From Stavern to Strömstad in Sweden

12-08-2010


Today we left Norway to make the crossing to Sweden over the outer part of the Oslo Fjord.
The weather forecast gave a nice day with a force 2-4 wind from south-east.
From Stavern its a almost straight line so its very easy navigation.
One should take care of the many big ferries which are crosing this part from and to Oslo but today we only saw one in the distance.
The first part was a nice close hauled sail but in the afternoon the wind died so we had to ask our diesel again to do its job. It was again a nice and sunny day with a smooth sea.
Strömstad is a border town near the Norwegian/Swedish border.
It has a very large guest harbour with up to 300 berths but when we came in there was place enough so we chose a nice one close to the service building.


Part of Strömstad guestharbour.

Its a rather expensive harbour ( 220 SKr) but the toilets, showers and internet acces are free contrarely to Stavern and other rather expensive harbours.

From Risør to Stavern

10-08-2010


As written before we had to change plans so today we sailed to Stavern.
Again it was a beautiful day with a nice wind so we could sail all the way to Stavern.
That afternoor ,about two hours before arrival the wind increased to a force 5-6 , luckily from the stern, and we where making over 6 knots with only half the rolled genoa!
Later that evening and that night there was a gale force 7 and the boat as rocking on its berth.
We coincidally had the same berth as two years ago with our Leisure 23 "Yellow Bird".

YELLOWDREAM in Stavern harbour.

Allthough the wind had decreased we decided to stay one day before we set off to Sweden.
Stavern is a nice little town with an excellent guest harbour and good facilities.
Its the ideal harbour as port of departure for a crossing to Strömstad in Sweden.

From Arendal to Risør

09-08-2010


Today we sailed from Arendal to Risør which town should be the departure port for the shortest crossing over the Skagerrak back to Hirtshals in Danmark . However , things will come different!
It was a very nice trip with some wind so we could sail again.
The day was fine with much sun .
Again it was a rather short trip partly through the skeres and partly over sea close to the shore.
Already this morning we saw at the internet weather that we could not preceed with our planned crossing.
Allthough the weather at the Norwegian side was excellent there was a force 6-7 predicted for the Danish side .
So we decided to go on to Stavern after Risør from where its a 35 mile crossing to Sweden.

From Lillesand to Arendal

08-08-2010


Today we made a short trip to Arendal.
We planned to make this city the departure port for the Skagerrak crossing to Hirtshals but things will be different ( but that will come next story).
Again there was very little wind from the east so of no use for us.
Ist wasn't such a nice trip as that through the Blindleia but the fabulous weather made the day.
As said , it was a short trip and we arrived at Arendal at 1500.


Arendal approach.


Arendal harbour overview.

During the trip I again saw some nice examples of the old Norwegian lighthouses.
Following a few fotos.

Fron Kristiansand to Lillesand

07-08-2010


Today we motored from Kfistiansand to Lillesand , a small town 23 miles further.
During the first part we encountered big waves that however did not give any problems because they were coming from behind.
They probably where the residue from a force 5-6 the night before.
Its always difficult to make a guess about wave heights and making fotos of them isn't easy also.
However I made some of a passing boat which also shows that there was no wind ( look at the mainsail only midshiips for stabilisation)and succeded in making one from a big wave close to the boat.


Nice waves aren't they.

Is she sinking??

A really nice one.

Because of the waves I decided to try the "Blindleyen" , a very small enclosed waterway behind hundreds of islets.
It was a very nice but busy part . Because of the many very small ( down to less than 10 meters wide!) passages there was no time for fotos.
The passages look shallow but the least depth was 4 meter !
I was very happy with my investment in a raymarine A50 chartplotter which was accurate to the meter! Without it it would be very difficult to navigate these waters with a paper chart alone because you must recognize every small island.

This is also the part where a lot of Norwegians go on a holyday so it was very busy and although there is a speed limitr of 5 knots nobody seems to care.

But anyway , we succeded to come to Lillesand ,a smaller town with a good harbour and facilities.

The same evening there was a concert at the harbour so we also had free music.
Luckily it stopped at 2300.

Fron Farsund to Kristiansand

06-08-2010


Today we sailed from Farsund to Kristiansand.
Again it was a motoring day because there was almost no wind. Also the passage of Lindesness was rather unenentfull contrarely to the passage on the first time.
we passed our travel line at Mandal so now we are on "new" waters.
kristiansand is the second largest town in Norway and a rather strange city.
Alle streets in the old part are exactly in a rectangular pattern as on a chessboard.
A king Kristian in the 17th century had it built that way.Its called "Kvadraturen" ,as you can see for obvious reasons.



Part of the old wooden city is still present but most was destroyed in torrendous fires .
It has good guest harbour facilities but the harbour is also the most expensive in norway!
Therefore we only stay one night and then go on to Lillesand.

Tananger to Egersund and further to Farsund

03-08-2010


On Tuesday we sailed ( motored) from Tananger to Egersund.
On Wednesday from Egersund to Farsund. This time we directly went to Farsund. The distance is almost equal to that with flekkefjord as a stop in between.
In Farsund we even saw a sailing yacht arrive from Austria(?!) with Vienna as her homeport. I wonder if they really came from Vienna . Its possible with the mast down through the danube , Danube Rine canal and Rhine but its a long way.
You not really expect a yacht from a country like Austria!

In Farsund we will stay anday because the weather on Thursday is not good for the Lindesness passage and anyway , Farsund is free of charge!

Back to stavanger and to Tananger

01-07-2010


Today we go back to Stavanger again. The Glatmat festival is over so there is enough berthing place available.
After stavanger we will go to Tananger where we will leave as soon as the weather is fine for the journey back south .

And the weather is fine now!On sunday the sun already came through a few times and the forecasts are good.
We were back in the boreviken marina.
Of course we reported already about stavanger but there is a special reason that we do again.
We just arrived when a very special yacht moored just next to the marina.
It looks like a warship but its a bit shiny for that. The only thing you can see is the name "Skat" and the homeland Cayman Islands.


A bilionaires yacht next to YELLOWDREAM!


Even the number looks like a warships number but is the serial number from the shipyard "Lürssen" in Bremen who,by the way, mainly builts navy ships !

I started looking for information in the internet and found that the owner is a Charles Simonyi ( age 61) who was a to microsoft man until 2002 and now has his own software company. He also was two times at the ISS space station! So its really a special person.
The yacht is 71 meters long and is one of the 10 biggest megayachts on the world.
E.g.the diesel tanks are 250000 liters! Once filling up equals a nice 12 meter sailing yacht!

But enough of mega thinking.
Sunday we went on to tananger , a short hop , to prepare for the trip back to egersund on tuesday. The weather has improved miraculously and the sun is all over a blue sky. And whats even better , the forecasts are good also.
Tananger is not a very attrative town but has a nice guest harbour and good facilities.
Tomorrow we will make the trip back to Egersund.

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.

Egersund to Stavanger

27-07-2010


Today we motored from Egersund to Stavanger. A trip of 54 miles.
As promised there was hardly any wind (except from later that afternoon)so the sea was calm and we could go the whole distance instead of having a stop between in Tananger.
It was a rather uneventfull journey apart from the fact that we passed our most western point at the west cardinal buoy "Jaerens rev".


Jaerens rev buoy.Most western point of the journey.


Jaeren is the area we passed and its a flat part of norway in front of the mouintains where much of the food is cultured.


View at jaeren and the mountains behind.

The rest of the trip was as said rather uneventfull and we arrived at the new (2007) Boreviken guestharbour at just after 18.00 .



Boreviken Gjesthavnen

Normally Stavanger has two guest harbours but because of a big food festival "Glatmat" the old Vagen harbour was blocked for visitors.
We were very lucky to get a berth at the Boreviken harbour.


The old Vagen Gjesthavnen

Today two gigantic cruise ships arrived in the Vagen harbour which is almost totally filled by them. Cruise liners regularly visit Stavanger.
One was the Dutch "Werkendam" from the resurrected "Holland America Lijn".
So there where lots of Dutch talking people in the town.


Dutch cruise ship Werkendam

The other ship was an even bigger Italian cruiser.

We will stay another day in Stavanger and then go to the Lysefjord which is one of the most famous fjords in norway.

To be continued.

Flekkefjord to E(i)gersund

25-07-2010


YELLOWDREAM ROUTE weergeven op een grotere kaart

Today we motored from Flekkefjord to Egersund . Motored not because the absence of wind but because the wind was right on the nose ( I know it's never o.k. for a sailer).
The trip was a bit bumpy but the weather was fine with a clear blue sky.
There is one little question that always comes up when we sail this part.
At about 2/3 of the trip ( the third sun from the end) there is a rock with a remarkeble white top on it.



Rock with white top.You can also see that the sea is a bit bumpy.



Who did it ( if someone did).

Looking at it through my binoculars it lookes as if there are dripstripes coming from the top.
maybe its a custom of everybody who climbs the top to take a pot of paint with him(?!).
However it also could be natural because in this area there is a lot of titanium ore present that also looks whitish.
Maybe one day i will know.

We stay a day in Egersund.Tomorrow the wind will be on the nose again , but Tuesday it will be lighter and on the beam . Because the part between egersund and Tananger is the only really exposed piece of the Norwegian westcoast and 50 miles long we want a nice trip!
Also I have to do an oil exchange. Off course (!) my electric pump I use for it did break so I had to find a new one. Lucky enough the local chandler had the handpumps most people use for it so I could do the job.
So tomorrow we will go for Tananger or , if we are fast enough , to Stavanger where we will be between the Skjeres(skerries) again.



The Gjestehavn (guestharbour) of Egersund.



YELLOWDREAM in Egersund Gjestehavn.

From Farsund to Flekkefjord

YELLOWDREAM ROUTE weergeven op een grotere kaart

24-07-2010

Today we sail (actually motor as you can imagine from the routemap) from farsund to Flekkefjord.
globally its only a short distance but you must go all the way around the flat peninsula of Lista to reach the entrance of flekkefjord.





View over Lista to the mountains.

Behind Lista you enter the Fjord area of Norway.



Norway fjords , here we are again!



Again there was no wind at all so we motored all the way. ( may be some kind of curse?).
At former occasions we always bypassed Flekkefjord because its a bit out of the way when you want to go further North but this time we decided to pay the small town a visit.
We were pleased to hear that also here the first day is free of charge.
Actually you have to pay for the showers but they also wor\k without because there is no automat (phew pfew YELLOWDREAM).



Flekkefjord appoach

Tomorrow we will go on to Egersund which is about 37 miles away.

to be continued

From Mandal to farsund and passing "THE CAPE"

23-07-2010


YELLOWDREAM ROUTE weergeven op een grotere kaart

Today we sailed ( yes we did sail most of the day!) from mandal to farsund.
Doing so one has to pass the "famous" Cape Lindesnes".
It's not cape Horn but anyway , its a real cape!



Cape Lindesnes , just passed

This time , although the wind was rather modest, there were some big waves around the cape with overfalls and up to 3 meters high (guess). Only about half a mile before and after the cape were affected so it must have something to do with currents or wave patterns meeting. We did pass the cape 8 times before , even in more wind and never saw such waves.
The rest was a nice sail with an average of 4.5 knots and wind from the aft quarters.
We arrived at farsund about 16.00 .



Farsund appoach

Yachts can moor at the town quay with all services and a supermarket next to it. And its all for free!!( exept the showers).



Farsund yacht harbour



Farsund seen from free yacht harbour

Tomorrow we will continue with a short 32 mile trip to Flekkefjord .