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Having spent all winter refitting 'Callisto' our Elizabethan 30,
it was time to decide on our winter cruise. Sitting over our Sunday roast beef
and Yorkshire Pud., we decided on Norway the land of the Fiska Pud. A fishy dish
which is suposed to be a delicacy. We looked forward to lots of scenery, crystal
clear water and lenghy nights. As well as refitting the saloon, Dave fitted a
windvane, log, GPS,DSC radio, Navtex anchor winch, 40 metres of chain and a
liferaft. We spent a couple of days stocking the boat and planned to leave on
Sunday 18th July. We awoke at 6.30am and had breakfast. At 7.30am we left the
creek and headed down the River Humber. The wind was light, so we hoisted the
main and motorsailed, arriving at Spurn Light Vessel at 13.00hrs. and headed North.
The wind was force 3 and we poled out the genoa and sailed North at 5 knots. After
3 hours the wind dropped, we had to motorsail. Throughout the night the wind rose
and fell so we alternatively sailed and motorsailed. I was on watch at 03.30hrs
and saw Venus rising like a large orange in the East. The sunrise was equally
spectacular, its rays spreading across a flat sea. There was only the slightest
breeze as we motored into Hartlepool Marina Lock at 16.00 hrs, very tired,early
meal then slept for 12 hours. Distance run 121nm. Tuesday 20th July. We stayed at
Hartlepool for the day and Dave's sister and Brother-in-law visited us as they
live nearby in Billingham. Wed. 21st July. We set off from Hartlepool with a light
S. wind at 10.00am. Outside the harbour we checked the bilges and they seemed oily.
Dave checked the engine for leaks; all the nuts were secure. Dave took the cover
off the top and checked the oil and fitted a new rocker box top gasket. We started
the engine and could not see any leaks. There was a fair S. wind so we goosewinged
all the way to Blyth. We were given a berth at the RNYC. We checked the oil and it
was ok. Then we went ashore to the clubhouse, which is an old light ship. It was a
very friendly club and the showers were excellent. Distance run 27nm. Thursday 22nd July. As we left Blyth there was a Mayday Relay on
our DSC radio. A plane had crashed into the sea off Alnmouth, exactly on our
proposed track. We set off North with a good south-easterly. After 3 hours the
coastguard announced that a Tornado plane had crashed into the sea and the crew
had been rescued. A security zone of 2 miles had been set up around the area. We
had to alter course towards the coast and passed 1 mile outside the zone. There
were a lot of puffins around us and suddenly a large school of dolphins surfaced
beside us. They were quite large, grey and white ones with big white patches on
their backs. They swam under the hull and dived and resurfaced in pairs around
us for about an hour. It was great. We returned to our original course and
reached Longstone light by nightfall. Friday 23rd July. We had a great
sail and by dawn the wind had increased and gone SW. We poled out the headsail
and at times Dave saw 7kn on the log. We made such good progress that we made
Peterhead by 21.30hrs. And tied up in the marina. There is a large tent on shore
with a band playing. It is Scottish week here and tomorrow is a big night, so we
may go to the festivities. Distance run 157nm Saturday 24th July. It is
a beautiful day. We went ashore to look at the stalls and listen to the bands,
as lots of carnival floats went by. Sunday 25th July. The windvane got
damaged on the way up so we turned the boat around so that Dave could repair it.
The marina is very friendly and has all the facilities. The weather looks good
for Tuesday so we are getting the boat ready for the crossing. Tueday
27th July. We departed the marina at 10.00am with a light Southerly wind and
headed East. The wind dropped and we had to start the motor. The sea was like
glass. Wednesday 28th July. A great wind from the SE as we coasted along
at 5 knots on a flat sea, lots of dolphins came and frolicked around us for
about an hour. Thursday 29th July. Another good sailing dsy. SE wind and
glassy sea. We are sailing at 5 knots and hope to arrive today. A large ship
sent some men out in a rib to look at us, perhaps they were bored. With such
good weather we arrived at Skudneshaven on the island of Kamoy near Stavanger at
17.00hrs. The sun is shining and we motored into the harbour and rafted up to a
Norwegian boat before opening a bottle of champagne to celebrate our crossing in
55 hours. Friday 30th July. The boat next to us left at 08.00hrs and we
tied to the dock. We couldn't find the customs and the people on the next boat
told us not to bother. They have shown us lots of great places to visit in this area. Someone came and invited us to visit
their home tomorrow. We went to get some fresh bread and explore this lovely
village. Saturday 31st July. We visited the house today; it is wooden
and 150 years old. The back garden was on 3 levels with lots of rock faces and a
spectacular view over the harbour. It is a holiday home, belonging to 2 brothers
who have retired from the airforce. It was a lovely house. We walked up the road
between small wooden houses to a small park, which had lovely views over the
village and surrounding harbour. Sunday 1st August. We left Skudneshaven
at noon. We are going to explore this area which is called the Ryfylke, it is
full of fiords and islands. Our first stop is a small natural harbour called
Lader, on the NE of Rennesoy Island. It is very peaceful here, and we dropped
anchor in 6 metres. There is another yacht here but they are leaving later so we
will be alone. We went ashore to take some photos. It was very hot so we went
back to the boat and put up the sunshade. Before we had sundowners in the
cockpit. Distance run 10nm Monday 2nd August. Dave went fishing this
morning but did not catch anything. We left at 14.00hrs to sail to
Finnesandbukta, on the island of Mosteroy. We are tied up on a free dock at the
Klosters Hotel. There is a monastery nearby and we plan to visit it tomorrow. A
Dutch yacht came in and he showed us his laptop with all the charts on a disc.
It looks really useful. Distance run 2nm. Tuesday 3rd August. A lovely morning. We walked to the monastery,
it was very interesting. We set sail for the island of Amoy, 6 miles South. and
goosewinged down the Mastrafiord to the anchorage, and dropped the hook in 6
metres. It is really deserted here and nice to be on anchor. Distance run 6nm
Wednesday 4th August. We left at 11.00am. And headed SE towards the
Lysefiord, one of this areas biggest tourist attractions. There was no wind so
we had to motor all the way. We arrived at he small marina at Forsand. It only
costs £2 a night and there are showers and a laundry and a small shop. Distance
run 16nm Thursday 5ht August. The sun is shining and we are going to
explore the Lysefiord. The chap who runs the marina told us to visit a small bay
about 3 miles down, opposite a village called Vika. We motored out of the marina
and under a suspension bridge into the fiord. The scenery was spectacular, with
sheer cliffs on both sides and very deep water. We entered the bay opposite Vika
and it was really quiet, we went right up to the cliff walls. It was really
strange being in such deep water after the Humber. We carried on up the fiord to
look at Pulpit rock, which towers hundreds of feet above water. Then we went to
a large waterfall cascading down into the fiord, and went right up to it and put
the bows into the spray so that the water fell on the deck. It is known as the
Whiskey waterfall, as you can top up your glass of whiskey from it. There were
no other yachts in the fiord, and we returned along the opposite shore,
exploring the village at Vika on our way back to the marina. We were invited for
drinks on a Norwegian boat. The wife is English and likes to talk to fellow
British Yachties. Distance run 22nm Friday 6th August. It is tall ships
week in Stavanger and three of them went past the marina dnd down Lysefiord
today. We spent the morning relaxing and went for a walk around the village. We
picked lots of wild raspberries for tea. We filled up with diesel ready to leave
tomorrow. Saturday 7th August. We sailed down Hogsfiord next to
Lysefiord, this morning, then up to Adnoya. An island near the entrance to
Lysefiord and Hogsfiord. It has a really protected little natural harbour and we
dropped anchor in 7 metres. There are lots of pictureque log cabins around but
no people. We are the only boat here. It is really pretty and peaceful, lots of
coloured finches keep landing on the cockpit table and eating crumbs. Distance
run 12nm Sunday 8th August. It is so hot today, over 30c in the saloon
and 25c outside that we have decided to stay. We explored the anchorage by
dinghy and went swimming from the boat to cool off, several motor boats came in
during the day but they have all left and we are alone again. Monday 9th
August. We lifted the anchor at 11.30am and headed out of the anchorage and NE,
There was a following wind so we poled out the headsail and headed for Tau, a
small harbour on the mainland. We stopped over a bank to fish but did not catch
anything, We had to put on long sleeved shirts as we were getting too much sun.
We cruised at 4 knots arriving at Tau at 17.00htrs The marina is 50 Krona or £4
a night and has very good showers. We are the only visitor here. We walked to
the local grocery store to buy fresh bread and milk. Distance run 13nm.
Tuesday 10th August. We filled our water tanks, had showers and set sail
for the island of Fogn, to the North of us. We had very light winds but managed
to coast along at 3 to 4 knots. We anchored in 8 metres in a very secluded bay
and put up the sun shade, as it is even hotter today. Someone came by in a
dinghy and said that we could tie up to the public dock if we wanted to, but we
think it will be cooler on anchor. Distance run 7nm Wednesday 11th
August. We weighed anchor at 11.30am and there was a light breeze, so we headed
North to the island of Ombu. We explored a small harbour on the SW coast then
headed to the north coast to a concealed harbour which was recommended to us by
a Norwegian. During the war ships were hidden from the Germans in here. It is
very deep so we dropped a bow anchor and took a line to shore and tied to a
rock. We went for a swim to cool off. Suddenly a storm blew up and the wind
turned North so we untied ourselves, lifted anchor and headed back South to the
protected harbour at Eigsund, which we had visited this morning. Distance run
16nm Thursday 12th August. A glorious start to the glorious 12th and our
36th wedding anniversary. We had a lazy morning and set sail at 11.30am. for
Sandsfiord to the NE. The scenery was fantastic with towering mountains and blue
water. The wind was SE 3 or 4 and we goosewinged at 4 knots. We had to drop the
sails to motor between 2 islands at the entrance to the fiord then sailed 4
miles to Marvik, a tiny village on the west side of the fiord. It is very
picturesque, with small pontoonss for visiting yachts at £2 a night. We saw some
small dolphins on passage but no other yachts. they all seem to stay in the
Stavanger area. We went to the small shop for milk and ice-cream, the newspapers
headlines say that it is the hottest August on record, we feel very privilaged.
Dave bought some new fishing lures. Distance run 13nm Friday 13th
August. We left Marvik at lunchtime and motored up the fiord to the village of
Sand, as it was very narrow and windy, Dave tried out his new lures and caught 2
mackerel. We arrived at Sand at 16.00hrs. and tied up in the boat haven. The
wind has increased and it is really rolly. Dave had mackerel for tea. Distance
run 8nm. Saturday 14th August. We sailed 3 miles past Sand to look into
the other fiords but the weather started to deteriorate so we headed back down
the fiord to Marvik for the night. Dave caught 4 more mackerel and had them for
tea. Distance run 13nm. Sunday 15th August. It is a lot cooler today and
very peaceful, so we decided to enjoy the quietness of this delightful marina
for the day. Monday 16th August We left Marvik at 11.00am and had to
motor, as there was no wind. We called into a little harbour at Jelsa, but it
was small so we carried on down Erffiord and int Bogsfiord, which was very
lovely, with lots of sod roof huts and grassy fields. We carried on into
Tysselfiord, which had very steep sides. We had to go under a bridge charted at
23 metres but seemed much lower. We headed back to Erffiord and tied up at the
marina at Eroy for the night. Distance run 20nm Tuesday 17th. We let the
marina at 11.30am and sailed out into the fiord. Dave launched the dinghy and I
sat in it to take photos of Callisto under sail. Once back on board the wind
dropped and we decided to go down the East coast of Ombo and finish up at the
marina at Egidsund for the night. Distance run 15nm Wednesday 18th
August. We left the marina at 11,30am and motorsailed for a little while until a
brisk SW sprang up and we started to average5 knots. Dave caught another
mackerel . The wind really increased as we approached Skudneshaven amd we took
in the headsail toslow us down. We identified the entrance and slowly sailed in,
the dock that we were on last time was full of fishing boats so we headed for
the town centre and tied up to the quay. We went shopping then watched a video,
as the batteries were full. Distance run 22nm. Thursday 22nd August. The
barometer has gone right down and storms are forecast. All the fishing boatss
have come in for shelter. Friday 20th August. Really bad forecast so we
moved over to the marina, which was empty, to use the facilities and have
electric so that we can watch videos on board.We were gale bound until 1st September, during which time we had a
visit from the marina commadore, who asked if we could take a cruising chute
back to Britain for a yacht who had accidentally left it ashore. We agreed.
Later we unpacked it to check it before we set sail. Another boat with a red
ensign came in. It belongs to the military and was chartered by 4 airmen who are
based in Belgium. They invited us to the pub for drinks, and then back to their
boat for more drinks. What else is there to do when you are storm bound? We told
them that there is a web cam at the marina and when they set sil next morning to
return the boat to Stavanger, they called their wives, then sailed back and
forth in front of the web cam waving to them Wednesday 1st September. We
set sail for Peterhead at 08.00am. There was not much wind at first, but very
big rollers. After 2 hours the wind picked up from the North-west and we started
to make way. At lunchtime we got a navtex forecasting South 5 or 6 so we altered
course to make as much South as possible until the wind changes direction. By
evening the wind wass South force 5 and at 19.00hrs a little wagtail landed on
board and curled up on the cockpit floor with his head under his wing. The wind
increased to force 6 and we put 2 reefs in the mainsail. It was a full moon and
a lovely sky, there was very little traffic. The bird slept all night andd in
the morning we fed it some bread. It flew into the cabin and hopped around
exploring then went to sleep on the chart table. We called hei Peter as we are
heading for Peterhead. Thursday 2nd September. The wind decreased a
little by morning, but we kept the reefs in. We are amongst the oilfields now,
but there are not many fishing boats. The forecast is the same and we are
steering a good course to 10 miles South of Peterhead so that if the wind
increases we can run up into the the harbour. The little bird flew off at
10.30am . He circled the boat twice then headed West. When we were 40 miles from
Peterhead we were called by a survey vessell pulling a 4 mile long cable. He is
changing course and would cross our path so he asked us to alter course due
south, straight into the wind. We had to roll in the headsail and start the
motor, our speed dropped from 5 knots to 1 and a half. After half an hour he
told us we could alter course to 220T then half an hour later to 230T. Finally
he said we could resume our course. By mid afternoon the wind had increased to a
6 and we were starting to get wet. The seas continued to build and as we
approached Peterhead we had visions of surfing into the harbour. We arrived at
18.00hrs and called for permission to enter. As we went into the harbour we
expected it to be calm but it was still rough until we reached thee marina. The
marina master came to take our lines and Dave had to rev up to get us into the
berth as the wind was trying to blow us backwards.We had something to eat and
then went to bed after 59 hrs at sea. Distance run 277nm Saturday 4th
September. A lovely day. Dave spent the next 2 days trying to repair the
windvane, which was damaged in the heavy weather. We were invited for drinks on
a Victory 40 from Whitby, they had just bought it in Oban and were going home to
fit it out for long distance cruising. >Monday 6th September. We left the
harbour at 07.30am. in a light NE We had to motorsail at times. As we neared the
Farne Islands we saw lots of seals who kept swimming around to look at us, also
a small whale rose beside us to see what we were doing. We arrived at Blyth at
18.00hrs and went for a drink in the yacht club bar. Distance run 157nm.
Wednesday 8th September. Hardly any wind when we left Blyth at 07.00am
But it slowly increased and we picked up speed and made good time to Hartlepool
arriving at 13.30hrs. Distance run 29nm. Thursday 9th september Very
strong winds, remnants of the hurricanes in the USA. We stayed on board for a
few days hoping the weather would improve but without any luck. We accepted a
lift to the M62 from someone on the next boat. He is having his boat taken to
Hull marina by road as the weather is too bad., and was going to visit relatives
in Nottingham before he is hauled out. Tuesday 28th September. We caught
the bus to Middlesborough and Dave's sister drove us to the marina. The forecast
for tomorrow is NW 4 becoming variable so we decided to leave as even more
storms are forecast for the weekend. Wednesday 29th September. We left
at 06.00am with no wind, but gradually it increased to SE 4-5 so we motorsailed
arriving at Spurn light vessel at 11.00am Thursday 30th September , and took the
tide up the river to Hull marina. Distance run 118nm Saturday 2nd
October. We locked out of the Marina at 07.00am. and set off motoring up river
into a strong westerly. Hessle Welps were very rough and we went under the
bridge into calmer water. As we reached Capper Pass tide gauge the engine
stoped. We pulled out the headsail but were blown on to the lee shore and pushed
up the putty. Dave tried to get the engine going but there was no compression.
It was an hour before high tide and we were on the top of springs, as we didn't
fancy spending the next 2 weeks aground we called Humber rescue who came and
towed us off just before high water. and into Brough Haven. It was a
disappointing end to a great cruise over 1300 miles and we break down 3 miles
from home. Dave looked at the engine and discovered that the inlet valve rocker
had snapped in two. So there is more work to do this winter. Distance run 8nm.
Total distance on cruise 1,312nm.Dave and Shelby Milner.
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YORKSHIRE PUD to FISKA
PUD