Sandsoya - Haramsoya - Svinoya

It was really nice to be back on Sandsoya, a beautiful and peaceful island just a few miles away from where Stadts defiante cliffs stand, with crashing tides and rolling swell. Sheltered within the mole we would have liked to have spent longer exploring the island and taking part in the 17th celebrations, unfortunately we have to push on to get the engine looked over. We did join the pub night on Monday evening in the exceptionally well put together Rosenlund bar, from the actual bar made from an old wooden boat to the trinkets and old fishing gear throughout the building it was very lovely. For a small island the party atmosphere was really getting fired up, the night before the 17th traditionally a goodnatured hair down and knees up event!

Sandsoya

With a few long days for us we retired early leaving the night to continue. Before setting off again the next day we took the time to go a walk along the road in the opposite direction as we had explored last time in 2014. It looked a great area to explore by dinghy with inlets and bays all around. As we were leaving Sandshamn we saw Norwegians in traditional dress... looks like everyone was going to have a great day!

From Sandsoya we had roughly 80nm to the boatyard where we will be lifted out all being well and so at a cruising speed of between 4 and 5 knots we had quite a distance to go. While in many ways travelling at the slower speeds is nice in that we get to see much more its major drawback is the lack of speed when coming in to busier areas. With ferries running all day back and fore throughout the smallest and largest Norwegians isles it requires a lot of concentration to avoid ferries travelling at anywhere from twice to ten times our speed! As the night was drawing in we decided to go through another area we hadn't been looking forward to. To avoid going outside the islands and remain within the inner leads there is an area of shallow water with, in effect, a marked road which boats from dinghys to huge cargo ships use.

Meeting a huge cargo ship along here with low speeds was something we really wanted to avoid, especially as the area in 2014 had proved one of the roughest areas we had gone through. Thankfully our decision to navigate through it in the late evening paid off and the calm weather made for a totally calm passage and we didn't meet any ships through it.

Shortly after there we pulled in for the night on a island similar in size to Papay, Haramsoya. Turning in to the huge mole harbour we stopped for just a few hours sleep and a quick walk to the petrol station before leaving early the next morning to carry on North.

Someone having luck with the fishing, one for Douglas!

We had read that the KNBF (Royal Norwegian Boating Federation) had set up mooring buoys throughout norway free to use which offer a stopping point for passing boats. We had seen one which was on our route and having passed by Molde we turned off the main fjord heading a little inland to the buoy hidden between islets and mountains in the distance.

A nice stopping place for Daniels birthday today, Happy Birthday Daniel!! Today we took the dinghy ashore and had a bbq in the sun for Daniels birthday. Over the next few days we will continue our journy to the boatyard.

Yesterday on our way we were spotted by a friend in neighbouring island of Gossa, and we hope to visit there too. For now we will continue the birthday celebrations and exploring.

Spotted by Lars Kristian

Today marks three weeks in Norway! Where has the time gone! We have had a few issues to deal with and it hasn't always gone smoothly, but it has all been worth it.