Arrival: Ystabøhamn (Kvitsøya island) 5 9:03.646N 005:24.131E

Pelagia
Frans & Sarah Toonen
Thu 14 Aug 2014 15:21
14 August 2014. N 3 / 4.  51.9nm. 0.4 engine hours. Sunny with a few showers.

An unfortunate awakening as Tulla Mhor collided with us at 6am. They had been caught in the cross current. It seems they hit our rubbing strake and must have caught something on the dingy as it deflated very quickly. At dinner last night on board Navegante we had all agreed to travel north to the island of Kvitsøya close to Stavanger. Graham and Charles had booked flights home from Stavanger and Tryggve was going to find a berth for Tulla Mhor in his home marina when Dugald had to leave for work. 

We set off at 0640 and as we couldn’t see Tulla Mhor headed north we though maybe they had decided to head west bound for Peterhead. With a faster boat and a crew of 3 skippers they could cope with the longer crossing from Egersund. Dugald’s alternative was to leave the boat in Norway and hire a delivery crew.

The scenery of the coast was changing as we headed north. The mountains were becoming grander and even from off shore you could see into the openings of some of the fiords. As the sea was still lively (too lively for the engine to pick up water probably) we sailed all day and enjoyed the scenery at whatever angle or speed the wind dictated. 

Ystabøhamn is delightful and the late afternoon was bathed in warm sunshine. The municipal quay was very quiet and we decided to have a BBQ later with Tryggve and Anne-Bente. We got stocked up at the island’s only shop and started to relax in the sun with the obligatory beer and crisps after a long day of stiff sailing in moderate seas……..

…..…Frans picked up the weather forecast and saw that an opportunity had arisen to cross to Inverness or Peterhead on the NW or N wind if we could make good time and get there before the strong SW forecast for Saturday afternoon arrived. If we didn’t take this weather window we would likely have to stay in Norway for as long as the forecast (5 days) at least and fly home for Mum’s 80th Birthday party leaving Pelagia in Stavanger. As the weeks pass into September the low pressure systems from the SW are more frequent and getting across to Scotland becomes more difficult. 

So, the beer went down the sink and Frans headed west as Sarah completed stowage for passage below decks and made enough sandwiches for 2 days as with big waves food and drink prep can be tough. 

As we get further north the mountains are getting higher.

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Anne-Bente and Tryggve waving us off… sorry we cancelled the BBQ at the last minute!

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Leaving this lovely island without exploring it… shame, will have to come back next year!

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