The lighthouse in Norway’s Flavaer Islands was built in 1870 to guide mariners into Heroyfjorden. The islands themselves lie on the edge of Heroyfjorden and are somewhat exposed, but make a great anchorage in calm conditions.

Continuing north from Syltejforden, we stopped for a night in the Flavaer Islands and made an extensive tour of the complex area by tender, including a pass by the shipyard of Ulstein, the company that invented the popular X-BOW inverted bow design.

Below are highlights from December 8th, 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.

LOS 124 Position: 62°10.49’N, 5°25.80’E Pilot boat LOS 124 heading out from Alesund to meet a ship.

Sandsoya Position: 62°15.50’N, 5°22.97’E The rugged western tip of Sandsoya Island.

Svinoy Lighthouse Position: 62°15.70’N, 5°22.95’E The Svinoy Lighthouse, established in 1905, was automated 100 years later in 2005. For a time, the keeper’s accommodation operated as a hotel that could sleep 10 people, but in 2013 the government forbid helicopter flights to the island except for light maintenance.

Samskip Ice Position: 62°16.84’N, 5°24.47’E The Bahamian-registered reefer (Refrigerated Cargo Ship) Samskip Ice heading south off Sandsoya Island.

Maursund Position: 62°18.01’N, 5°29.85’E The landing craft Maursund underway off Sandsoya Island.

Bergen Star Position: 62°18.51’N, 5°33.66’E The tanker Bergen Star exiting Heroyfjorden north of Sandsoya Island. We’re definitely on the main coastal shipping route having passed three ships in a half hour.

Flavaer Lighthouse Position: 62°18.60’N, 5°34.30’E The Flavaer Lighthouse was built in 1870, connected to the power grid in 1952, and automated in 1979.

Flavaer Anchorage Position: 62°18.93’N, 5°35.77’E Our anchorage in the Flavaer Islands in 63 ft (19m) on 200 ft (61 m) of rode.

Dirona Position: 62°18.96’N, 5°35.41’E Dirona anchored in the Flavaer Islands, viewed looking west. It’s a somewhat exposed anchorage out on the edge of Heroyfjorden, but we love it and conditions are forecast to be calm for the next couple of days.

Supply Vessels Position: 62°17.96’N, 5°39.26’E Nearly a dozen offshore supply vessels stored near Moltustranda during the oil industry downturn.

Fishing Vessels Position: 62°19.45’N, 5°39.79’E Two of Norway’s many, many fishing vessels, moored at Eggesbo. Almost every ship we see in Norway looks brand new they are so well-maintained.

Fish Farm Position: 62°19.30’N, 5°39.40’E Salmon jumping in the pens of a fish farm at Eggesbo.

Havila Shipping Position: 62°19.26’N, 5°40.29’E Havila Shipping’s striking headquarters building. The company operates 23 vessels focusing on subsea construction, anchor handling, platform supply vessels and multi-field rescue recovery.

Cable Position: 62°19.31’N, 5°40.63’E Running a cable from shore to the fishing vessel Remoy, visible in the distance. The cable leads from the spool through equipment in the shipping container beside the Egersund Heroy building and then out to the ship.

Nexans Aurora Position: 62°20.35’N, 5°49.45’E The cable-layer Nexans Aurora under construction at the Ulstein yard in Ulsteinvik. Ulstein is the company that invented the popular X-BOW inverted bow design.

Turntable plates Position: 62°20.37’N, 5°49.61’E Offshore cable layers carry miles of cable, stored in and payed out from large turntables. These yellow plates form the outer wall of the Nexans Aurora‘s on-deck turntable. When completed in 2021, the ship will be the most advanced cable layer in the world with a 10,000-tonne capacity split turntable.

Boabarge 33 Position: 62°19.43’N, 5°50.83’E The heavy lift, semi-submersible barge Boabarge 33 moored at the Green Yard Kelvin shipyard near Ulsteinvik. This was the ship used to refloat of Norwegian Navy vessel KNM Helge Ingstad after it collided with the tanker Sola TS off the Sture oil terminal.

Vesteralen Position: 62°19.49’N, 5°50.56’E The Hurtigruten coastal ferry Vesteralen being refurbished in the Green Yard Kelvin shipyard near Ulsteinvik.

Sunset Position: 62°18.94’N, 5°35.80’E Sunset over the anchorage in the Flavaer Islands.

Bunkering Position: 62°18.93’N, 5°35.77’E We’ve again used up all the fuel in our 4 1.25-gallon and 2 5-gallon tanks, so it’s time to refill them from the big 29-gallon tanks on Dirona‘s boat deck. Despite the colder weather, we’re still using the tender a ton and continue to burn through the gasoline.

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.