Skjervoy

Looking North over Skjervoy 

As mentioned in the previous blog post we are now in Skjervoy, one of the busier towns in this area. We spent the afternoon exploring the town and climbing to a great view point above the marina.

Skjervoy is one of the Hurtigrutens stops, the Hurtigruten pulls in to port 34 times in total on its voyage between Bergen and Kirkenes, several less than us then!

A lovely place to stop at the top of the hill

Since Daniels mum and sister left we are beginning to think more seriously about finding a winters berth. having never been in Norway in winter and certainly having no real idea of living aboard a 23ft boat in the North of Norway for winter we need to keep as many possibilities open as we can.

The further inland down fjords we go and we run the risk of being stuck with sea ice, which could cause all manner of problems for the boat too. The further out on the coast we go and we are much more exposed to the harshness of winters winds and seas.

Sun shining through to Skjervoy on an overcast day

Many of the smaller marinas close down for winter, an indication of the weather we might be facing! Its also a necessity for us to find somewhere with running water, which again with the low temperatures, water is often turned off. We would love to find somewhere with a shower too, using the spray shower on deck in two foot of snow at minus several just doesn't appeal!

With our only transport the boat and our feet we will need to find somewhere with a shop in walking distance. While I'm sure there are many marinas that would be ideal we are beginning to get late in the season for finding them, we could easily find ourselves stuck in port for weeks at a time.

Its a fine balancing act, unfortunately having really just arrived in the North we have now got a rush to find somewhere that is suitable and willing to have us! So we are more likely to pull in to several marinas over the next weeks as we move around the area, checking out various possibilities.

Here at Skjervoy, at 70 degrees North we are actually further north than parts of Greenland, Alaska, Russia and most of Finland, in fact mainland Norway only reaches 71 deg N. We are now a stones throw away from Finnmark, the remaining northern county of Norways mainland.

Finnmark has a population of roughly 75000, similar to Tromso, whilst covering a land mass bigger than the Netherlands, Denmark or Switzerland, you can imagine its going to be fairly empty!
Finnmark also has a staggering 6844km of coastline, it would take a life time to explore it all! We, I'm afraid do not have a life time, nonetheless we are looking forward to exploring what we can.

So when the appropriate weather appears we might try to pass the next section of totally open sea to round the corner towards Alta.

Its beginning to feel a little more wintry here, the nights have really drawn in and the northern light have made several appearances, the temperature is regularly below 10degC and pleasure boats are being loaded on trailers and disappearing home to be tucked in for the winter. We are excited for what winter will hold but we can't deny we are a bit nervous, there are a lot of decisions to be made in a short time!

Tromso - Hamneidet - Skjervoya

Monday as planned we arrived in Tromso around midday. The city centre marina lacked any real facilities at all, no showers or toilets, a little disappointing having paid the highest marina fee yet of £27! Nonetheless it was a city centre berth and was in a good position for exploring Tromso. 

Could be in the Caribbean! 

Floating pontoon at Ryoya

Approaching Tromso

In the centre with the Rica hotel in the background

Tromso has a population of around 73000, the city is built within Tromsoya, Tromso island, an island about 10km long and 3km wide, the overspill from the city on the mainland joined by a bridge and the outer island of Kvaloya also joined by a bridge. The marina despite Tromso having a great deal of tourism was fairly empty, there were however plenty of tourists bundling off the Hurtigruten. 

Hurtigruten

We walked around the town, full of interesting architecture and an impressive cafe and restaurant scene, but surrounded by nature and walks. The city is home to around 11000 students, from all around the world offering classes in English as well as Norwegian. Its one of the busier places we have been, however everyone was very friendly and the transformation from deserted anchorage to busy city was easy.

Tromso centre

The library was very nice and we also walked around the most northern protestant cathedral in the world, which is also Norway's only wooden cathedral. The larger hotels in Tromso were all of interesting design, really standing out, far from many of the characterless square buildings we have seen before. 

Tromso Library

DomKirke, Protestant cathedral

Cathedral Organ

With only one night in Tromso we decided to walk across the bridge in the late afternoon and head towards the viewpoint over Tromso 400m above, there are cable cars which can take you there, but having been fairly boat bound the day before we decided to stretch our legs. Passing the Arctic Cathedral on the way, unlike the wooden Domkirk, protestant cathedral, this 1965 build is a daring architectural design. 

Arctic Cathedral by day

Arctic Cathedral by night

The walk up the hill in the dimming light was pretty tiring, we definitely could feel it on the legs, amazingly well looked after by the people of Tromso, parts of the walk were stone steps. Having made it to the top we stopped for a minute to catch our breath and appreciate the fantastic views, in the dark with the city lights spreading over both bridges, what a sight! By torch light we made our way down another path, we thought it might be a little easier going, it was less steep but longer! 

Beginning of the walk up the hill

Tromso by night

Looking across the bridge to Tromso

Mainland side of Tromso

Around midnight we got back aboard and in to bed, the alarm again set early for suitable weather and currents. Tromso marina was a really nice stop, but without facilities and expensive in comparison to others in Norway (Harstad town for example was £10 including showers and access to toilets and clubroom) we had decided to only spend one night there. 

Since leaving Tromso and typing this we have been in a signal black spot, honestly we aren't surprised as there are next to no settlements, certainly in comparison to further south where much of the coast is dotted with villages and cabins, here we motor for hours with no sign of anything but mountains and sea. 

The Tromso bridge leaving in the early hours

Fog came down like a curtain, giving very poor visibility, ship hidden in fog

The journey North from Tromso saw us reaching one of the fjords which are totally open to the sea, with nothing between us and the north pole, a lot of the northern parts of Norway are like this as there are fewer protecting islands. Thankfully for us it was a beautiful day with the fjord virtually flat calm, we stopped for a short time watching some dolphins, realising what the fjord might become like if the wind got up we moved on as quick as we could.

Amazingly we through chance had the current with us for most of the way, at one point near Tromso we had 3 knots with us, glad we weren't battling against it! The extra boost we had from the current meant we could maintain 5knots which was great as we were aiming to make a good distance while the weather allowed. 

A shy dolphin

Flat calm leading out towards the north pole!

We had been vaguely heading towards a KNBF buoy which was between two uninhabited islands, as we turned to come in the south passageway we could clearly see the bottom, at one point an uncharted rock just inches away from the hull. The buoy unfortunately didn't look like any of the other KNBF buoys we had seen and not wanting to tie on to a private mooring we continued on, this time going through the slightly deeper Eastern passage! 

There was another buoy marked further east near Skjervoya, so we aimed towards it, it was in this sound that we had the first current against us, dropping our speed to high 3knots, could have been worse though! We were beginning to run out of daylight hours, spotting a small marina on the other side of the sound we decided to take a look. The weather was beginning to change too so a sheltered marina was appealing. 

Hamneidet marina was a small and quiet stop, there was no sign of shops and just a handful of houses this suited us fine though, in comparison to Tromso this was the cheapest marina we have been to at only £3 a night. Some 51miles and just short of 11 hours of moving it was nice to get off the boat to stretch our legs. Hoping to get a weather forecast we went in search of phone signal in the evening, finally finding limited service up a small hill, enough to tell us that the next week wasn't looking as calm as we have been having and that if we hope to cross the next open sea area towards Hasvik it wouldn't be for several days. 

Hamneidet Marina

Staying in port for Wednesday we went a longer walk up one of the much higher hills nearby, incredible views over the neighbouring islands and mountains. We even managed to pick a bag full of blueberries, we had thought they would be finished by now. The blueberries made a great treat in a smoothie in the evening. 

Looking towards Isfjord glacier

This morning was calmer weather so we made the short hop around the corner to Skjervoya, which is the biggest town in the area with  a population just short of 2000. It also lies beyond 70 deg North!! Sitting aboard in Papay at just north of 59deg, 70 seemed infeasibly far away! Since leaving Papay we have now travelled over 1600 miles! 

Amazing peaks!

Shortly we will go and explore with the camera and update you later.

A night on Anchor

After yesterdays early start to catch the nice weather, which appeared to be totally off the mark as we fought a side sea, we made our way between Dyroya and mainland Norway and the sea calmed down to another beautiful day. We have been so spoilt with the weather that as soon as there is a ripple in the ocean we are thinking its rough! I'm guessing we will have to get over that idea in the coming months though! 

Leaving Andorja and the region we have spent several weeks

Besides calm seas we have been fortunate to have seen very little rain throughout our time in Norway, yesterday though we seemed to have plenty. With the cold rain on the windows visibility its quickly ruined by the steaming up, so most of yesterday we ran the generator to use the dehumidifier, it also puts out a bit of heat which is great as the temperature has dropped below the double figures. 

We weren't entirely sure where we were going to stop for the night, the fjord which leads towards Tromso from the north tip of Senja requires an amount of planning for our slow speeds, so we knew we would likely pull in to somewhere on Senja. As we turned to head north along Senja we had reached the same point we had driven to a few days earlier and so we are again in our most Northern place! 

Autumnal trees

Approaching the bridge which joins Senja to mainland we noticed someone on the coast taking photos of us, which we have since seen on the AIS ship details! Shortly after the bridge we spotted Gibostad a small town on Senja and decided in the pouring rain to pull in to marina there, a night plugged in to electricity seemed appealing to keep the boat dry and cosy. Having tied up to the finger berths we discovered that the electricity wasn't fully wired in down the pontoon and so we decided as we were closer to houses we couldn't run the generator for the evening and so we untied and left again. 

Bridge to Senja 

Windows misting up we found an anchorage just north of Gibostad, throwing the anchor over for the first time in weeks. Strange feeling relying on an anchor again, its been so long that even in the light winds we were a little uneasy, so we ended up throwing a stern anchor over too. 

The current can run up to 6knots through aptly names Straumsfjorden, 6knots is over our current top speed, so we had to look in to what state of tide would help us through. The rising tide flows easterly so we set our alarm for 5am hoping to get through the fjord with ease, The strongest straumens are near the island which is dotted in the middle of the end of the fjord, virtually blocking it. This island Ryoya was historically used for executions, now though it is the Universities Muskox reserve, so landing is not recommended! 

Sunny morning

With another early start due we had an early night. We are currently making our way along Straumsfjord which as yet has no real strong currents, possibly the neap tides will keep things in check, if not we have hopefully timed it right so that it will carry us through. We are considering aiming towards Tromso, one of the few large cities in the North. Tromso is known as the Paris of the north due to the fashion sense, so heading there in our rough boaty clothes is a bit laughable, hopefully they will go easy on us, who knows maybe we can set some new trends!! 

Speed ferry, sending out a significant wake!

Misty early morning

On the move again

Yesterday as the alarm rang at 4am after hours of sleep which could be counted on the fingers of one hand we lugged ourselves out of bed to get ready for the several hours drive to Evenes airport, where we would drop Daniel's Mum and Sister off. 

With our goodbyes said we drove the remaining distance in to Harstad town centre to drop off the car in time for catching the speed ferry back to Andorja. We were in to Harstad in plenty of time for the ferry which only left at 3pm, so we made use of the time to buy some paint for the wheelhouse, something we will have to wait for a sunny day to do. 

Fortunately throughout the whole of Daniel's families visit the weather was beautiful, unfortunately for us the weather seems to have turned perhaps more seasonal, it is Autumn after all. So far we have been aboard in Spring, Summer and now Autumn too, each one of these brings their own highlights. The early snow falls could be any time now, we can also expect a windier season, forcing us to spend more time in port. 

As we speeded across the fjord on the speed ferry toward Andorja we discussed our aims to head further north before winter, it was obvious to us that if we hoped to get north at this time of year we would have to take any weather window we were offered, using calms for moving instead of relaxing in one area, a shame but a sacrifice that has to be made. 

With this in mind we stepped it out on the walk from the ferry port at one end of the island to Laupstad, as soon as we reached the boat starting the engines and preparing to move. 

There was only about two hours of light left and as we pulled away the mist and rain set in so we decided to spend the night in Engenes (next to the speed ferry port) on the same island. At only around 5 miles it might not seem worth it, but every mile counts and it was on route, it was a good short move to get us back in to the swing of things too. 

Tied up to the visitors pontoon in Engenes we sorted the boat out for an early night. One of the most exciting parts of this was getting the bed ready, this because Daniels mum had kindly brought with her our new mattress covers. What's so exciting about mattress covers I hear you ask, well we had looked online for the cheapest possible duvet covers to use as covers, it just so happens the cheapest we could find were these super cool (!) One Direction ones!! So Quickstep is looking a little like a teenage girls bedroom, but hey, it was worth the save...maybe! Certainly no tours aboard, what can I say, Daniel's a huge 1D fan!! 

With 1 Direction in bed we joined them for a few hours before an early start at 6am to make the most of the weather, the promised force 1 doesn't seem to have come but we set out anyway in to a rougher sea than we are used to with several options of stops if we need it. As I type we are heading between Dyroya and mainland Norway, with plans at the moment to spend tonight somewhere on Senja. Updates and photos to follow tonight when we stop.

A short "Holiday" in Norway!

It has been lovely to share the beauty of Norway with Daniels family, we have been lucky enough to have had some incredible weather for them too. The sun has provided warm September days, the leaves beginning to fall from the trees on these windless days.

A walk on Dyroya, looking across to Senja

When Daniels family had originally booked over to Norway we had our fingers crossed for at least one day of calm, we need not have worried though, its been calm for 90% of their stay, hopefully that calm weather can hold on a little longer, it would make the rest of our journey north much smoother sailing! 

It has seemed a little strange to feel like we have been basically abandoning the boat, only having moved her once on a quick trip to Kjotta. Had time allowed we would have loved to take her further, showing Daniels family some of the quiet beautiful places we have explored in the passed weeks, Helloya, Bjarkoy and Meloyvaer. 

Calm evening return sail from Kjotta

We have taken advantage of the opportunity to give Quickstep a bit of an overdue spring clean, unloading lockers before cleaning and repacking. Its nice also to get a proper idea of what stock we have aboard. 

Away from jobs aboard we have had a very relaxed weeks "Holiday", we hired a car in Harstad and have toured by land, reaching walks and sights we just couldn't do by foot. A day trip to Sweden was exciting too, always fun to see a new country. The walks within the Abisko National park were beautiful, we would love to spend more time in Sweden in the future too. They were treated to a great Northern Lights show during their stay too.

Lovely walks on Andorja

We even headed north along the road, so technically we have been further north than Quickstep, we will be sure to change that soon though! While we had the ability with a car we have enjoyed seeing further inland areas, we are unlikely to have a car again during our time in Norway, the inland parts were just as impressive as the coastal scenery. In another life time we would like to spend years walking and cycling through Norway, there is simply too much to see, too little time!  

Flat calm mid September weather

What an experience being back in a house too, having separate rooms to walk between is a bit of a novelty for us! Being able to get up in the morning walk to the kitchen and put the kettle on is far removed from waking up, rolling up our mattresses before digging in the lockers to find the kettle and coffee, starting the generator.... As nice as it has been to have the luxury of space we are quite eager to get back to our lives on Quickstep, it might have its disadvantages but for us the lifestyle is great. 

So tomorrow after returning the car in Harstad via the airport we will get the speed ferry back to Engenes and walk the remaining miles back to Quickstep in Laupstad, we will if time (evenings are noticeably shorter now) and weather permits we might head a few miles north. If that isn't possible we hope to move soon after, overall we are aiming roughly towards Alta, but who knows where we will find to stop. 

Hot autumn days

Blog up and running again

Thanks to all of you who have followed us on Facebook after our technology problems forced us away from updating with the blog.
Now though we have the wherewithal to carry on with our blog!
We are at the moment having a two week 'holiday' whilst family are visiting and so we are land-based adventuring. Today we even explored a little of Sweden by car. Soon though our plan is to heading north again, probably towards Alta. We will update regularly on our Autumn cruise north.

Daniel off for a cycle

Lovely train station in Sweden

Lavvu in Sweden

First class trains in Sweden

Sami art 

Canyon in Abisko National Park

Lovely walks in the park

Further up the canyon

The river

Abisko National Park