Posts In The “Norway” Category

2021 Summary

2021 Summary

Although 2020 was a year of big and unexpected plan changes, for us, 2021 brought even more. We started the year living on our boat in Norway and ended it living in our apartment in Seattle. In between, we travelled 4,933 nautical miles across the North Sea, the Irish Sea and the Atlantic Ocean to…

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Norway to Scotland

Norway to Scotland

Free from the ice, we departed Farsund, Norway for Orkney, Scotland on the first leg of our journey home to the US. Conditions were blissfully calm, especially considering we were crossing the North Sea in late February, and the passage was a relaxing and easy one. We finished the run with an exciting entry through…

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Thawing in Farsund

Thawing in Farsund

Valentine’s Day 2021 brought an online Pearl Jam concert and the end of the cold snap in Farsund, with the temperature soaring 18° to above freezing at 37.8°F (3.2°C) from the previous day’s low of 19.1°F (-7.2°C). The ice melted as quickly as it formed, and over the course of ten days we went from…

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Frozen in Farsund

Frozen in Farsund

In the second week of February, the temperature plunged well below freezing in Farsund and remained that way for ten days. The ice around Dirona rapidly grew thicker to the point we could actually stand on it. Given the water temperature was fairly warm at 45°F (7°C), we were surprised the air temperature dominated and…

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Snow, Ice and Heat

Snow, Ice and Heat

The temperature continued to drop in Farsund in early February, bringing more snow and our first grocery trip in the white stuff. And surface ice started to form around the boat. The ice was still pretty slushy and we could poke through it with a boat hook, but it happened remarkably quickly. We also took…

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Boensbakken

Boensbakken

Hundreds of miles of highways were built throughout Norway in the late 1800s and early 1900s to connect the communities. Since most of the work was done by hand, building tunnels and even blasting large sections of rock away was prohibitively difficult. Where no appropriate route was available, some rather impressive engineering resulted in narrow,…

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Varbak Hill

Varbak Hill

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…

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Farsund Arrival

Farsund Arrival

Our pilot guide describes Farsund as “ice free”, but the entrance to the guest harbour was blocked by ice when we arrived from Andabeloy. Two recent paths through the ice were evident, and we could see clear water beyond, so we selected one that looked from a distance to be mostly clear but with loose…

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Egersund and Area

Egersund and Area

The air temperature was just below freezing as we continued south along the Norwegian coast late January, and the surface ice levels increased, particularly near freshwater inflows away from the warming effects of the Gulf Stream. After departing Kvitsoy, we anchored for a night at Nordragabet near Egersund and saw little ice on a tender…

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Kvitsoy

Kvitsoy

Kvitsoy, with its historic lighthouse and millennium-old stone cross, was on our list of places to visit since our 2018 Norwegian cruise. We finally stopped there on our way south, near the end of our current visit to Norway. Getting there was a little more interesting than usual: we encountered a surprising amount of ice…

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Haugesund

Haugesund

On our third stop in Haugesund, the town was much quieter than our previous visit in early August, when we took the last available berth. Dock space was not a problem late January, and we had the place mostly to ourselves. We spent a peaceful two nights there, and enjoyed a visit from two Stavanger…

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Coastal Vestland

Coastal Vestland

Vestland is Norway’s newest county, established on January 1, 2020, and lies directly south of More Og Romsdal county. After departing Vestland’s administrative center, Bergen, we spent a week cruising coastal Vestland between Austevoll and Lammavagen. We’d already explored much of inland Vestland, including Nordfjorden, Sognefjorden, and Hardangerfjorden but hadn’t spent much time in the…

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January in Bergen

January in Bergen

We returned in January to the beautiful city of Bergen, made even more so with a fresh coating of snow. While there, we enjoyed several walks through the winter landscape, particularly at dusk and dawn. We also refueled, restocked and learned about an awesome new piece of winter gear, shoe grippers, a wonderful invention that…

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More Og Romsdal

More Og Romsdal

We spent the darkest and most northerly part of our Norwegian winter cruise, from early December to early January, in the the More Og Romsdal region directly north of the headland Stad. This area encompasses several major centers, including Alesund, Kristiansund, Andalsnes and Molde, plus spectacular scenic destinations such as UNESCO World Heritage site Geriangerfjord,…

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Helleviksundet and Resesundet

Helleviksundet and Resesundet

Winter storms arrived frequently in early January as we continued south from the headland Stad. We travelled in calmer weather and stopped at Helleviksundet and Resesundet, pictured above, as the systems passed through. In calmer conditions we made a tender trip through the complex islets around Resesundet, and in the stormier weather completed some boat…

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South Around Stad

South Around Stad

When we returned back south of the notorious headland Stad in early January from Haddalsvika, conditions were so calm that we continued along the exposed outer coast rather than taking the more protected channel past Maloy. It was our first time passing the Krakenes Lighthouse, pictured above, on the western coast of Vagsoy, where several…

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Haddalsvika

Haddalsvika

After exploring Storfjorden, we made one more stop in the Ulsteinvik area as we proceeded south. This time we anchored to the southeast in Haddalsvika, surrounded by dramatic winter scenery, and completed our tender tour of the area on another cold but clear day. Below are highlights from Jan 4th, 2021. Click any image for…

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Geirangerfjord

Geirangerfjord

Geirangerfjord, a branch of Storfjorden, is one of the better known and popular fjords in Norway and is part of the West Norwegian Fjords UNESCO World Heritage Site. Full-sized cruise ships regularly travel the waterway, as do the Hurtigruten coastal ferries, local ferries and countless other commercial vessels. A lesser-known branch of of Storfjorden is…

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