Torghatten - Donna

We arrived as planned near Torghatten, in the same place we stopped in 2014. Torghatten can be seen for miles, a peculiar sight from the distance, especially as you get closer and begin to notice the hole through the centre. We could see Torghatten as we worked our way up the coast, but as we came closer the "mountain with a hole in it" disappeared behind the thickening fog. As we went along we noticed on our depth sounder that there was signs of lots of fish and stopped for moment in the shallows to throw the line over, we caught 5 fish before deciding to carry on. Our plan was to anchor in the inlet but when we came in there was already 3 large yachts at anchor and this would have left limited space for swinging so instead we tied up at the pontoon.

Weather north of Torghatten was to be windier for a few days so we stayed put and walked around the base of Torghatten, it was a lovely walk which took us around the coast. The fog had lifted a bit and so the hole in the hill was easily visible from the pathway.
The next morning we left with thoughts of aiming to Donna, where we had spent a night in 2014 and really enjoyed the secluded anchorage. There were a few possibilities of anchorages we had taken note of and we went north for what we knew would be a long days motoring. The first challenge was to get past Bronnoysund, a city just a short distance above Torghatten, which forms the passageway to the north. The narrow stretch of water has another semi quick current running at certain states of tide, but more tricky for us is the main passageway is used by most boats, pleasure to cargo the narrow bridge sees them all. Meeting many boats at this point can be unavoidable and uncomfortable at 4knots. We took a turn to allow a large cargo ship to pass us and get under the bridge before us. Unfortunately as we followed behind the ship another came from the other direction, but all in all we got through the gap without too much excitement!

The hole which we climbed to in 2014

Torghatten

As we were motoring up the gap we spotter a rather large 21m yacht pulling in, on closer inspection we saw she was British, our first sighting of a British boat so far.

Small island covered in Herons

Traditional boat

We approached a possible sheltered anchorage at the south of Donna but we had been beat to it by two other boats and so carried on. There had been fog lingering all day but not enough to effect navigation but in the early hours the fog dropped and became very thick, with all eyes on watch we carried on and made our way to the anchorage here in Donna. With one other boat in the bay there was plenty of room for us too and we dropped anchor around 3am.
After a good rest we moved further up the bay and reset our anchor before heading on a 10mile walk to the shop to pick up fuel. Donna is a large and pretty island and it was nice to see north by foot, last time only having looked south.

Fog beginning to get lower

Calm pulling in to Donna

We are possibly planning to stay here a few days as there is some stronger winds further north which we can mostly avoid being here and the anchorage here seems quite sheltered, but as we have updates on the weather we will get a clearer picture.
The late evening of the 14th July marked exactly two years since we first arrived in Norway 2014. That seems like a long time ago! If it hadn't been for the incredible welcome we had received back then who knows where we would be now, very thankful to have the opportunity to be here and with Quickstep again too! We are now about 30miles from the Arctic Circle and only around 52miles from our furthest northern point of Stott. After that, its all uncharted territory as far as we're concerned, exciting times! In other news the guys we met in Bessaker with water pump problems have made it to Tromso, well done to them!
Our plan on the way north is to possibly explore a little of Lofoten as we taken a longer route to Harstad, which we plan to be at leaving plenty of time before Daniels mum and sister arrive, in case of bad weather or other unavoidables!

Quickstep at anchor, Donna

Calm for a paddle in the canoes

Tetbukta moving North passing Rorvik

Tetbukta anchorage was stunning. the bay had only one house in view and we spent the time tucked away from the wind, working but also exploring. Part of the reason we had anchored was we had two fairly powerful currents to consider before passing Rorvik. The narrow pathways between the islands and mainland can cause a 4 knot current and if we got it wrong we would be heading backwards! So by chance we had found the anchorage and we are very glad we did. When all jobs were done we explored by dinghy and canoes, walking the shore and also we came across a patch of wild strawberries. Amandas first wild strawberries she was surprised at there size but they certainly were worth taking the time to pick. really delicious!

Calm anchorage

Quickstep at anchor

Wild Strawberries

Having looked in to the appropriate times to pass the various strong current areas we decided to leave Tetbukta to go past Rorvik yesterday evening. The forecast along the way was for very low winds between 1 and 3 m/s. As we made our way between mainland and one of the islands being pushed by about 2knots of current the sea was almost flat calm, just perfect! There is an area of fjord which is totally open to the sea and we had picked the low winds to give us as calm of crossing as possible. As we started to cross the fjord the sea swell was aggravated by an increasing unforecasted wind and we turned to take a wider angle so to avoid a side sea . The fjord crossing, about an hour and a half was certainly the worst sea we have seen so far in Norway and made for an uncomfortable passage. Thankfully as we found shelter on the other side the wind dropped again and we had a much smoother motor. Since 2014 more comfortable with the boat and more accustomed with the topography of Norway we have braved going places that seemed too narrow or close to shore before.

We had found somewhere on the charts that looked like a protected anchorage to stop at just beyond Rorvik and just after the stunning sunset we approached, as we got closer we noticed the bay had been completely cut off with a fish farm and we headed slightly further north to plan b. When we turned in to it there was a boat moored near the centre not leaving us enough room for swinging if the wind changed so further along the same inlet we went to plan c which had buoys and another boat in. The disadvantage of planning to go to anchor is that the area can easily be taken by another boat etc.
Without much option we carried on and found a small marina along the coast near Otteroya, and around 3am we tied up and headed to bed!

Beautiful sunset near Rorvik

Sea eagle on navigational aid

A bit camera shy though!

This morning just a few hours since arriving we left again and are currently making our way north, we have passed Leka where we had stopped in 2014 and Torghatten (the mountain with a hole in it) is in sight. Roughly our chartplotter suggests its just under 100nm to the arctic circle! Amazing to think we went from Lysoysund to the Arctic Circle in one go in 2014, we will likely have a handful of stops yet!
We are in another of the open areas and so it is a rougher journey just now, with several bigger ships around as well as pleasure boats, so we best get back to watching out.

Lovely colours in the sky (and sea!)