Nonstop Oslo - Bergen and Return 5-11 Sept. 1999

Total distance abt. 700 n.miles

It all began a couple of weeks earlier when my son Ricky suggested that I come along as crew on a delivery trip of a 38 foot Bavaria from Oslo to Bergen. Having earlier been along on other trips down the coast to shift boats between harbors - and liking the change in daily routine of a pensioner around the home fire -, I readily accepted the challenge.

We left Oslo on Sunday evening about 2200 hrs. after Ricky had finished up his job with the annual Floating Boat Show. We were blessed with relatively warm weather and a gentle northerly breeze as we motored down the fjord. As we approached Drøbak after about two hours, we noticed a distinct smell of the leakage from the wreck of "Blücher". This German cruiser, which was part of the German invasion force, was sunk by cannon and torpedo fire when attempting to sneak by the fortifications on 9th April 1940. It certainly gives pause for reflection over the years which have passed since that day when I had just turned 14.

I went below to sleep while Ricky took us down to Vallø near Tønsberg where we arrived at about 4oclock in the morning for a brief stop to borrow a complete set of charts over to Bergen. As the morning dawned we made our way down among the islands as the sun burst upon us for the beginning of a glorious day. The wind was freshening from the SE, and with the motor turned off we had a perfect sail off the coast down to Lyngør where we arrived around 1300 hrs. Lyngør is one of the world heritage sites declared by UNESCO, and known for its historic importance as a seaport during the age of sail. Being situated on a group of islands, there are no roads or motor transport, - just narrow and picturesque foot paths winding among the houses. Today, only about 100 persons live there year round, while in the summer, the place is teeming with summer residents and tourists on day visits.

In deference to the history of the old seaport, we glided silently through "Lyngørgaten" - the main passage -, under sail only. We continued inshore, and inside Tromøya, down to Arendal under sail and motor. Filled up the fuel tank at Kolbjørnsvik marina, a place which had been central in the life of Jane and Ricky when they lived there a couple of years in the early 90ies. A few words with old friends, but no time to linger. Our schedule was to get to Bergen, pick up another boat for delivery near Stavanger, then a third boat from there back to Oslo no later than Sunday morning on the 11th !

With the schedule driving us, we would start the motor if our speed over ground (SOG) dropped below 8 knots, - generally a steady 1-2 knot current flows south and west around the coast to speed us on the way to Bergen, but we know that we shall have to buck this same current on the way back !

Having passed out Galtesund and enjoyed the sight of the twin towers of Torungen lighthouse in the late afternoon sun, we set a course off shore in a straight line down to Kristiansand. Ricky caught up on sleep while I had the pleasure of refreshing memories of the coastline which we have explored on our many summer cruises aboard "Fant".

We passed Oksø lighthouse at the entrance to Kristiansand around 2200 hrs. Standing there alone, I recalled the last time I had been in those same waters with Ricky aboard a 45-foot Bavaria in SW 55 knot storm at midnight on our passage to Southampton in mid September for the start of Whitbread in 1997. That was a wild night, with Ricky fighting the wheel for hours in mountainous seas which, even with the motor assisting our close reefed sails, had us backsliding down the wave fronts.

With the darkness setting upon us, Ricky picked way points which would carry us outside Ryvingen light outside Mandal, and further on to Lindesnes, - the south cape of Norway -, where one passes from the friendly eastern coast to the more exposed and majestic western side of the country. I continued at the helm with focus on staying on the course line trusting blindly in Rickys navigation. Around 2 oclock in the morning we passed within a mile from the Cape where the sheer rock face shone in a wet drizzle and, as is usual at night, appeared much closer than it really was.

Having passed this milestone, I went below to sleep while leaving Ricky to spend the rest of the night on watch. By morning on Tuesday, we were outside Jæren, and had to clear Jærens Reef, - a shallow region off this flat coast which over the years have claimed countless ships which were unable to beat clear. We had no such problems, but with the SE wind now having freshened to 30 knots, we chose to first stand west with the wind on port quarter, and then later to come about when we could comfortably pass the reef on the way north outside Stavanger. We reefed the main which was rolled in the mast to reduce the tendency to broach, and then had an exhilirating several hours of watching the waves and surfing like a dinghy while trying not to loose control and end up with broaching.

Well past Stavanger, which we passed in the distance before noon, we continued up inside Kvitsøy which is dominated by huge and delicately structured radio towers and webs of antennae cables. Kvitsøy radio is the main broadcaster for world wide transmission in the long and medium wave band.

We continued in beautiful sunshine up Karmøysund to Haugesund which we passed around 1400 hrs. The weather was now showing signs of impending change, however, and fog and rain closed in with the wind still from the south. We were now in the Bømla fjord heading for Mosterhavn where we would turn north to go west of Stord among the numerous islands inside Bømlo. Just north of Mosterhavn we passed huge concrete towers which were under construction to carry the suspension bridges which will be part of the triangle road system which will tie Stord and Bømlo to the mainland.

We now experienced one of the surprises that Mother Nature springs on us mortals to keep us in our place. Within the course of ten minutes, the wind swung around from south through west and on to direct north with torrential rain which lasted about an hour. The wind remained a fresh northerly, and the temperature dropped as the sky cleared in the west. We continued up east of the island Selbjørn and west of Huftarøy among the sheltering islands. It was now around 2200 hrs, and we could begin to count the last hours as we passed up inside Sotra. It was dark and nearly calm as we wended our way up the passage to Byfjorden and under the many bridges into Bergen harbor. One really has to keep track on the map to keep from getting lost among the many islands and inlets which shelter Bergen from the sea. As we approached the centre of town we had the old Walkendorfs tower ahead, and turned at last into Vågen and tied up alongside near the fish market which was now deserted as the clock struck 2 oclock on Wednesday morning, - we had been under way with brief stops for 52 hours for an average speed over the ground of about 6.7 knots over the 350 n.mile distance.

We had a simple meal, set the alarm for 0730, and went to bed.

Bergen, Wednesday 8th

We had a quick shower and shave, breakfast and packed our gear before the owner arrived at 0900 to take over the boat. Details were completed, and financial transactions approved by noon. A twenty minute drive to Sotra had us aboard a Sea Wolf 30 which had been taken as part payment for the new Bavaria. This was a tiller steered, relatively frugal boat with bare minimum of instrumentation, - some of which turned out to be defective -,and we were prepared for a "sporting" run down to Tananger (just south of Stavanger).

The wind was a fresh southerly breeze, so the choice was to go by motor, - a 30 hp, 2-cylinder Bukh diesel. It started a bit reluctantly, and ran a bit unevenly, but pushed us along at about 6.5 knots. There was a Tillerpilot 2500 which promised relief from tiller steering, and we hooked it up for a trial run. It turned out that with the wind right on the nose, the auto-pilot was not able to cope with the required change of weather helm when the boat was thrown off course by wind or waves. We eventually managed to adjust control settings so that the auto-pilot could cope reasonably well when we had wind and waves steady on either bow.

By 1600 hrs. we had received indications from Oslo that it had not yet been decided whether the boat was going to be left in Tananger, or brought on to Oslo. Wishing to be prepared for the worst, we stopped in at the interesting little harbor of Bekkjarvik which is just a "crack in the mountain" right off the main coastal passage on the east coast of Selbjørn. We needed a fresh supply of beer, juice, chocolate, batteries for the GPS and a newspaper with a weather map. We also needed a length of wire in order to hook up my 12 volt charger for the mobile phone. I was fortunate in getting inside the door of an electric store just before they closed for the day.

From Selbjørn we wended our way south among the islands between Stord and Bømlo. We found narrow passages where we passed by picturesque old farm settlements which today have been restored to serve as vacation properties. One could sense the hardships endured by the many generations of people who have clung to these small outer islands, and eked out a living with a few goats and growing potatoes on small fields among the rocks, while the men probably went out fishing, or serving as crew aboard ships ranging both near and far.

We passed Mosterhavn around 2100 hrs, and the wind was fresh from S-SW. I must confess that I was speaking in favor of heading in to Langevåg on the south end of Bømlo and stay there for the night rather than crossing the exposed "Sletta" north of Haugesund which is receiving the full weight of the ocean. Ricky had a different idea, - we should give it a try, and if found too bad, we could then turn back up to Langevåg. He was the skipper, and he was at the helm, while I was dry below !

After about an hour in the bunk, I was nearly tossed out by the boat bucking the sea. I found Ricky in a cloud of spray, the auto-pilot struggling successfully to keep the boat on course, but the problem now being that Ricky could not come down dripping wet to do the navigating. This was when the team proved itself, with me dry down below checking bearings and setting the courses, while Ricky was facing the elements and calling off the characteristics of the lighthouses as they showed up down toward Haugesund.

We passed through the passage along Haugesund about 3 oclock in the morning. The wind was still fresh from the south, but with no waves to bother us, we had fair going. We now decided to find a place to tie up for the rest of the night, and the natural choice was Koppervik on the east coast of Karmøy before we again would encounter the fury of the ocean. We found a snug spot in the lee of tall buildings on the south side of the harbor, and were tied up by 4 oclock. A simple bite to eat, and then to bed.

By 0800 Thursday morning, the weather had definitely abated, and the wind turned SW.

Breakfast done, we started the motor, but not much life there, and what came out was white smoke which indicates water in the fuel. The previous owner had mentioned that he regularly would drain the fuel filters, but that otherwise the motor had given him no trouble, - it had actually recently been serviced to make sure everything was in order ! We drained water from the fuel filter, and the motor started after a bit of cranking. Took in the lines, and set off down Karmøysund with a fresh SW breeze to help us on the way. How long was Adam in Paradise ? The motor quietly died after a run of about 30 minutes. Sails up and pulling, we carried on towards Kvitsøy, but had to tack several times before we cleared on the outside. Actually, it was a glorious sail in good weather, fresh wind and comfortable temperature. Our only concern was that our progress towards Oslo was too slow as we passed Kvitsøy around 1400 hrs.

By this time we had learned over the mobile phone that our pending approach to pick up the Jeanneau in Tananger had made the potential buyer make up his mind to buy the boat, and that we therefore were to continue in the 30-foot Sea Wolf all the way to Oslo. Our next way point was Jærens Reef which constitutes the corner of Norway to those passing along the coast. On the way we passed four huge oil tankers lying at anchor way out from shore on a shallow region ranging between 25 and 35 meters. They were all equipped with bow gear to serve as storage tenders for the oil drilling installations. We passed Jærens Reef around 1800hrs. I carried on sailing by Obrestad light, and had been told by Ricky before he went down for a snooze that Eigerøy light would be coming up in three hours.

As evening passed into night, however, the wind slackened while the contrary current flowed steadily against us. Ricky spelled me around 2200 hrs with Eigerøy light still blinking ahead. I hit the sack with good conscience, and left Ricky to contemplate life and the universe under the brilliant stars. When I got up around 8 oclock Friday morning, we were south of Lista in very fluky wind. We must obviously get the motor going if we were to get to Oslo rather than drift back to Stavanger ! It was fairly obvious that the problem was with the fuel supply. We found the lowest drain point in the fuel tank, and drained what appeared to be an emulsion of water and diesel oil, - mostly water. We drained the filters again, and managed to get the motor started. Having a fair wind for a run in to Listahavn, we opted for that alternative.

Listahavn turned out to be a fascinating harbor sheltered behind a huge breakwater, with the entrance heading 45 degrees between shallows which must be forbidding when heavy seas are running. We tied up next to the fuel pump, established that fuel was available, drained 10 liters of water/diesel slop from the tank, filled up 60 liters in the tank plus 10 liters in a spare container, - we then repaired a broken fitting on the mainsail sheet runner, - repaired a loose motor control lever, - went shopping in the local store, and enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere of the place.

We departed at 1300 hrs. towards Lindesnes which we reached around 1600 hrs. in beautiful afternoon sunshine which illuminated the majestic rock formation and the lighthouse above the surging breakers. This was the moment when I really kicked myself for not having brought along a camera !

Ricky went below to sleep while I kept the watch as we passed by Udvåre towards Ryvingen by Mandal. Ryvingen is also a mighty rock and lighthouse which I passed close by north of the low islands lying to the south. The current turned out to be flowing very strongly to the north, and violent eddies were caused by the uneven bottom formations. Kristiansand was passed around midnight, and the watch was handed over to Ricky. My theory was that the young and professional should carry the burden of the night watch, and let the elderly rest !

Ricky set a straight course for Færder light at the entrance to the Oslo fjord. With the auto-pilot working satisfactorily, and us being well off shore, I observed him taking breaks resting on the other bunk while making regular visits on deck to check for traffic. Wind was steady from SE during the night, but turned NE in the morning. We had a pleasant day with light overcast during the day, but sunshine as we went in to Kruke on Hvasser for fuel around 1700 hrs. We had topped up with our 10 liter spare can on the way, and it turned out that we had just under a liter left of what we had filled at Lista.!

We were now in the home stretch, but with the wind straight on the nose, we had no help from the sail. Again, I had the helm, and had to hand steer since the auto-pilot could not cope with the head wind. Dusk was falling as we passed Jeløy, and between Filtvedt and Drøbak night was upon us. The wind died completely. Oscarsborg was beautifully illuminated, and must be a memorable sight for the tourists as they pass down the fjord. Time was now about midnight, and again Ricky took the helm to get us in to harbor. I must admit that I slept until I was awakened by the maneuvering as Ricky tied up to the dock in Halsbukta on Nesøya at 0200 hrs. Sunday morning. We had been away six days and 4 hours.

I was back home at 4 oclock for a shave, shower and a clean bed while having to steady myself against the walls while getting rid of my "sea legs" which stayed with me well into the afternoon. It is amazing how the memories of misery and discomfort quickly recede from the mind, and how readily I am willing to consider taking part in the next trip which may be offered !

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