After visiting Hovden, we spent two nights in Gulen, a small fjord just north of Floro with three branches: Sorgulen, Midtgulen and Nordgulen (south, middle and north respectively). We toured the area extensively by tender, enjoying the spectacular scenery, and we had the excitement of breaking ice for a mile or so on the way out. The ice was quite thin and not hard to push through, but made a really loud noise as we broke through, reminiscent of breaking ice into Princess Lousia Inlet in British Columbia, Canada in our previous boat.

Below are highlights from December 3rd through 5th, 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.

12/3/2020

Rikeloftet Position: 61°44.80’N, 5°6.14’E Snow on the 3746-ft t(1142 km) ridge Rikeloftet, viewed looking east along Midtgulen.

Sorgulen Anchorage Position: 61°42.46’N, 5°6.66’E Our anchorage off at the head of Sorgulen off the town of the same name in 55 ft (17 m) on 250 ft (76.2 m) of rode. We had considered anchoring in the bight to the east, off Gamleboen, but a non-official sign there prohibits anchoring although there was no indication of this on the charts.

Panel Position: 61°42.45’N, 5°6.66’E The third failed Chitai gauge. These ran perfectly for ten years, then one failed in the tenth year and two have failed in the eleventh year. They seem to be a weak link and are likely going to all need replacing. One smelled bad on failure, indicating it had gotten hot, which further suggests that replacing them all might be a good move.

12/4/2020

Vindspollen Position: 61°42.35’N, 5°9.89’E Fabulous scenery approaching the head of Vindspollen, a branch of the fjord Gulen, on a calm day.

Vindspollen Anchorage Position: 61°42.25’N, 5°9.84’E Our anchorage at the head of Vindspollen in in 92 ft (28 m)on 275 ft (83 m) of rode.

Sea Puppy Position: 61°42.22’N, 5°9.84’E A curious “sea puppy” having a look at Dirona anchored in Vindspollen.

Wood Splitter Position: 61°42.22’N, 5°9.85’E Large power wood splitter ashore at the head of Vindspollen.

Trollefjellet Position: 61°43.30’N, 5°10.38’E The sheer face of snow-dusted 2604-ft (794 m) Trollefjellet, viewed on a tender tour of the fjord Gulen.

Lumber Mill Position: 61°43.79’N, 5°12.71’E Small lumber mill at Indrehus in the fjord Gulen.

Nesavagen Position: 61°44.54’N, 5°9.21’E The Panamanian-registered tug Fastnet Nore moored at Nesavagen.

Ridge Position: 61°46.13’N, 5°13.95’E Another view to the 3746-ft (1142 m) ridge Rikeloftet. The winter scenery is really beautiful.

Elkem Bremanger Position: 61°46.34’N, 5°17.48’E The massive smelter Elkem Bremanger in Svelgen at the head of Nordgulen. The plant, founded as an ironworks in 1928, now mainly produces ferrosilicon and silicon metal. Huge penstocks lead into the facility from the upper right.

Bremanger Aggregates Position: 61°46.28’N, 5°9.71’E The Bremanger Aggregates quarry in Nordgulen just outside Svelgen specializes in a product they call Bestone, the most common primary stone used in for infrastructure in the Benelux. We love how Norway has small, and large, industry scattered throughout the coast.

Happy Hour Position: 61°42.23’N, 5°9.85’E A chilly Happy Hour with the temperature at 33°F (0.5°C). So long as the beer doesn’t freeze, we’ll be fine. :)

12/5/2020

Amaryllis Position: 61°42.23’N, 5°9.84’E We picked up an amaryllis in Forde and it’s now in full bloom, with a second bloom on the way.

Breaking Ice Position: 61°42.68’N, 5°10.02’E The temperature last night dipped below freezing and we awoke surrounded by ice. It was quite thin and not hard to push through, but made a really loud noise as we broke through, reminiscent of breaking ice into Princess Lousia Inlet in British Columbia, Canada in our previous boat.

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.