Saling in Norway

The South Coast

The South Coast of Norway (Sørlandet) has a fine sea breeze during summer days. The wind begins at about 10:00 a.m. from the east, increasing slowly and veering during the day to a force 5 from southwest in the afternoon. Normally it is totally calm again by 6.00 — 7.00 p.m. This means fine sailing conditions with little motoring.
Along the South Coast (outside the archipelago) you will have a weak southwesterly current. Inside the archipelago you will very often see a counter current. You do not have to think or worry about tide anywhere in the total area.
If you should sail west from the most easterly point of the South Coast, you will normally have a contrary wind.

If your landfall in Norway should be Arendal, and your intention is to go east, I would nonetheless recommend making a quick tour to Kristianssand and Mandal.

The south coast of Norway has a very famous and beautiful fairway/channel, named Blindleia.

We have often spent at least 4 weeks cruising between Mandal and Stavern.
The southern coastline of Norway is less crowded with boats than the west coast archipelago of Sweden.

While cruising the South Coast of Norway, you can be sure of having MORE SUN and LESS RAIN than anywhere else in the Scandinavian region.

When inshore along this coast, you are only forced to leave the protection on 2-3 very short trips outshore. (approximate distance 5-10 NM). This means that you will be able to sail always, having no or very few off days due to weather conditions.

In Norway, all areas are well marked with buoys, however many sea marks are Rusty Iron Pipes driven directly into the rocks. They will never change to another colour. Inshore sailing in Norway is quite uncomplicated and well marked for day and night sailing, but don't miss a mark!

In Norway, you will normally only visit the harbours for shopping and short visits. Probably you will prefer to anchor in one of the many beautiful unspoiled anchorages with a lot of privacy. It is common to anchor directly Bow to the Rock or even alongside.

In Norway you will need 2 "rock hooks" and a heavy hammer. The hook is a "L" shaped piece of IRON with a ring to tie your mooring lines to. The hook is very useful to "hammer" into Rock crevises. You can buy them on arrival. During most of your "mooring time" you will have to use a stern anchor and 2 mooring lines at the bow, tied to trees or rocks or stones. 3-4 long mooring lines (20-30 meter long each) would be quite useful as well. They don't need to be heavy/thick.

In Norway it would be convenient to have an inflatable dinghy, as you will frequently anchor.

West Coast

Fjords of Norway
Although almost everyone has heard about fjords, I always thought that a fjord was a gorge with high mountains alongside from sea going into land with a dead end. This is not always the case. Sometimes a fjord is a very wide stretch of water between mainland and numerous small and larger islands known in Norway as skjægård (of which I will leave the pronunciation to your imagination). Sometimes you can sail through a fjord with mountains at both sides to end up at sea again. But some do have a dead-end, like the Lysefjord close to Stavanger. A "leia" however, is a waterway, sometimes not much different than fjords, but always running parallel with the coast, starting and ending in open sea.

Navigating through the Fjords
Sailing through fjords by yourself is not an easy task since you often have to navigate with your finger on the chart through intricate however well marked waters of the Norwegian coast. If you contemplate going "outside" by sea to avoid the difficult navigation and to make extra miles, consider that it often takes 10 to 20 miles sailing to get out of coastal obstacles. It made little difference to the speed at which one travels if you then have to get back ashore after one or two nights of sailing to recuperate. Of course with less time and more crew, the situation would be different. Nevertheless, sailing "inside" really give you the opportunity to explore the best of Norway.

Winds in Fjords
One day early in June I went through a large fjord where the wind was very gusty, from 24 up to 41 knots, all within a minute. I had to motor while the wind was howling, but due to the gusty manner, it was impossible to choose the right set of sails. Even my high aspect jib (a small jib) was too much in the gusts, while my windvane steering device did not know which direction of the wind to answer to. The most important item on board that time proved to be my engine. Next in importance to the engine was my electronic steering device, which kept course also in gusty weather allowing me to navigate and make some hot soup. I learned then that within a fjord, the wind has only two directions, dead ahead or over the shoulder, the latter being the most convenient one.

Weather
In the spring the weather can be excellent. It can even be outright warm in the sun. However, even then one might have to stay behind the sprayhood for the wind temperature can be about 12 degrees Celsius. During this period the cabin was often 6 degrees in the morning, which made it difficult to get out of a warm sleeping bag, a necessity in this country. My diesel heater did not have enough power to heat the boat sufficiently. However, after a couple of days even 15 degrees Celsius in the boat seemed comfortable. If not, I would just go outside for a while and then come back to a (relatively) warm boat. A few months later, I bought an electric heater, since almost all places I had stayed at had electricity (220 Volts). I should have done that at the beginning of my trip. The electric heater was easy, cheap and almost always applicable. It really adds to the appreciation of your boat when everything is dry and warm.

From Egersund to Bergen
From Egersund you can sail "inside" to Bergen. This advice was given to us by a local fisherman, who claim righteously that even large vessels go through the inside route, avoiding extra distance and rough seas. Inside meant we sailed through the wonderful fjords and "leia’s" of the West Coast.

From Bergen to Ålesund
From Bergen to Ålesund is five days nice sailing with an average of fifty miles a day, in relatively open waters with many islands along the coast. In between we stopped at smaller places, often not more than a handful of houses with a small harbour to spend the night.

Ålesund
Ålesund was one of the places we really enjoyed. A lovely city with canals, which was rebuilt in 1920 in Jugendstyle houses after a fire. This time all the houses had been built in brick! Moor your boat right in the centre of the town.

Ålesund to Kristiansund
It will take three days to sail from Ålesund to Kristiansund. Along this trip, one eventually has to go outside into the open sea because there is no "inside" route. Some of these areas are renowned as dangerous due to steep and crossing seas, which are caused by geographic phenomenons such as shoal areas and steep cliffs. One of these areas is the notoriously dangerous Hustadvika, just south of Kristiansund.

Trondsheimleia
From Kristiansund, my route went through the Trondsheimleia, a very large seaway between the mainland and the large islands, Smöla and Hitra to Bodø. Although I have heard Norwegian sailors mention that this part is a bit dull, I found the scenery very impressive. There are huge mountains on either site of the lea and no obvious signs of civilisation. Further north the scenery varies between fjords, islands parallel to the main land and open sea.

Arctic Circle (66º 33’N)
On the Arctic Circle there are two islands Lovund and Traena, which are fantastic small islands with fairytale mountains that rise dramatically out of the sea. The small communities that live there are mostly occupied with fishing. On Lovund a large colony of puffins can be found.

Bodø
Bodö is a larger town with functional buildings and an airport.

Tromsø
Tromsø is the world's most northern university town. Tromsø is also known as the Paris of the north, with a conspicuous bridge over the fjord and impressive hotels and churches. It also has a bristling city centre with many restaurants and bars. The marina is just in the middle of the town. The scenery in this northern area was really very intimidating and beautiful, with steep mountains and "smoking" clouds hanging over the tops with snow down to water level. Hence, the temperatures were also almost on water level.

Hammerfest
Hammerfest, is the world's most northern city, as the Norwegians claim. Hammerfest is a less impressive city. The buildings are very functional and not very different from each other. However, the scenery around Hammerfest is very impressive. Fjords ending up in a large bay surrounded with the endings of fjords comprised out of steep mountains.

North Cape
The North Cape is a majestic cliff rising vertically from the sea. Upon first sighting it seems as if the Cape wants to congratulate you for the accomplishment of sailing to it. Since we could not moor at the North Cape we had to round the North Cape until we came to a small fishing town named Honningsvag.
Of course, we also wanted to be on top of the North Cape as well, so next day we took a bus. When we arrived at the North Cape, so did thousands of others, delivered by busloads, campers and cars. A large visitors centre had been erected with the main purpose of selling souvenirs to the thousands of tourists. The contrast could not have been larger. We had conquered the North Cape. Now we were walking in a busy warmed centre with drinks in our hands and a view behind a glass window of the sea below us, where we had celebrated our arrival. This all together with these thousands other tourists, who evidently had came under much more civil conditions. I am sure we walked around that visitor's centre with a totally different feeling.