Mark and Ana
Mark and Ana arrived from Madrid, our first visitors. Cycled around the town, interestingly, usually, quieter on Sundays as a lot of the shops are shut. This weekend, however, Bruce Springstein, t-shirt wearing, admirers were everywhere.
Moved to the fuel wharf and spent 10 minutes working out how to pay for it. Then tried to fill the water tanks via the waste outlet. Pays to wear your glasses when doing these things. Oh forgot….they fell overboard!
22/7/24
Left Bergen stocked up with food and grog ( and no money left). With advice from the Norwegian Hanse dealer we headed to ‘Little Bergen’. Lovely place. This was our initial stop with our first crew, Mark and Ana- all went well but Mark did need a lie down afterwards!!! Christened the surf ski, and Ruth had a paddle as well.
23/7/24
Found a small place to stay called Sandoyna- somewhat ‘Buttock clenching” getting in through rocks. Walked around the tiny island to be greeted by portaloo’s precariously positioned on the cliff edge, multiple tents and numerous young people in red and white T-Shirts. There was to be a music festival the following night. Everybody would have to arrive by water so we needed to leave by Midday. The only thing we could find on the island was a restaurant / bar, and a giant white statue of a waving King Olaf. ( He was the father of the present Norwegian King and the statue was made and shipped to Oslo. Unfortunately, they didn’t like it so it was banished to this island where he stands tall and proud but with a very small head.) Left the next morning having waited for our Bread order to arrive.
24/7/24
Unfortunately Motored a lot today as poor winds but the scenery was spectacular. Actually quite pleasant going down wind heading towards our first Fjord. Again, Mark impressed us with his helming skills…
On the way to the Fjord we Found a beautiful bay, Fotlandsvag, but nowhere to moore or anchor. Spoke to a passing Kayaker, Morton, who pointed out an alongside spot that was his, but his boat, of a similar depth was elsewhere. We had looked at this but looked very shallow and a passage not much wider than the boat. He very kindly offered it to us as well as the use of his shore power, and indeed guided us in whilst on his kayak. He even drove Ana and Ruth to a local bar on the river, at Hosanger, whilst the boys had swim. Sitting on the river with our wine was amazing until the peace was disturbed by Chris and a very wet Mark coming around the corner in “Little Quirky”. Lesson, don’t sit at the front when heading into waves, even small ones. That was our ride home. A great evening in a lovely spot with good friends- just the trip home in Little Quirky after a few beers!!!
Sitting on the river with our wine was amazing until the peace was disturbed by Chris and a very wet Mark coming around the corner in “Little Quirky”. Lesson, don’t sit at the front when heading into waves, even small ones.
Chris had managed to get somebody to do a compulsory 50 hr oil change. This was very lucky as it was summer holidays and he was working alone due to everyone being away. Needless to say he managed to fit us in and allowed us to stay at the boatyard for the night. Then it was back to Bergen to pick up our next guests, Janice and James. We had a lovely night with the 6 of us going out for dinner and James and I even got to dance in the street to some live music. Elvis I think! After much deliberation we had a lovely Spanish Tapas Meal.
Chris had managed to get somebody to do a compulsory 50 hr oil change. This was very lucky as it was summer holidays and he was working alone due to everyone being away. Needless to say he managed to fit us in and allowed us to stay at the boatyard for the night. Then it was back to Bergen to pick up our next guests, Janice and James. We had a lovely night with the 6 of us going out for dinner and James and I even got to dance in the street to some live music. Elvis I think! After much deliberation we had a lovely Spanish Tapas Meal.