Our latest holiday with John and Su on Trinovante was to the Arctic coast of Norway, from Bodø across to the Lofoten islands for a few days before coming back to Bodø. All of the Norwegian coast is beautiful, but the more northerly parts are really rugged with jagged black peaks combining with the blue waters and green vegetation to produce some memorable scenery.
After an exciting early part of the flight from Oslo to Bodø where the pilot earned his pay, winding between thunderstorms, the skies have cleared and we have a series of fabulous views – this is Nordfjord (with Melfjord on the far right), with the Svartisen ice cap on the northern (left) side. We travelled up Nordfjord on Trinovante in 2016.We start our journey from Bodø towards the Lofoten islandsA lighthouse through a porthole on TrinovanteLucy in her Fladen “boil in the bag” suit which kept us lovely and snug in the Arctic. The presence of a sail-bag by Lucy’s right hand suggests activity is imminent.The LofotensA 180° view of our anchorage for our first night around the LofotensHeading up Trollfjord. This is something of a tourist hotspot, and Su was a little dismissive of being in such a busy spot, but it was beautiful and well worth a little trip
Waterfall (foss) in Trollfjord
Heading back out of Trollfjord
Having turned to exit Trollfjord, a look back from the bowsprit
A seaplane chugs up the fjord, emphasising the point about it being something of a tourist hotspot. Coming in to moor at Skrova Cod drying racks on Skrova Trinovante from across the harbour A 360° view from the top of Storskrova From the top of Storskrova, looking across the harbour with Trinovante just visible. In the distance the archipelago of Henningsvaer is visible centre left, our destination tomorrow.The lovely beach on the east side of Skrova. I had a quick paddle, but although the scenery was lovely, the sand nice and the water crystal clear, the water was also extremely cold as one might expect in the Arctic
Next day, some fishing
Lucy with a cod, some of which made a great dinner
Me (and Cindy with John in the background) with the three saithe I caught in one go.
Saithe for dinner too!
Seagulls fight over the fish scrapsLooking back to Skrova as we head for HenningsvaerClaire with a hitchhiker behind herArriving in HenningsvaerFrom the high point of one of the islands, a look back across some of the cod racks to the little town of Henningsvaer
Cod drying – note the heads have been removed
Layers of gneiss and gabroBundles of drying cod heads – apparently most go to Nigeria HenningsvaerI’m on island number four of my morning runBreakfast view of HenningsvaerLucy and I went out geocaching – it takes you to some strange places, including some neither of us would have visited otherwise. This is from the north of Henningsvær looking to the big island of Austvågøy Heading away from HenningsvaerLucy and SuComing into Stamsund harbourFrom the harbour I went for a walk, and passed this unusual garage doorLooking across the small town of Stamsund A presumably German fort on top of the hill A view of Stamsund from the top of the hill, including Trinovante in the harbour
Cod on a boat next to us in the harbour
Claire and Lucy during a gentle run the next morningApproaching Apnes on our runFor a sailing holiday, there aren’t many pictures of us sailing. That’s partly because from on board it’s so difficult to get a decent picture – the sails and masts are so big, they need to be pictured from elsewhere. But here’s a flavour with all three gaff sails up.
Forward of the gaff sails is the staysail, and behind me the jib.
A gentle start as we leave our overnight anchorageHalf of the anchorage More fishingIt was only a relatively short hop from our final anchorage back to Bodø, and easier to motor in winds that we predicted to be light and variable, but there was enough to make it worth setting the topsails flying which ended up taking us most of the journey – a great way to end the sailing trip.
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