The island of Fedje is a popular summer boating and tourist destination, with a large sheltered harbour and excellent trails ashore. Of particular interest to us was a chance to walk a section of the North Sea Trail, an EU-funded, international collaboration to create a network of hiking trails along the North Sea. Participating countries include Norway, Sweden, Scotland, England, the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany.

Fedje also home to a pilot station and one of the five vessel traffic service (VTS) stations in Norway, primarly focused on the shipping traffic in and out of the nearby Sture and Mongstad oil terminals. The stations made international news in 2018 when the Norwegian Navy vessel KNM Helge Ingstad collided with the Sola TS off Sture in Fedje VTS-controlled waters. This video provides an excellent summary of the accident.

We completed our tour of the Oygarden island-group municipality with a two-night stop at Fedje, anchored near the VTS and pilot stations. While there, we made our first hike along the North Sea Trail, enjoying the seascape on a blustery fall day.

Below are highlights from October 17th and 18th, 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.

10/17/2020

Otter Position: 60°47.35’N, 4°42.65’E Eurasian otter on the rocks off the island of Fedje as we arrive from the anchorage at Kvernhusosen. The animals are common along the Norwegian coast.

Fedje VTS Position: 60°47.22’N, 4°43.42’E Looking west across Fedje island to the Fedje VTS (vessel traffic service) station, one of five in Norway. The station is primarly focused on the shipping traffic in and out of the nearby Sture and Mongstad terminals. The station made international news in 2018 when the Norwegian Navy vessel KNM Helge Ingstad collided with the Sola TS off Sture in Fedje VTS-controlled waters. This video provides an excellent summary of the accident. We’re actively interested in marine, transport and industrial accidents, knowing they all have lessons for us to help us avoid similar mistakes. A major lessons here for any skipper is to never assume that the other ship has context, knows where you are or is even under watch. We try to maximize the space between our vessel and others to allow greater safety margin and, particularly at night, we really don’t like to be much closer than a nautical mile. Another lesson is to avoid becoming overly focused on a single information source, like radar or vision, and forgetting the check that all the other data confirms your current assessment.

Fedje Position: 60°47.23’N, 4°42.33’E Entering the channel into the main harbour on the island of Fedje. The channel is well-marked for the car ferry that serves the island. But even with excellent markings, we wouldn’t want to drive a boat that big through this opening.

Fedjebjorn Position: 60°47.10’N, 4°42.63’E The 200-ft (67.2 m) car ferry Fedjebjorn heeling to starboard as it makes the turn into the Fedje harbour entrance channel behind us.

Oil Change Position: 60°47.00’N, 4°42.43’E Performing our 42nd oil change on the main engine at 11,309 hours.

LOS 131 Position: 60°47.01’N, 4°42.45’E The Fedje pilot boat LOS 131 departing the harbour. The two Fedje pilot boats and their eleven skippers and eleven pilots are kept busy with the Sture and Mongstad terminals nearby. The area is the busiest in Norway for pilot requests with about 9,000 trips annually, about 20% of the national total.

10/18/2020

Sunrise Position: 60°47.00’N, 4°42.40’E Sunrise from the anchorage at the island of Fedje.

Tender Position: 60°46.93’N, 4°42.70’E Our tender moored at the guest harbour in Fedje for a hike ashore. The harbour has space for a lot of boats and likely is very popular in the summer.

Sunken Boat Position: 60°46.95’N, 4°42.71’E A sunken boat off the Fedje guest harbour behind where we moored the tender.

Dirona Position: 60°46.95’N, 4°42.55’E Dirona at anchor beyond colorfol houses on Fedje.

Pilot Station Position: 60°46.91’N, 4°42.42’E The two pilot boats moored at the Fedje pilot station. The island is located on the main sea route to Bergen and has been an important pilot station since at least the 1700s. It now also serves the traffic to nearby Sture and Mongstad oil terminals.

Smiholmen Position: 60°46.76’N, 4°42.32’E View east across Sorvagen, an inner basin directly south of our anchorage at Fedje.

North Sea Trail Position: 60°46.46’N, 4°42.63’E Walking a boardwalk along the North Sea Trail, an EU-funded, international collaboration to create a network of hiking trails along the North Sea. Participating countries include Norway, Sweden, Scotland, England, the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany.

Picnic Table Position: 60°46.02’N, 4°43.34’E Picnic table overlooking an inland lake on Fedje.

Decorated Tree Position: 60°46.02’N, 4°43.37’E Whimsical decorations on an evergreen along the North Sea Trail on Fedje.

Hillisoy Lighthouse Position: 60°45.23’N, 4°42.93’E The Hillisoy Lighthouse at the southwest tip of Fedje. The lighthouse is on a separate small islet, so we can’t reach it on foot.

North Sea Position: 60°45.26’N, 4°42.81’E Enjoying a break with a view to the rugged North Sea shoreline along the east coast of Fedje. The air temperature is 55°F (12.8°C), so not bad, but a little on the cool side when the wind kicks up.

Cabin Position: 60°45.65’N, 4°42.77’E This spectacular modern day trip cabin along the North Sea Trail in Fedje is scheduled to open a week from now on October 24th. We’re really impressed with the architecture of the Norwegian trekker’s cabins.

Oppeskjerhoyen Position: 60°46.06’N, 4°42.17’E The wind catching Jennifer’s hair by the cairn atop 108-ft (33m) Oppeskjerhoyen as we return north back to the anchorage. Fedje is fairly flat—this hill is not much lower than then highest on the island, 154 ft (47m) Fedjebjornen.

Fedje VTS Position: 60°46.80’N, 4°41.95’E The Fedje vessel traffic service station was completed in 1991, the second in Norway, to support the increase in traffic due to the nearby Sture and Mongstad oil terminals. The station also will handle traffic through the Stad Ship Tunnel when it is completed.

Vidnappen Position: 60°46.77’N, 4°41.84’E World War II ruins at Vidnappen, on the northwest corner of Fedje. The island was strategically important for the occupying Germans, who built an extensive defense system here.

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.