Varbak Hill is the highest point in Farsund and provides wonderful view to the town and the Lyngdalsfjorden. On our second day in Farsund, we took a more extensive tour through town, including a walk up Varbak Hill.
We also watched two of the Farsund FFS tugs assisting the 742-ft (226m) Hawk, one of the five largest semi-submersible heavy lift vessels in the world, as it departed the area carrying two large ships. And we learned that while Farsund itself wasn’t iced in, the more inland waterways nearby were frozen solid.
Below are highlights from January 28th and 29th, 2021. 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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Dawn
Position: 58°5.49’N, 6°48.37’E
Dawn from our berth in the Farsund guest harbour. The weather has been wonderfully clear and calm the past few days. This really is an incredibly nice place to spend a few weeks.
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FFS Tugs
Position: 58°5.49’N, 6°48.37’E
All three FFS tugs back in their berth. There is only space along the dock for two ships, so when all three are back in town, they raft up.
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21.7 Degrees
Position: 58°5.49’N, 6°48.37’E
The temperature has been steadily falling over the past few days and it’s a chilly 21.7°F (-5.7°C).
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Missing Paint
Position: 58°5.47’N, 6°48.37’E
In pushing through the ice to reach Farsund yesterday, we scraped the bottom paint off the bow. There’s no other obvious damage that we can see from this distance.
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Stairs
Position: 58°5.56’N, 6°48.31’E
Steeply-sloped Farsund is full of stairs leading up the hills—we kept finding more each time we were out on a walk around town.
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Guest Harbour
Position: 58°5.51’N, 6°48.16’E
View to the Farsund guest harbour from part way up the hill Varbak.
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Hawk
Position: 58°5.50’N, 6°48.16’E
Two of the Farsund FFS tugs assisting the 742-ft (226m) Hawk, one of the five largest semi-submersible heavy lift vessels in the world. Here the Hawk is carrying two ships, the 282-ft (86m) Ramform Viking and the 328-ft (100 m) CGG Alize (not visible behind the Ramform Viking). It took us a second to figure out what was going on with Ramform Viking mounted perpendicular to the Hawk.
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Goats
Position: 58°5.46’N, 6°48.07’E
One of several goats that live up in the park atop the hill Varbak behind the Farsund guest harbour.
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Lyngdalsfjorden
Position: 58°5.55’N, 6°48.08’E
Ice covering much of the surface in Lyngdalsfjorden inland and northeast of Farsund, seen from the Varbak viewpoint.
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Krossnessundet
Position: 58°5.64’N, 6°47.87’E
Solid ice in Krossnessundet inland and northwest of Farsund. It appears thicker than in Lyngdalsfjorden.
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Mollehaugen
Position: 58°5.75’N, 6°48.26’E
World War II memorial atop Mollehaugen (the Mill Hill) in central Farsund.
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Floating Rocks
Position: 58°5.80’N, 6°48.27’E
As the ice thickens, kids experiment with what it will hold.
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Position: 58°5.43’N, 6°48.63’E
The Ramform Viking heading to sea aboard the lift ship Hawk. What an unusual sight.
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Dirona
Position: 58°5.43’N, 6°48.63’E
Dirona moored at the Farsund guest harbour. You can see how steep the hill is behind where we were walking earlier today.
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Farsund Sailing Association
Position: 58°5.30’N, 6°48.36’E
Not much sailing is going to happen at the Farsund Sailing Association anytime soon.
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Lauervik Marina
Position: 58°5.25’N, 6°48.25’E
Ice surrounding Lauervik marina, west of the Farsund guest harbour in Lundevagen.
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Modern Home
Position: 58°5.32’N, 6°48.29’E
Farsund, and Norway in general, is full of fabulous modern homes built in style we really like. Here is another one under construction in the hills above Farsund.
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Dusk
Position: 58°5.49’N, 6°48.37’E
Dusk at Happy Hour, viewed from our berth at the Farsund guest harbour.
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Farsund Views
Position: 58°5.49’N, 6°48.37’E
Another calm and clear morning in Farsund, viewed from our berth in the guest harbour (clockwise from top left: forward, aft, starboard and port). The water surface in the marina beside us, at bottom right, is just starting to freeze very slightly.
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Happy Hour
Position: 58°5.50’N, 6°48.37’E
Happy Hour in Farsund with the temperature slightly above freezing. What a beautiful place—we’re really enjoying our stay.
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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. |
Varbak, or sometimes Varbakk if I haven’t missed something. Looks like the municipality has spent NOK 1.8M(?) to upgrade the area! (which I had missed completely). Cheers!
Thanks for pointing out the spelling mistake–we’ve fixed it.
Jennifer
Thanks for posting (and fixing) :)
James,
well done blog. thanks for sharing all the detailed information. it makes me feel like i am there (almost, one difference, i am wearing shorts right now in CA)
The beauty of Norway, Alaska, the South Island of New Zealand, and Tasmania draw out towards higher latitudes than many others chose to cruise. We love the sights and really have enjoyed ours times away from the tropics but we have to admit, hanging on hook in Fiji or somewhere like that would be pretty nice right now :-).