Norwegian Charm
Norway to North-West, Sweden to the East and Denmark sticking up its finger from the South, became our cruising ground in July and August. Skagerak, uniting these three Scandinavian countries, became our "playground".
The more exciting our sail became and the more I expressed the beauty of the Norwegian coast exploring the harsh and salty cliffs on our way westbound, the more Karolina repeated that it was beautiful for sure, but I should just wait and see how it was even further North...! Nothing seemed to be comparable to the beauty of Lofoten in Northernmost Norway, where Karolina had previously sailed with Mahina in 2001.

Unfortunately, we did not have the time, nor the plans to get all the way to Lofoten this year and it was, anyhow, difficult to imagine that it became even wilder with even greater charm further on, so for this year, these relatively lower latitudes had to do. But I can confess that the further we sailed, the greater it became, and the yet more friendly and warmer were the Norwegian people, possibly to compensate the not quite as equally warm nature, climate and waters.

Living so closely by the harsh sea seemed to unify them with other sailors and they regarded the boat as the most natural way of transportation, just as it has been for generations. Thus, us travelling by boat was the "ordinary" way and by doing so, we seemed to be on the same wave length, even though I found we looked very different in our sailing boat compared to their original fishing vessels.

Not many sailors find their way to this part of Norway. Most Norwegians living in the Oslo-region seem to prefer Sweden, possibly due to the fact that liquor is yet more expensive in Norway, while Swedes might find this part of Norway being too far away for a summer's sail? The few sailing boats we did meet mainly came from Holland, actually, for whom this part of Norway only lies some 50 hours of direct sail from the Netherlands.

Dutch people, inhabiting the third highest concentration of boats per capita in the world, following New Zealand on first place and Sweden and Norway on a shared second place, are seaman to count on!

But why do Swedes avoid this exciting sailing ground, which is so easily reached by an overnight sail and, instead, insist in crowding along the Swedish West coat during July? One explanation could be the meteorological aspect, of course. One should not be afraid of cold water and instable weather to sail here. Bergen, on the West coast of Norway, for instance, has the highest annual precipitation of the entire Europe, which is a record to count on!

We were very lucky in 2003 with fairly good weather, much thanks to the fact that the remaining Northern Europe, including Sweden, was complaining about unbearable heat...
Navigation in these waters is a bit of a challenge and you obviously need to know exactly where you are at any given time(!). The enormous underwater mountains with steep slopes are impressive. Once, we could almost touch the cliffs on either side of a narrow channel wondering if we really would be able to pass through, when the echo sounder calmed us down telling about 40 m of water depth! And between two tiny awash rocks out at sea, we passed in between with hundreds of meters of water under our keel.
Add several knots of Gulf Stream current in west going direction over a westerly gale, and you understand why pilot books and locals equally warn to pass Lindesnaes and Lista, the rocks positioned at the southernmost tip of Norway, in anything more than fair weather.

Look at the tacking angle on the chart above, when we tack back home passing Lista in an easterly wind for a change (High pressure over Scandinavia). With Easterly wind blowing in the same direction as the current, the waves were not as steep and frightening as they could have been, but the current pushed us back while evening approached. Guess on the chart where we let the engine do the rest and motored into Farsund, welcomed by a lacking harbour fee, a waiting washing machine, as well as complimentary local newspaper and breakfast rolls in the morning, personally handed out with a welcoming smile to each visiting yacht!
Farsund really understands the importance and effect of PR! Compare the cost for some free breakfast rolls and a newspapers in the morning, with the price of a single advertisement! The message has been spread efficiently by several yachting magazines writing about this welcoming service and sailors are obviously passing on this thrilling news to each other. Since Farsund also was a charming little Norwegian town, it gave good shelter and entertainment during some rainy and windy days for us. So we ended up staying several nights and visited Farsund both on the way west, as well as east, with our total expense in Farsund, ranging from bunkering diesel, food and ice cream, certainly made good for these inexpensive gifts. "A positive view of a destination encourages shore spendings", as cruise lines argue when putting up their itineraries, choosing their ports of call. Sailors don't act differently.
Through this deserted and harsh, yet wonderful and beautiful, archipelago, we sailed using short day trips exploring and enjoying these little charming fishing villages by the coast, as well as visiting some of the outer islands, which can look so hostile sometimes.
The contrast between the rocky offshore islands and sneaking into one of the countless Norwegian fjords is immense. From windswept rocks to green meadows within no time!

It is difficult to imagine the blowing gale out there, when hiding in shelter behind the high Norwegian mountains hosting its protective fjords (but don't even think of anchoring in the fjords, or you might loose both anchor and cable into the deep sea before you find time to tie the bitter end of your rope onto the boat!)

With the lack of time pressure, it is great to explore the fjords while waiting for favorable winds to continue ones cruise along the coast.
One of our favorites became Kirkehamn on the island Hidra, which, at the same time, unfortunately became our point of return. Sailors coming from the North confirmed Karolina's opinion that it gets even more beautiful and exciting along the Norwegian coast, but for us, this had to be perfect enough. For this time, at least.

Welcomed by a lonely church placed on the very end of a cliff inside a fjord on Hidra, we finally moored along the fishing pier as the only sailing boat currently visiting Kirkehamn. Soon thereafter appeared the first coastal fishing boats the same way we had come, bringing in their recently caught fish and shrimps.

I have eaten shrimps throughout my life, but never have they been better and never have they been fresher than on this day at Kirkehamn, still warm when handed over to us over the side of the fishing boat. Since we bought some more sea food, which we turned into a delicious soup onboard Regina, there was also no need to take any harbour fee, we were informed. We were their guests in Kirkehamn, the friendly fisherman smiled as his reply on my willing to pay my harbour duties.
Regina moored along the local fishing quay were the sea gulls and us equally were waiting for the fishing boats to bring in their catch.
In the late evening with our stomachs filled with a delicious fish soup, we climbed the nearby hill overseeing the beautiful landscape in the sunset. The view was magnificent and we could oversee a large part of Norway's coastline stretching its extremity into the North Sea.

We were not the first ones to have discovered this view, we learnt. Some Germans, who made it all the way up here North a little more than half century ago found this view was not only beautiful but also judged it as a valuable asset for the "Führer". And since Hittler's "Third Reich" was to last for a thousand years anyway, why not start turning this hill into a fort defending the North-Western corner of the "Reich"? Workforce was easily found, possibly not as voluntary as the Germans were eager, but what else should they do with all those Russian prisoners, anyway? And when Germans do something, they do it thoroughly. A Swiss Cheese must have acted as model for the German engineers, while drilling in an Ementahler must have been somewhat easier than this Norwegian concrete. Starting in 1941, they worked for 6 full years, turning the entire mountain into a fort with tunnels, buildings, cannons and soldiers. It must have felt rather disappointing for the Generals, when upon finishing this great cornerstone of Germany, the war already had ended only a few weeks earlier! The Fort was thus (fortunately) never used.
So the liberated Norwegians sent home the Russians (the German had already left) and started to re-build the mountain again to its origin. Today, the buildings and canons have gone, but the tunnels and foundations remain. As well as the pier in the harbour opposite the fishing pier, where Regina was moored, which still is called "Tyskbryggan" (German Pier) by the locals.
Looking up the "German Fort" from Regina (above) and looking down from the same hill onto Regina by the fishing quay (right). - Oops, a second sailing boat has joined, it seems!
Instead of any left behind Germans , we only found some sheep and a lonely horse strolling around the leftovers of the German North Atlantic defence system.
Magnificent view from the "German Fort" looking North-North-West. The tempting calls to follow into the sunset even further up North one day reaches us while sitting devoted on the cliff .