Haroysund to Bergsoya

It seems every time we have a more complicated journey to do the right weather always comes over night! Hustadvika is one of the handful of areas over the length of Norway where, like Stadt, the seas can be notoriously bad. More often than not the seas are uncomfortable and flat calms are practically unheard of. Hustadvika covers almost 20 miles from Bud to the calmer waters under the Atlantic Road, where we join the inner leads, in 2014 this is where we all looked in amazement at the different weather hidden beyond the bridge.

Bud around midnight

Concentration face!!

We got set to leave Haroysund in the evening, saying our last goodbyes and tying everything down. We have learnt many times that you do not want anything left mobile when in rough seas, fighting to stand up while trying to tie things down is almost impossible and just bad seamanship. Mind you as we found in Elnesvagen rough seas is not the only time things need to be tied, with a virtual still we left the boat by dinghy returning an hour or so later noticing one of our canoes had blown off in a gust. The canoe had been taken ashore luckily so we found it no problem, on its way it had hung on the VHF aerial, but as we were told the aerial will take anything up to an albatross hitting it, there seems to be truth in that and it was fine! We would definitely invest in them in the future, stronger than any aerial we have had before, perfect for us clumsy types! Thanks Salty John!!

Misty morning

Under the second bridge of the night, joining Bergsoya

Mist beginning to lift

Here comes the rain!!

We left Haroysund just before midnight, with visibility not as good as it had been due to a very overcast day we took it slow, not sure what we might be going in to we always had the option of turning back. As we approached the turning point at Bud the sea which was calm with a little swell got more and more agitated. The scariest part of navigating through Hustadvika is the countless rocks and skerries, some just hidden below the swell meaning you could easily find yourself landing on top of them, being thrashed by the upset sea. There is several routes you can take, the inner route often calmer but shallow in many parts and a maze of rocks, the outer inner route which is calmer too but still riddled with rocks and shallows and the outer routes which whilst avoiding the majority of rocks face the full brunt of the rumbling north sea.
We had plotted several routes, deciding to take it as it comes, mostly though the local consensus is that the inner routes are by far the best option.

As we had been two years ago we were still stuck with the feeling that being close to rocks was something to avoid and headed more out, but realising that the swell would be hideous for the hours it would take to pass Hustadvika we decided to follow local advice and turned in to the inner routes. As soon as we did we breathed a sigh of relief, the swell became much reduced and the pathways were well marked. Unfortunately the already dull night was made worse by a thick foggy rainy way which surrounded us, making visibility limited and following bouyage difficult. We carried on at slow speeds and weaved our way between the skerries, making good time and as the light returned to the sky we approached the Atlantic road. The road with bridge after bridge offers several options for turning in, keen to get out of the large swell we headed towards the first of the bridges, a narrow bridge with some tidal disturbance. Throttling up against the current we pushed through the gap, finding immediate refuge in the inside.

Short walk 

Quickstep at the mooring

Lovely bay

We had noticed that there were KNBF mooring bouys not too far away and thought this would make a nice stopping place to catch up on some sleep and relax a bit before the onward journey. Lucky to get currents with us we made good speed and turned the corner to the first option of bouys, aware that if someone else had beat us to it we would need to carry on. What we hadn't expected was to turn the corner and find that there was no mooring! For whatever reason the bouy was gone and the bay now had a full pontoon with no room left we carried on under the bridge to the next mooring option at Bergsoya.

Clouds beginning to clear

Cant ask for much calmer than that

Beautiful day

We could spot with the binoculars that the bouy was free and with tiredness kicking in we headed in at around 4 and a half knots. We tied up around 8am and having checked everything over headed to bed for a quick rest. Slightly upsetting that this was the first rain and colder weather we had really had in weeks, which requires running the generator for the dehumidifier. Today though the weather has changed and we went ashore on Bergsoya, going a little walk finding some wild strawberries which were unfortunately not quite ripe! The island whilst small at only around 3.4 square miles is busy as it is between two bridges, which forms part of the network of bridges and tunnels connecting this part of Norway to Kristiansund, the closest city.
We will likely head for a reasonably early night and try to regain a more normal sleeping pattern, which is proving difficult with the long bright days and the mad over night travels!!