Our Position is 58:27.343N 08:45.760E

Distance 21Nm

The forecast suggested we would have a reasonable sail today with a nice beam reach or a little broader, which was good as the forecast for the night was thunder storms and strong south westerlies followed by a full day of heavy rain.

We got away at about half past ten after food shopping. The track out of Risor to the South is easy, but once outside we only found a fickle breeze and lots of swell left over from the previous days blow. About midday we did turn the engine off for a while but the wind died away, so back to motoring. Fortunately the last half of the journey was inside in a wide deep lead, so smooth water and things to look at.

The book had made a town harbour called Pollen sound attractive but we were unimpressed, so headed for the marina. Plenty of spaces, so chose one we thought would give us some shelter for the coming bad weather and went to have a look round. We were still unimpressed.

The forecast was correct, thunderstorm in the late evening with impressive lightning, very strong gusts and torrential rain, but our preparations proved adequate and we had a comfortable night. The rain continued all the following day so we stayed on board catching up with a few things and generally relaxing with the cabin heating on.

The outer harbour at Risor where we spent the first night – calmer as we left after the bad weather

  This little light marks the southern entrance to Risor

Not much wind and not a lot to look at.

In the Tromoy Sundet this oil platform puzzled us from afar but our course took us close by it. The men working on its refit waved cheerfully as we motored by.

The rest of the sound was less industrial with expensive residences with their own docks and boathouses.

34 metre bridge near to the city.

  Secure in the marina with Arendal in the background. Arendal was recommended to us by a Norwegian and used to be Norway’s third largest city

  View of Arendal from the cockpit.