 60°31.83’N, 5°15.04’E The past few days of rain have really brought out the waterfalls. This one is flowing into the south end of the waterway Krossnessundet as we approach the island of Flatoy.

Tronds Lift 8 Position: 60°32.05’N, 5°14.94’E Tronds Lift 8 at the island of Flatoy, one of several Tronds Marine cranes we’ve seen during our times in Norway. The crane has a lifting capacity of 400MT.

9/15/2020

Flatoy Position: 60°32.65’N, 5°15.02’E Morning view to the sheltered anchorage off the island of Flatoy. It’s a popular place at the height of the season, but we had it all to ourselves mid-September.

Nordhordland Bridge Position: 60°31.42’N, 5°15.41’E About to pass under the Nordhordland Bridge, a combination cable-stayed and pontoon bridge. Completed in 1994, it is the second longest bridge in Norway and the country’s second pontoon bridge.

Nordhavn Ad Position: 60°31.67’N, 5°17.68’E Dirona was featured in the Nordhavn ad on the back cover of the latest issue of Power & Motoryacht magazine. Thanks to blog reader Torbjorn Curtsson and others who sent us a scan of the copy.

Ole Bull Position: 60°29.94’N, 5°23.60’E Ferry named after Ole Bull, a Norwegian virtuoso violinist and composer who lived from 1810 to 1880.

Arne Fabrikker Position: 60°27.85’N, 5°26.68’E The historic buildings of Arne Fabrikker, Norway’s first cotton mill, northeast of Bergen. Founded in 1846, by the 1960s the company employed 1,200 people and was one of the largest and most important textile factories in the country.

Sorfjorden Position: 60°26.15’N, 5°30.73’E Calm conditions as we pass through Sorfjorden, a 16-nm fjord that flows along the south and west sides of Osteroy, the largest inland island in Norway.

Osteroy Bridge Position: 60°25.62’N, 5°31.97’E Passing under the Osteroy Bridge, the third largest suspension bridge in Norway with a main span of 1,952 ft (595 m).

Bruvik Position: 60°28.65’N, 5°41.00’E We found a great anchorage off the town of Bruvik on the island of Osteroy, where we’ll stay for a couple of nights while we make a hike tomorrow up Bruviknipa.

Tor Position: 60°28.65’N, 5°41.01’E The Kystvakt (Norwegian Coast Guard) ship Tor underway through Sorfjorden, viewed from the anchorage at Bruvik.

43A on a 25A Inverter Position: 60°26.93’N, 5°28.77’E Database query showing all draws over 40 amps this year in our Victron 240V inverter, rated at 25 amps. Prior to changing the water maker pump, the inrush draw was over 40 amps several times in the past couple of weeks. Initially the water maker would successfully start after an inrush current of 30 to 40A but, over the course of a couple of days, it got to the point where it simply was unable to start. What we find particularly amazing is the Victron 240V Inverter is able to reliably deliver 40A on a 25A rated system. It never cut power during all these events except for one where two failed attempts close together caused the 240V inverter to go into thermal overload. 60 seconds later, it was back running again. Victron builds them right!

Dusk Position: 60°28.64’N, 5°41.00’E The town of Bruvik on the island of Osteroy aglow at dusk.

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.