Bergsfjord, Finnmark county

We enjoyed our time in Skjervoy so much that we put a serious enquiry in to the possibility of staying there for an extended time in the winter.

Leaving Skjervoy

Yesterday though we had the opportunity with weather to head round the corner in to Finnmark, we have to get to Alta over the next few weeks to pick up our heater which had been south near Oslo getting fixed.

Snow on hills, sounds like it won't be long until this is topped up

One of a handful of boats we saw in Finnmarks waters

Sad to leave Skjervoy but excited to reach Finnmark, we left just before midday when the sea had calmed down. As we previously mentioned to round the figurative corner that marks the end of Troms county and into Finmark there is another passage completely open to the wrath of the sea. With a small weather window we followed the near windless weather that kept the confused swell manageable for the 30 miles passage.

A beauty of its own the stark barrenness of the mountains and cliffs

A lone house looking out towards the North Pole

We were vaguely heading towards Bergsfjord a village in mainland Finmark that is only accessible by boat. Looking at charts and books the village seemed the best bet in the time we had available. As we have headed further north, especially past Tromso, the sense of being alone at sea has increased. Not only in the lack of towns and villages, but in fact any signs of life anywhere. We have often contented with other boats of all sizes from ferries to fishing boats and pleasure boats whilst we were further south, but on this passage there were none of the later and only a couple of fishing boats. One cargo ship plied the indrelia, the north south shipping lane heading for Svolvear in the Lofoten Islands and then we were totally alone in an undulating world bordered by hills and mountains

Coaster passing us by

Approaching Bergsfjord

A metropolis compared to the areas we have seen 

Arriving in Bergsfjord just before 18:00 and only a few minutes before sunset, (just over 11 hours of having the sun above the horizon now and in a few short weeks we will say goodbye to the sun completely until late January) we tied up to a space in a small marina. The village has cars and about 6 miles of road but no road access over the mountains to the rest of Norway. Everything goes in and out by ferry. We went for a short walk in the rain taking our first steps in Finnmark. The village looked very pretty even in the rain and grey evening light...we hope to explore more over the next few days.

Pontoons at Bergsfjord

Calm before the storm

Quickstep was quite exposed on the outer guest pontoon and as the wind increased at around 5am we made the decision to move her to one of the more sheltered finger berths. Unsure if this was privately owned or could be used by guests we walked to the shop this morning to look for local advice. As we had suspected the berth was private but might not be needed at this time or we could move to another which would definitely be available. Speaking to the kind people at the shop we were offered free use of their apartment to save us sitting aboard on the wet and windy day, another act of amazing kindness. We have now moved during a lull in the wind to the other berth, the scenery is beautiful and we are considering wrapping out and heading in to the rain to explore.