Reaching in a good SE breeze. Both sails, 6-7 knots. Wonderful!

We had a nice sail to Kvitsøy Sunday to Tuesday 5-7 July. I love these island communities on the outer coast. Rough and protected at the same time. Here people have found a living for hundreds and thousands of years.

Sailing around Finnoy on an evening in late June. Steady NNW breeze. Sky is clearing up in the west. And soon: summer vacation 🙂

From Bergen and home I sailed alone. Followed the Tall Ships fleet out of Bergen Sunday afternoon, then sailed south to Austevoll, where I stayed over until Monday. Now the weather had changed, bringing wind (and rain and thunder), but it meant I could sail! The wind was fair also when I continued between Stord and Bømlo on Monday, out to Espevær, probably the prettiest of the little places we visited along the coast. I sailed most of the way. It is a whole different experience when you switch off the engine and sail through narrow sounds, and can hear all the sounds around you. Birds singing, children laughing, a man scraping paint off his house.

From Espevær to the west side of Karmøy I took a route on the outside of all the little islands and skerries. The plan was to sail all the way, but dinner at Signe Elisabeth and Tormod’s got too strong a temptation to resist starting the engine. I stayed there for two nights, and sailed home through Haugesund Thursday 31. July.

Some pics from Tall Ships, Bergen. Wyvern of Stavanger, Statsraad Lehmkuhl of Bergen.

wy

vern

Also Bulandet was covered in fog as we woke up, and it did not clear until late afternoon. We left at six. There was a light breeze from NNW, so we could sail to Færøy. There the wind died and we motored across to the outer sound at Solund. Tried to anchor in a bay but the bottom was just rocks so the anchor did not hold. We then continued south, around Tungodden and back towards Hardbakke, stopping in a bay just south of the bridge, which is marked at 15 m on the map. Our mast being 15 m too, we thought it too close to pass under, although the boat had passed there on the way north. We moored at an old pier, and a man who lived just close and turned out to be the owner of the place came down to greet us. We were welcomed to stay. The time was around eleven when we finally were settled in.

Morning in Florø was foggy, but it cleared quickly. We sailed out to Kinn and entered the sound between Kinn and Rognaldsvåg but did not go ashore as we wanted to reach Bulandet the same day. The wind was good for a few hours but died down early afternoon. Alder was half hidden in fog but came out clearly as we passed. i can understand that Alden has been a significant navigation point since people started to sail out west.

Bulandet is called Venedig of the north. A labyrinth of islands and narrow sounds, with many beautiful little places. Ellen and her sisters, Jorunn Hilde and Grete, who joined us in Florø.