Arrival: Farsund 58:05.548N 006:48.405E
Pelagia
Frans & Sarah Toonen
Fri 8 Aug 2014 15:09
| 8 August 2014. 9.6nm. 0.9 engine hours. We arrived in the harbour at 1245 as we were anxious to get a space in time for the storm and we thought it would be busy being a Friday. The guest harbour areas were quite big and very handy right next to the supermarket and the off-licence. The town centre was across a small bridge and it was interesting to be in a real Norwegian town rather than a tourist destination. There was one scruffy pub but no restaurants which turned out for the best given we were here 6 days and Norway is expensive to eat out. The storm arrived and blew decent waves right up the sound. The mooring rings were very small and flimsy so we secured extra lines to 2 trees. They lashed about in the wind and although a sizeable branch fell off the trees held. The force of the wind was so strong that we had to run the engine at 1500rpm and drive into the wind to reduce the strain on the lines and hold off the pontoon slightly. Constant fender watch was needed and all the sailing crews were working together to keep their boats safe. One motor cruiser decided to move to another part of the harbour during the storm and as he pulled away from the quay a line fouled his prop and he was adrift. They quickly dropped the anchor and a lot of chain. This was a concern for us as if the wind changed they would hit us and we were busy driving into the wind ourselves. Someone ran to alert the lifeboat and it promptly came out, rafted the motor boat and took it to safety in the inner harbour. On Sunday the wind was to be from another direction and so we moved around the island we were on to get shelter from the blocks of flats. Other yachts did the same and a Scottish crew out collecting a new Arcona 430 ’Tulla Mhor’ from Sweden rafted on. Dugald Glen (owner/skipper) and his friends Graham and Charles were all due back at work in Scotland in a week’s time so the weather was a constant topic of conversation. Our other neighbours were Tryggve and Anne-Bente from Stavanger on their Arcona 36, Navegante. Storm bound we all had dinner together on Pelagia and traded sailing yarns. It was very interesting to learn about Norway from Tryggve and Anne-Bente. They have sailed this coast for many years and to have storms in August is very unusual. The skipper had the presence of mind to drop the anchor quickly. It doesn’t look it but she was bobbing up and down quite a bit. The storm surge had raised the water about 2 foot, which nearly caught us out as the fenders started popping out. At times she was blown away from the pontoon only to come back with such a force it worringly flattened the fenders to a mere 2 inches. Moved to a calmer spot together with Navegante and Tulla Mhor. Sarah’s chicken stew that evening was a great success. Farsund town quay… as you can tell summer is nearly over. |