Monday 27th August Rodoya to Bronnoysund North

Awelina of Sweden
James Collier
Mon 27 Aug 2012 17:00
65 33.30 N, 12 14.30 E

The morning dawned clear and quiet and we set off later than intended having
slept soundly in the snug anchorage.Once out into the main fjord and passage
south it was apparent that we were not going to have constant wind if at
all. The Arctic circle beckoned and around lunchtime we passed the famous
sculpture of the world on it's axis marking the arctic circle. No
celebrations this time we slid past quietly with a cup of coffee. Summer
here is drawing to a close. While Fiona caught a few extra Zeds James was
sailing along down one of the fjords and passed another yacht. Not only was
this unusual (in that we haven't seen many people out sailing in Norway) but
it was a british boat. Even more unusual it was called Cloud Walker - owned
by the people who wrote the Norwegian cruising guide we are using to
navigate South. Great book guys but the indexing needs some work as do the
bridge heights. Norway is full of high road bridges and suspended power
cables and when your mast is around 18m plus above sea level it's useful to
know if you will fit through the span. But the anchorages detailed have all
been quite amazing.

Despite the warm sun the day was actually cold in the
wind - we have developed Southern habits again in our time away. Two sea
eagles flew gracefully over our stern as we threaded our way through a maze
of skerries. This was further complicated by the fact that we experienced
some form of fata morgana:- The islands due south of us in the far distance
appeared to be floating suspended in the air. (No not the beer at
lunchtime). We were hoping to make it past the small town of Bronnoysund and
to Torgehatten- a place named apparently for a local ogre who tried to run
off with the local chieftain's daughter. There is a hole directly through
the mountain here formed by the last ice age. The legend has it it's a hole
in the Ogre's hat. however Ogres had to wait - we ran out of daylight and
had to find a small anchorage north of the main town of Bronnoy. The holding
was poor -we tried to anchor in rock - realising the pontoons by the side of
the small natural harbour might be there for a reason we tied up alongside
for once but had the bay to ourselves. We walked out to the light house
marking the narrow entrance to this haven, its on stilts and the light is
just a bulb in a reflective casket with bits of red and green Perspex
depending on the angle needed to be shown. All very simple. And as it got
dark rather beautiful, in fact the water here was so clear we could shine a
torch to the bottom of the harbour while rowing back to the boat.