We have been aware we would need to return to the UK for a short time over the winter to deal with a few bits and pieces. We had originally been planning a trip over in the depth of winter around the end of January, for several reasons including the difficult logistics of leaving a boat unattended during the snowiest period we have had to shift this trip forward. With this in mind we made the decision in Skjervoy to head south towards Harstad where we had a possible winter berth and also access to an international airport.
For us it was a difficult decision, having just arrived in the far north and with so much to explore we felt hard done by to leave again, we do however appreciate that exploring Finnmark in our boat is ostensibly a summer undertaking. Overwintering in Harstad will give us a great position for continuing our adventure north when weather allows in the new year, whilst we are also excited for local winter cruising around the beautiful areas and islands near Harstad, including Helloya, Bjarkoy and Melloyvaer.
So, we started the great race south again, its worth bearing in mind while it is south from Skjervoy, Harstad still lies well in to the Arctic region at almost 150miles north of the Arctic Circle. Norways coast as we have previously mentioned can have fairly powerful currents, something we wouldn't particularly noticed at 20+knots but at 4knots require planning around. We departed from Skjervoy in the early hours, with daylight becoming shorter and shorter we have had to accept that longer journeys will most likely include an amount of navigating in the dark, we have spotlights aboard which are very handy for spotting buoys, nonetheless it can make for a more stressful journey.
We thought we were doing really well on leaving Skjervoy with the current helping us along and the seas relatively calm we made our way in good time towards Tromso. Approaching the sound which would take us to Tromso with plenty of time before the current changed, as we made our way south through the sound we were a bit worried that the current appeared to be against us, against all we had read in guide books and online. The current can reach 6 knots, with under the bridge feeling the strongest effects, if we arrived here against the strongest tides we would have no power to push through, leaving us stuck on the wrong side of the bridge.
The eddies and tidal effects were clear to see as we drew nearer and we pushed the throttle control on both outboards to full, with 16hp we crept closer, being thrown around by the boiling waters below, aware as we motored between the narrow bridge pillars that if we were thrown off by tide we could easy find ourselves without the power to correct our course and collide with the solid posts. At full throttle the outboards can push us at around 6knots but we were only managing a sluggish 1.8knots! Thankfully we made it under the bridge and the town marina is a short distance on the starboard side, a motorboat came speeding in on front of us lunging us from side to side in its wake. The marina surrounded by a mole offered us protection from the current and so we throttled back, as we approached an empty berth the same motorboat dashed in on front of us, we tied up across from the motorboat and wrapped up warm to head out and see the sights.
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| Fighting against the tide |
We were a little disappointed to find that the winter rate hadn't started at the marina yet, despite the fact they had turned off the water supply leaving us quite short aboard. The pontoons however are very nice, there was a bright light underwater on the pontoon which drew a lot of interest from the fish, it felt as if we were moored in an aquarium! Having had a very early start we decided to have an early night, plans were dashed though by the same motorboat playing painfully load music through the night, burying our heads below our pillows though we were relieved when the music came to an end after 4am. With currents not allowing us to leave before after midday we opted for a lay in.
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| Hundreds of fish |
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| Tromso by night and the bright underwater light surrounding Quickstep |
Our lay in was cut short by the sound of people jumping aboard at 7am, confused and half asleep climbing out of bed to see what on earth was going on we hadn't expected to find a couple of love birds on deck who had assumed our boat might be empty! A little grouchy we sent them on their way, having a laugh about it when we had a chance to wake up properly! Tromso wasn't quite the quiet town we had seen before, it provided a good laugh though.
With a few hours before the change of tides we walked to the West side of Tromso island to buy some oil for the outboards, it was nice to see the other side of the island, where most tourists will never see. With oil purchased we prepared to leave and followed the current south, as we turned west past Ryoy we had the full current with us, sending us along at over 9knots! Almost back to our planing days!!
With only moonlight we anchored in the same area we had done near Gibostad on the way north, only 21 days earlier! Strange being on anchor again. With more strong currents nearby we planned another particularly early start which we hoped might see us most of the way to Harstad. So in the dark of 5am we pulled up the anchor and made our way south. The cloudy morning meant the sky barely brightened before 8am. The wind was low though and we motored on past Engenes, passing Kjotta and arrived in Harstad. We had to take care tying the boat up, the temperature had plummeted to zero and there was a frosty way on the pontoons, as the evening went on the temperature fell to -3degC! A little introduction to winter for us, its since then struggled to get above freezing. We have now moved in to the marina berth we will have over winter and spoke to some friendly people here at the marina.
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| In Harstad |
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| At our Winter berth |
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