I have started to sleep with my eye mask as the nights are too bright for me to get decent deep sleep. It works.
Fully rested I jumped on the bike to explore more of Ålesund‘s surroundings. Different highlights at different waypoints made it colourful but my favourites today were the open air museum and the little hill crossing through beautiful forest.
I might have to rethink my prejudice that Norway is not a great 🚴♂️ country.
Fair winds…
Sukkertoppen in Norway is the counterpart of the Great Sugar Loaf in Wicklow Mountains/Ireland with the only distinction, that the latter one has no meaning at all in terms of navigational guidance while the Norwegian formation is very helpful on the approach into Alesund. Vegetation is grossly different, both not bikeable to the summit. I turned around as the risk of fall and injury got out of proportion.
Nevertheless it became a pleasant ride through some suburbs and nearby parks showing leftovers from WW II within some lush green fjell landscape. I also bumped into The Last Bonfire in Slinnbålet, which is under full preparation for the Midsummer celebrations.
On the final miles the Norwegian hospitality showed up at its best. I got dragged from the 🚴♂️ invited to Coffee & Cake by the local community celebrating the opening of a new road, which included a new cycle track.
Fair winds…
I am glad we made it north of Cape Stad during our passage from Shetland to Norway. This cape is also known as West Cape, the most western cliff in Norway.
It does not only form the borderline between the North Sea located to the south and the Norwegian Sea to the north, it also functions as a blocker for the low pressure systems to move much further east. In other words, the low pressure system raging currently southwest of Alesund will not get much closer to us, winds dropping rapidly.
Canoeists and Stand-up Paddlers face calm waters, mooring lines not getting tested either.
Fair winds…
Customs came first, Border Control second and after that we took a quick walk to the next Politi Station inquiring about long term stay regulations in Norway, for boat and crew.
The Lady got desalted, the mess sorted.
Our after-work-walk took us a short but steep distance to Aksla Hill for an unspoiled view over the city.
We have arrived!
Fair winds…
In summary we have to conclude, that the initial pain got compensated by some pleasant sugar sailing under the sun during the second day of this passage and the landfall and approach into Norway, respectively Alesund. Impressive! We took it slowly under sails and casted the mooring lines just after midnight, in twilight, rafting up at a HR57. After a well deserved arrival drink, it is time to catch some sleep.
Cheers & good night!
Fair winds…
Another memorable passage is soon coming to its end while we start to understand what it means to sail these waters. Not only that we crossed an extensive offshore oil platform area during a misty and rainy night, we got a last minute near gale warning from the Norwegian Met Office.
After a 24 hour stopover in Lerwick we are now off to Norway. All things on the list got sorted while Susan spent the full day in the mobile office. Some final food shopping and replenishment has been done and my new haircut reminds me at Shetland ponies, not sure why.
We also had a final sip in the pub before leaving Scotland but skipped the live music starting too late and being too tired.
The weather window looks good.
Fair winds…
After almost three weeks in Stornoway and 500+km in the saddle it was time to move on. Susan arrived in the meantime and I had started to intensify my studies on weather and route planning. I found it tricky. The TSS triangle formed by Tórshavn, Shetland and Stornoway is facing high speed low pressure systems passing through, which are paired with strong tidal streams and very limited safe fall back positions in case needed. Once you are out there you have to face it. Knowing about the above, I put an extra effort in for the weather routing.
Talking to the locals and some knowledgable sailors provided the full bandwidth from “be careful“ to “…which is your boat?…ah, just go!“. I am glad, we did not go with the latter option and I kept going with my studies.
The window finally picked looked pretty decent at the time we started but the dynamic proofed itself not even 12 hours later, where a moderate and manageable low pressure system forecasted for the second day intensified and presented us 25kn headwinds on our way through the “Black Hole“.
The easterly going tide peaks at about 2kn. It should be a gift but will get forfeited by a westerly going wind of 25kn. Wind against tide, a known for sailors under the category to prevent. On top of that, an old 2m westerly swell meets the quickly build up easterly going wind wave and puts you into a wobbling whirlpool. The 6 seconds wind wave period does not help either.
AI‘s summary straight to the point:
The term “black hole” in reference to the sea between Fair Isle and Shetland or Orkney refers to the area known as “The Hole”. This is a 24-mile stretch of water characterized by strong tidal streams and potentially challenging navigational conditions. It’s a descriptive term, not a literal black hole in the astronomical sense.
While Susan slept pretty well I got to 1 hour deep sleep and 5 hours dosing only over the 42 hour passage duration. That drained me out towards the end of the trip. Tacking into Bressay Sound was a pleasure on the final miles and all is quickly forgotten despite curing the body, which takes a bit longer.
It feels good to be back in Lerwick/Shetland, second time in less than 12 month! We like this place and the marina but we are not meant to stay long as our main adventure remains without a second thought:
Midsummer in Lofoten/Norway
Fair winds…
I got inspired by some photos on their website and decided to pay The Weaving Shed a visit today.
To make it a bit of a bike ride, my trip went first over the moorland before heading east again towards the sea.
It is not only the variety of yarns and its softness, what impressed me, but also the creativity and dedication of this small true family business.
Fair winds…
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