Heading for Oslo

On our first leg from Stavanger after rescuing our damsels in distress, Gord took this little video clip of a fun days sail. The wind is blowing 25 to 30 knots (about force 7), we are heavily reefed running before the wind with no main and about half of the genoa (front sail) doing 7-8 knots, about our maximum speed. The swell is about 9' causing us to surf occasionally.

We have spent a week doing the island strewn east coast  from Stavanger to Hankosundat, my stop for Oslo. 250 miles characterised by sun, wind, pretty rock rimmed anchorages, holiday homes (everywhere!) and even a bucket full of mackerel, caught at 3 o'clock and on the plate by 7 as we continued our sail up the coast.

The winds were very predictable, northerly in the morning swinging south in the afternoon as the sea breeze kicked in; we spent the mornings exploring and the afternoons and often late into the evening sailing.

The islands make for some interesting mooring. With insufficient room to swing around an anchor amongst the little inlets, the Norwegians tie up to bolts fixed in the rocks; that is the back of the boat!

We did one fabulous bike ride into the interior. Rolling hills, pretty villages and littered with little lakes. However, there was trouble on the way! My pedal had been giving trouble for a while. I ordered a new set on the internet which are waiting for me at home but too late. Half way through the ride, the pedal fell off, in the middle of nowhere with 20 miles to go! The thread screwing the pedal into the crank had worn to the point that it wouldn’t hold. Hmm, now what? Being an ex-boy scout (or more truthfully having had mechanical trouble in the past and not had the right tools) we were at least prepared with a spanner.
A corner of the map wrapped around the thread seemed to pack it out sufficiently to just hold it in. As long as I peddled with my left leg and used the right only to rotate the pedal, it seemed to work and we set off to limp back to the boat. Every few miles the pedal fell out but we were getting closer until…. finally the pedal decided it was having no more of it and gave up the ghost. It had been a hilly ride, we were about 5 miles from the harbour, fortunately flat or downhill the rest of the way. With my hand hooked into his waistband Gord towed me the final few miles. Thats what friends are for! That’s the pedal in my right hand with the empty crank beside it.

Our bucket of mackerel had 2 fish remaining; it was time to try my smoker again after last years somewhat embarrassing attempt (paraffin instead of meths). Armed with my newly purchased bottle of meths, the wood chips went in and we shut the lid on the smoker to see what would happen. 20 minutes later, hey preso, beautifully cooked smoked fish!

 It tasted rather as if, well, as if it had been sat in a bonfire for 20 minutes! To tell you the truth I was not enamoured with the taste.  I think I shall have it ‘au naturel’ next time!

One of the small groups of islands we passed through was home to the little village of Lingor.  With no roads and no bridge to the mainland it was a quaint place indeed.

The sun is now setting on the first half of my adventure in Norway. I am going home now for Melanies birthday (it is her 50^th on Monday). She and I are coming back in a couple of weeks to set off to Sweden, through the lakes and canal system to Stockholm. Tim and his girlfriend Lucy will be joining us for a few days early on.