Our position is 56:01.462N 07:27.810E

Distance covered 24 Nm

The notices on Stokken stated that boats could stay for 24hours free of charge but should move on then under some piece of Norwegian law relating to natural harbours. In any case we were keen to make progress while the weather was reasonable as there were strong winds forecast for the following day, so the next day we were soon negotiating the shallow passage out of the pool.

    Heading out of the sheltered harbour

Unfortunately as we rounded the headland the visibility deteriorated and it continued to get worse, but the sea was calm and the wind light, although still on the nose, as we motored through the islands. We saw two groups of sea kayakers and it felt as if they were taking their lives in their hands considering the speed the motor boats were charging about at. As the afternoon drew on the fog cleared and the last part of the passage had sunshine and clouds as we navigated yet more rocky channels. When we reached the channel into the harbour of Mandal there was a stiff current against us. Mandal is on a renowned salmon river and I guess it was flowing vigorously after all the rain.

    Kayakers just off Stokken north harbour

  More kayakers in the fog

 These looked like stern buoys but we think they formed some part of a fish farm

North entry to the sheltered harbour at Olavsundet (our alternative destination for the night before) off the pretty passage Ny Hellersund

   Ny Hellersund

    Seemed to be a send-off party for the fishing boat

  From a distance we thought this guy might be on fire. I think he had a steam engine

  Approaching Mandal – harbour to starboard

We managed to identify the guest pontoon and tied up with boats of several different nationalities for once. We planned to stay for a few days waiting for favourable weather for rounding Lindesnes, regarded by the Norwegians as “dangerous and exposed”, so we were suitably wary of the sea conditions we might encounter. It seems as if most of the south west coast is regarded in this light so we didn’t want to take any risks.

  Tied up at Mandal

Tor from In Transit, a boat on the other side of the pontoon, invited us onto his boat so he could show us his charts and recommend some harbours on the west coast. He had a camera drone which he used to take pictures of the harbours for guides and he flew it while we were there. It looked very easy to control and landed accurately back on the pontoon, but he said he had lost one in the sea recently.