A few days in and around Hagan

For those of you who follow us on our facebook page you might have noticed we tend to be more active on it, we have a higher readership there and it has proved easier to do quick updates there too....

Nonetheless I will try to fill you seasoned blogees in on whats been happening since our last blog update. 

We did manage with heavy hearts to pull ourselves away from Bjarkoy, the crossing back south to Hagan began a little rough. Its difficult some times to justify our forecasted 5 m/s rule when we have seen flat calms and stayed in port. Sometimes though, such as when we left Bjarkoy the forecast has underestimed the wind. So while we might steadfastly refuse to venture out in more than what seems a low 5m/s when the forecasters get it wrong we might find ourselves in much higher. Now if we were to use say 10m/s as a cut off we could if the forecast was underestimating find ourselves in some serious conditions in what is without doubt a small boat. Also we both get seasick... It might seem like a joke, living aboard a boat with seasickness but the few times it has been rough where we are in the marina we have actually gone onshore in the brunt of the winds to settle our stomachs... we have joked that maybe life aboard a boat just isn't for us! 

Gammelhamn, Bjarkoy

Leaving Bjarkoy

On returning to Hagan the first job was to the get the cover back in place, the cover is a pain to get on and off the boat, however it saves a huge amount of snow shoveling and at 3am in a blizzard we definitely would prefer an awkward angled slide aboard than another broken sleep shoveling snow! On top of this the cover does offer extra dry space outside which we can leave jackets and shoes which helps make the limited space feel a little more...spacious! Surely that is the first time we have uttered the word Spacious when describing living aboard Quickstep. Unfortunately the downside of leaving shoes or coats outside under the cover is the fact they are literally frozen in the morning. As we set off on a walk though it is Amanda who is laughing, Amanda has a heated jacket and heated soles for her shoes, so when heading out in the bitter cold Amanda likes to compare it to walking in the Med, Daniel however compares it to, well, walking in the Arctic, I guess he has a point! 

Big icicles!

One cloudless day we decided to do exactly what we love to do in the winter, head out for a BBQ in the snow. Another beautifully calm winters day, we walked to one of the several BBQ shelters in Folkenpark, and after a truly...British... attempt at getting the BBQ going we eventually managed to eat some off cold burgers. Food poisoning avoided it was lovely to sit in the sun, surrounded by snow watching the skiers speed past. We even saw one mother out skiing with their child in tow, a little baby carrier with skis on the bottom, genius. In fact I'm tempted to find an adult one so Daniel can do all the work!! 

BBQ lighting

After having the knowledgeable Arnt helping us aboard one day with some maintenance we decided to go out in the bay and run up the main engine, getting a good 30knots certainly a difference from our usual 4knots!! We had also mentioned to Arnt about our escape artist plate, which on one day as we headed up to wash the dishes decided to take a swim and now sits around 6m below Quickstep. Arnt then came down the next morning with a huge pole with a magnet stuck to the end of it, the perfect metal plate picker upper! Unfortunately the plate is clinging on desperately to the seabed. It was worth a try though! I guess it will be a good dieting tool, only one of us can eat at a time!!

Glenn in Bjarkoy had mentioned to us about some bar music for St Patricks day at a local bar, and on Friday we got ready to go out to it. We almost changed our mind as the snow set in for the night but we persuaded ourselves to dig out the wet weather gear and head on out and we are very glad we did. It was a great night, good music, good company and exactly what we needed. 

Since then the temperature has been a good bit warmer in fact much of the snow on the pavements and roads has begun to melt, making for messy walking with slushy snowy gritty mess around the ankles. This hasn't stopped us and nor has the winds today as we walked in to town via Trondenes Kirk. 

Trondenes Kirk

Now though we are thankful for the heaters aboard and are sheltering from the wind while preparing tea, life is certainly good here in Hagan.