Norway at last!!

Well hello from Norway!! 

Quickstep at the pontoon in Hardbakke, Sula

We had been watching a weather window from Baltasound for a week or so which was gradually getting smaller and smaller, having kept an eye we decided to make a go for it and on Wednesday we raced around filling the boat with fuel and preparing her for sea. 

At about 8pm we donned our crewsaver lifejackets and drysuits then decided to head out a look as the wind had calmed down, but following advice from locals we realised the northerly swell might take much longer to calm down and we prepared ourselves with the idea we might turn around fairly quickly. 

As we left the East of Balti island there was indeed a rolling swell from the north, agreeing to get out past the effects of shallow water and land we carried on with outboards. We had planned to use the outboards while the light was diminishing until we could see well enough for planing speeds. Having continued on through the sea sickness at around 3.30am with the first glimmers of light we started the main engine and began knocking of the miles. Our Carson RIB handled the seas valiantly rarely taking the seas with a crash she fought on through. Unfortunately after putting in a good fight our trusty old engine finally gave in with a puff of smoke! It was great in this moment to have our Pains Wessex flares at hand, while you always hope never to need them they are very reassuring. so with 20 miles to land we switched back to the outboards, with land in site we could count down the miles and following our charts we pulled in to Hardbakke in Sula (incidentally our leaving point in 2014). Some 23 hours after leaving Unst we were tied up, tired and a little fraught we looked over the engine damage before heading to bed. 

Amanda looking out over the rocky scenery

Our first morning in Norway was spent tidying up and rearranging lockers, feeling a bit more human we checked over the engine again before grabbing a few packets of Stockans oatcakes and OIP chilli jam heading for a walk and picnic to let the fact we had arrived in Norway set in! On our return to the boat a couple of hours later we jumped aboard to discover the boat was full of water, with water having spread from the engine box through gaps to as far forward as the toilet locker in the cabin area. With quick work we had her emptied of water and assessed the damage to stores and electronics. Unfortunately when we left the boat the trim of the boat had led to the engine exhaust outlet which had burnt through to leak, and the fire extinguishers powder had clogged the bilge pumps. Thankfully damage to stores whilst upsetting hasn't been extensive enough to stop our adventure. We are also thankful we had many of our stores in our waterproof Overboard bags, which saved them from any water at all, and a lot of our electronics were saved by our Vanguard case.

These have obviously never seen many British RIBs before!

so with morale taking a beating we headed north today, the lack of main engine means were running much slower, so the Minox binoculars have been great for spotting other boats in plenty of time to manoeuvre as required. A few hours later we arrived in Færøy a small farming island with a population of around 12, and taking our bottle of champagne to shore we found a spot to stop over looking Quickstep, to sit for a moment and think with clear heads. 

Lots of houses are only accessible from the sea, wouldn't need to worry about traffic here! 

Mostly we are happy to be safe and well in Norway, and on with the journey!! 

Quickstep in Faeroy

The next few days forecast a few gales so we will likely stay put and continue to get ship shape again. The fenders will be vital while we are waiting out the storm at pontoons. 

Faeroy looking towards mainland Norway

The spot tracker appears to have given in too and so we are best tracked by AIS now, for those of you already watching on AIS we have changed from a yellow (high speed craft) to a pleasure vessel, we don't think barely reaching 6 knots counts as a high speed craft!! there also appear to be a problem with our AIS link!! 

Snow on the mountains, it is only April after all!

Over the next few days we will update you on the latest! Thank you to all the kind people who have made our journey possible, and also to our trusty Volvo which fought a good fight!! 

No Norway adventure would be complete without the obligatory champagne!

90th Birthday Beacon

Since arriving back in Unst we have had several gale warnings, reminding us that seasons can be just a word in Shetland (or the whole of Scotland in general) and it would appear hopes of a calm crossing may well be a few weeks off yet. We will keep our eyes on the forecasts though, and over the next few days we hope to load up fuel ready for the off, whenever that might be! We will move from the berth we have kindly been allowed over the winter in to the visitors berth at this point, where we will be until we have the opportunity to head West.

We walked on up towards Saxa vord hill north of Baltasound for the UKs most northern beacon in celebration of the Queens 90th birthday yesterday. There is a stunning view from the beacon site, looking south over the other isles and mainland of Shetland. Its all go at the moment being lambing season but there was a good turnout and even some of the Jarl squad managed to head up and enjoy the bonfire. If that didn't warm up a chilly April evening I don't know what would! Being the most northern UK beacon meant there was even a camera crew there too to broadcast it live with the rest of the UK... a bit of a change in technology over the Queens lifetime I'm sure!!

We have spent a good few weeks on Unst, spread out from our first visit in 2014 to now and Unst has proved a lovely place to spend the weeks. We have been fortunate enough to meet kind people and witness changes throughout the isle. The famous bus shelter here in Baltasound has gone through a few changes in this time too! When we first arrived the shelter was dedicated to Mandela, changing in 2015 to Puffins and in the past few weeks its been redecorated with maps and charts of the world. We think its a great shelter, certainly beats the basic empty shelters we have seen in other parts of the country!

Back aboard!

We have now returned to Quickstep in Unst! With the past few weeks busy with various arrangements seeing us head south we are finally back aboard and in a position to say 'for good' this time!

We've spent the past few weeks spread between Papay, Kirkwall, Aberdeen and a quick stop back in Unst too, in fact we have barely spent a day together darting between places, so it's great to be back aboard, together and waiting for that all important weather window. So long as there is no unforeseen problem it is now our full plan to get on with Papay Arctic Adventure, we have no future appointments or ties to the UK and so it is really a waiting game.

On our short return to Unst last week, the locals were busy with the annual moving of the young salmon. Salmon are anadromous, meaning that in the wild they are born in fresh water migrating to the salt water as adults and returning to fresh water to spawn. The local Salmon farmers have the task of taking the Salmon from the fresh water lochs and to do this they use a helicopter!

With nothing left preventing us beginning our trip to Norway apart from weather we will make the most of the "spare" time to keep adjusting the boat. Now as soon as we spot a spell of calm weather approaching which will need to span Shetland to Norway we will begin the fuel filling process, which with so many litres to load will take a considerable time! We are avoiding loading this too soon as the boat will be so heavy with the added fuel that we will not self drain without being on the plane, this would be a nuisance while living aboard, especially if the weather was to be particularly rough and wet, meaning day or night during rain we would be required to head out with a bucket every now and again - something we would rather avoid!

Unfortunately we are relying on forecasts, which often might not ring true when we look out the window! The logistics of forecasting for Unst a dot miles off the north of Britain surrounded with vicious seas, with nothing North until the north pole, East until Norway and West until Greenland is near impossible, and its no surprise they/us can't always be right! Upsetting for us, a wrong forecast might make us miss one of the few possible crossings which would be suitable for us, and so we can only wait with fingers crossed, patiently (something neither of us are known for!).

All in all it is great to be back on track and fully ready for the crossing, as the season moves on we most likely will be presented with more opportunities for leaving. The added daylight is a real benefit too, in mid December we had only around 7 hours of light a day where as we are now almost at 17hours a day, making for a brighter crossing when it comes, much preferable when travelling at high speeds. It is nice to be on Unst, but our aim when we set off in August was to travel Norway, and that is still very much our plan.

On a little side note which some of you boaty people might find interesting, Carson RIBs (Which Quickstep is one of) are back in production with ProBond Marine, working along side Barry Carson to make great world class RIBs. Give them a look over at http://www.probondmarine.co.uk/ something pretty exciting ahead for these! Who knows, maybe one day you will be able to get your hands on your very own Quickstep!!