Shetland Islands

Our first crossing from Statt to Shetland went very well. The conditions were best possible; North winds below 12 m/s; we made it in 36 hours with average speed of 7 knots!

We passed by Viking oil field, with both Norwegian and British rigs. They look like from science fiction, but are real, this is where the oil comes from.

The first day in Lerwick, Shetland was spent by sleeping in and recovering. The weather window had closed and the harbour hosted about ten Norwegian sailing yachts all hiding from the weather. Kiwi carries Norwegian flag, but doesn’t really blend in among all the shiny white fibre class : ).

While our marina neighbours rented cars to discover the archipelago, we headed on an expedition with bicycles. Two days of hilly landscapes in heavy winds gave enough exercise to carry us over some days of apparent inactivity on-board. Tourist come here to look at the wild life; birds nesting on the steep cliffs, otters, seals and wales. There is nothing wild on land, Shetland looks like a giant golf course. Not a single tree to be seen, all land is altered by hundreds of years of grazing sheep. If there is a lonely grass left forgotten by the sheep, it’s for the famous Shetland pony (a very friendly and cute animal by the way).  

I guess we have to mentally prepare that Norwegian coast perhaps had the most untouched nature we are going to experience on this trip…and focus on the others aspects of the places we visit. Such as people and culture.

Untouched or not, there is a lot of space and emptiness and fresh air on Shetland. Everybody we met were friendly and helpful, and there is a Svalbard-like relaxed atmosphere of a remote island without criminality. The local accent is very charming, place and street names almost Norwegian from the old Viking times.

Next destination will be Fair Island, half ways to Orkneys!

Past notorious Statt

Ulli came with his own ship and even gave it to Sigrid, Giacomo and me for fishing excursion

Ulli - the bilder of our dinghy enjoys a ride

Boat full of friends; Sigrid, Giacomo and Ulli visited us last week : )

Anchorage outside of monastery ruins in Selje. The notorious, but beautiful

Statt peninsula at the back ground (well rounded!)

We meet other sailors from Europe on their Northern exploration journey and hear that Marinas this far North are not busy at all. There are lobsters and scallops, there are Marinas and we see other sail boats every day. For us this is South Norway.  We look at the wind charts with a new eye for possible weather window for crossing to UK. It's not always there and we have decided to grasp it when possible.

Seemingly useless good bye present from friends in Tromsø - the Crocodile -has showed to be best possible snorkeling platform. Water is yet life threatening cold and a lot of neoprene needed for survival, but scenery under sea surface is worth the hassle.

Random impressions

Navigator Sanja choosing the route for the coming day. It's not always straight forward, and wind direction, waves, ease of navigation and condition of the crew have to be taken into account. 

Fairytale country a bit north of Rørvik.

Welcome to Nord Trøndelag! Now we are officially down south.

Helmetman Sanja racing with 7.8kts east of Leka. A bit too big sails for the wind conditions pushed Kiwi to (and beyond?) hull speed. Without the waves from the west we could steer with the mainsail only without touching the rudder.

Sanja transporting our bikes to Leka. The safe anchorage in Solsemvågen allowed us to leave the boat for a day and explore the island of Leka.

We love Leka! It's beautiful here. Unfortunately the cave was locked up and we didn't dare to jump the fence.

View from one of our port windows on a pier in Brakstad on Jøa. Our small genoa ripped in two pieces outside Bodø, and here was the first sailmaker to sew it back together. We lost 2000 kr (the biggest expenses so far) for the repairs and two days of favorable winds, but the sails are one of the most important things we have. I wish we were rich and could afford a new one!

Now we are south enough that the air temperatures rarely drop below 10degC. We even need sun protection! We also feel that the water is getting warmer, the occasional jump in the sea isn't as painful as we remember it from further north, and the drinking water, which is located at sea level, is not as cold anymore. Life is getting different! We are experimenting with keeping the fridge on (solar panel does a good job so far, but it might change when we get into latitudes with actual nights) and are already afraid of when it gets really warm and we get bad drinking water. A filter and chemical system might have to be installed.

Fleinvær - Jøa

Kiwi anchored up south of Bodø

Gerald and Max (visiting crew for last week) escape with Ullajolla

Kiwi has made it slowly all the way down to Nord- Trøndelag (Mid-Norway). It was a great challenge to sail pass the beautiful scenery of Nordland coast. For progress, we look forward to the flat and less scenic shores around Trondheim. The first two weeks of voyage show that following strategy works for us: if winds are favorable, we sail with pleasure and make long days and nights. In case of headwinds or no wind, we do something else. Alternative activities so far consist on various attempts to fish, rowing expeditions, beach cleaning, bicycling, mountain hikes and sail sewing. The summer down here seems to have different wind direction for every second hour and our plans gets accordingly complex.

Bicycling expedition at Loka

Finnsnes - Fleinvær

Today we have 3 m/s North wind, first day with t-shirts and sun screen, after a week of rain and generall miserableness : )

Max drying a broken genoa in Bodø. We didnt get far before the first of our museum sails ribbing in two : (. There will be many meters gluing and sewing for the following days!

The first part of the trip has showed us how impossible it is to plan and schedule a sailing trip. We made it past Bodø today originally we tought of approaching Trondheim latitudes by the weekend. Winds have been light, then too stormy for sailing, and now very light again. Setting strict dates just doesnt work on a trip like this! We are happy to have a very experienced and easy crew for this week, since there is a lot to find out when it comes to organizing watches and general well-being on moving sailing boat, especially when it comes to sleeping and spirits : ).

Another surprise has been all the friendly and interesting people we have already met on the way and during the preparations for the trip and the help we have received. I think we could write a book of all of all the wise advices  ; ). Special thanks goes to Ireen for psychological support and polishing all messing onboard, for Mette and Sverre for a thick roll of maps and for Ismo for driving 1300 km back and worth and spending a week overhauling Kiwi's engine and electrical system : ).