Spectacular Finnafjorden (“the hidden fjord”) is a branch of Sognefjord, Norway’s longest and deepest fjord. While Finnafjorden is one of the shortest arms of Sognefjord, what it lacks in length it makes up for in amazing scenery. Particularly impressive is nearly landlocked Finnabotn, where 4,000-ft (1,200 m) mountains encircle the bay, giving the feel of a mountain lake. The area has excellent hiking opportunities, and in past years was the striking venue for an annual blues festival.

From Gulafjorden we ran 57 miles to Finnafjorden, passing through the ferry terminus of Eivindvik and stopping at Aven for a night en route. In Finnafjorden, we anchored off the Skjemmedalselvi waterfall and ran the tender into Finnabotn to explore. Daylight saving time ended while we were there—we’ll have to return in the summer with more daylight hours and hike the trails above.

Below are highlights from October 24th through 26th, 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.

10/24/2020

Fall Colours Position: 60°58.58’N, 5°4.89’E Beautiful fall colours just outside the town of Eivindvik.

Eivindvik Position: 60°58.73’N, 5°4.61’E Passing through the village of Eivindvik, the administrative center for the region. It’s also a major travel terminus—we’ve seen several fast ferries there on AIS.

Cable Ferry Position: 60°59.14’N, 5°2.06’E Cable ferry crossing the narrow channel northwest of the town of Eivindvik as we’re underway for Sognefjord.

Tyrving Position: 61°1.63’N, 5°1.03’E The fast ferry Tyrving en route to Bergen at 32 knots.

Vingtor Position: 61°1.96’N, 5°1.04’E Right behind the Tyrving came the fast ferry Vingtor, also running at 32 knots to Bergen. Norway has an astonishing number of ferries of all shapes and sizes.

Spitfire Position: 61°1.47’N, 5°1.03’E Spitfire doesn’t like other boats getting too close and became quite concerned as the two fast ferries approached.

42 knots Position: 61°4.03’N, 5°3.48’E The winds picked up from calm this morning to reaching gusts of 42 knots, shown on the wind graph and the telltale on the wind speed gauge, both at upper right (click image for a larger view).

4,000 ft Position: 61°4.46’N, 5°18.95’E We’re now in Sognefjord, the longest and deepest fjord in Norway. The fjord is 110 nautical miles long and has a maximum depth of 4,291 ft (1,308 m). The area we’re passing over is close to the deepest at 4,063 feet.

Aven Anchorage Position: 61°9.06’N, 5°37.18’E Our anchorage off the village of Aven in 101 ft (31m) with 335 ft (102m) of rode and excellent holding.

Happy Hour Position: 61°9.10’N, 5°37.21’E Happy hour in the cockpit anchored off the village of Aven. At 55°F (12.7°C) the temperature is fine to be outside, but we’re tucked up against the house to escape the gusty winds.

10/25/2020

Departing Position: 61°8.13’N, 5°57.03’E Jennifer wearing a headlamp while working on deck during a 5:40am pre-dawn departure from the anchorage at Aven. The rain and heavy winds are a little annoying, but rare, and anyway, it’s all part of the adventure.

Strandselva Position: 61°8.14’N, 5°57.28’E Rain-fed flow from the river Strandselva descending from 1,000-meter cliffs along the south shore of Sognefjord.

Snow Position: 61°4.19’N, 6°19.82’E A dusting of snow on the 1,200-meter mountains above Finnafjorden, an arm of Sognefjord.

Nordhavn Ad Position: 61°2.95’N, 6°18.32’E Nordhavn featured Dirona in a back-cover ad in this month’s Power & Motoryacht magazine. Thanks to several blog readers who sent us a copy. The picture of Dirona was taken at remote and historic St. Kilda. Lying 40nm west of the Outer Hebrides, the islands are the first Scottish UNESCO World-Heritage Site and Scotland’s only Natural World Heritage site.

Finnafjorden Position: 61°2.94’N, 6°18.33’E Heading down Finnafjorden towards the village of Finnen with the waterfall from the river Skjemmedalselvi on the right

Finnafjorden Anchorage Position: 61°2.94’N, 6°18.31’E Our anchorage in Finnafjorden in 100 ft (30m) on 260 ft (80m) of rode.

Skjemmedalselvi Position: 61°2.95’N, 6°18.31’E Dirona anchored in Finnafjorden off the Skjemmedalselvi waterfall.

Finnen Position: 61°2.95’N, 6°18.30’E The village of Finnen with snow-dusted mountains above the lake-like head of Finnafjorden beyond.

Evening View Position: 61°2.94’N, 6°18.33’E Evening view to our beautiful anchorage in Finnafjorden. The winds and rain have stopped, yielding wonderful reflections.

Happy Hour Position: 61°2.94’N, 6°18.32’E Daylight saving time in Norway ended last night and the sun set at 4:50 today. Happy Hour will now be in the dark for the next few months, but it’s still fun.

Ferry Position: 61°2.95’N, 6°18.31’E As we were enjoying Happy Hour in the cockpit, a fast-moving boat with a bright spotlight appeared. It was a ferry heading to the village of Finnen. The vessel stopped briefly and was soon back underway. It was fun watching a high-speed ferry operating at night so close by.

10/26/2020

Finnafjorden Position: 61°2.37’N, 6°17.59’E Reflections in the spectacular lake-like head of Finnafjorden on a morning tender tour.

Finnabotnen Position: 61°2.23’N, 6°16.23’E At the head of Finnafjorden the old farm at Finnabotnen has been converted into an ultra-secluded hotel with some great hikes in the surrounding mountains.

Waterfalls Position: 61°2.36’N, 6°16.63’E Waterfalls flowing down 4,000ft (1,200m) snow-dusted cliffs. We’ll have to return in the summer and hike the trails above the fjord.

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.