Into the lysefjord

29-07-2010


After another nice sunny day in stavanger the weather deteriorated. Low clouds and sometimes drizzle were on.
However we wanted to go to the lysefjord so we left stavanger.
As said , the weather was bad but mainly dry.
At noon we arrived at the Lysefjord entrance .


Entrance to the Lysefjord.

Here we made a short fuelling stop at the Lysefjord marina ( a very small harbour but "marina" has a different meaning in Norway!).
On we went into the Lysefjord.
It had a somewhat lugubrious view with the clouds hanging over the very steep mountains which go up to 1000 meters.


A 36 feet Hallberg Rassy in front of a 700 meter steep cliff makes a nice comparasion.

When we arrived at the Prekestolen which is a flat view point at a 600 meter cliff that hangs over the Fjord the Prekestolen itself was not visible because of the low clouds!


Where the .... is that .... Prekestolen??

But here is a picture from the internet.


Prekestolen in the lysefjoprd.
Yes , we sailed "downstairs" in the fjord.

Its possible to make a tour up to the Prekestolen , but you have to do it from Stavanger because there is no mooring facility at the Fjord apart from the ferry jetty.
Anyway its a tiring walk so we better stay on board(!!).
The platform itself is absolutely unsecured but people seem to be fearless because some of them just sit at the very edge and look down below.
Not something for someone with vertigo like myself (yes!, but never was seasick!).

But there are lots of other nice views in the lysefjord.


One of the many waterfalls.

At 15.00 we arrived at Lyseboth at the very end of the Lysefjord.


View at lyseboth.

Lyseboth isn't a real village but there are some houses , a camping , a base jumping club and a huge fire station(?).
Also the ferry from and to stavanger comes four times a day ( twice the slow one and twice the fast one).
Lyseboth is famous for the base jumping sport where people jump off the mountain with a parachute and gliude down to a small piece of land besides the fjord.
However because of the low clouds the was very little activity.


YELLOWDREAM at the Lyseboth quay.


Waiting for the next ferry.

At the top of the mountain next to Lyseboth the is a restaurant with a fantastic view.
However at takes a long ride at a rooad with 36 hairpin curves to get there!


Restaurant "Eagles nest".

Shortly after we moored to the quay the last fast cat ferry arrived.
The boat was violently thrown against the wall by the long , high waves . Lucky enough we had enough fenders hanging out so there was no damage.
What i did not yet look at was the warning on a big billboard which gives a warning for this!
We moved for one of the few finger pontoons which seemed quite safe. However when during the night the wind increased we were bumping heavily.
Therefore we decided to move to the Lysefjord marina the next morning.
So mooring at lyseboth isn't very advisable. Maybe the best option is anchoring bows to the Fjord and strn to the quay at reasonable distance.( 5-10 meters up to 50 meters off the shore).

The next day it turned out to be a good alternative to moor at the finger pontoon ,that's for the fast ferry , not for the onshore wind!
Later the next morning we went to Lysefjord marina which is a nice small place with the supermarket nextby. Also here ther is some disturbance from the fast ferry . Something to keep in mind in the whole fjord area of Norway!

31-07-2010

Because Stavanger was still overfilled at Glatmat we moved to Sandness at the end of the Gandsfjord.



Sandnes is a rather unattractive town but the harbour is ok and there is free wireless internet available as you can see.
Tomorrow we will go back to Stavanger.

to be continued.