Glorious weather in the Lofoten: Henningsvaer and Svolvaer (21-24th June 2015)

Henningsvaer harbour

The weather forecast was right: we have had a whole week with good weather, partly cloudy and getting warmer. Yesterday it was 13ºC, the chill was out of the air and we felt like shedding some of our thermals.

We have seen the Lofoten in their full glory. Impressive mountain peaks still covered in snow and white sandy beaches where the water is emerald green like in the Caribbean! I don’t know why, but I always equate this colour with warmth… deceivingly so! The north wind that comes rushing down the steep mountains is bitterly cold.

From Reine we sailed eastwards to Henningsvaer (68º 09’.2N 14º12’.2E) a charming traditional fishing harbour  tucked between two low-lying islands and an impressive amount of rocks. Towering above it is the SW tip of Austågøy with its high peaks. Although the weather was nice and there was not much wind out at sea, in the harbour the chilly northerly wind funneled down the mountain top. Just like in Reine.

Being close to the capital city of the Lofoten, suddenly we came across many tourists, not in boats but in camper vans and buses. Henningsvaer is also referred to as the Venice of the Lofoten. It is a very nice and buzzing small village with cafes, restaurants, a rock climbing school and galleries. We moored against the pier of the Henningsvaer Brygge Hotel and even had a sauna, the first one in Norway.

stock-fish harvest

Like in Reine, stock-fish is the most important industry in Henningsvaer. It was really impressive walking close to fields of racks upon racks where the fish hang out to dry. The Arctic cod comes from the Barents Sea to spawn in the Vesterfjord in January. All the fishing villages are full of fishing boats during the winter. In the summer there are only a few of them around.

We arrived in Svolvaer (68º 14’N 14º34’.1E), the capital of the Lofoten yesterday.

Trollfjord

the skipper as Lofoten Explorer

It was a calm, warm and sunny day.  I was feeling a bit low because I know that now we will be ‘on our way back’. From Svolvaer we will go straight to Bodø (around 60M) and will spend more time in Helgeland and planning to stop in other wonderful places and anchorages. Always look on the bright side… Tomorrow we will start another wonderful cruise from the Lofoten to Ulsteinvik.

There are so many more places that I would like to see here: am I being a bit greedy?

going for the catch

Trollfjord a miniature yet dramatic fjord was one of those places that I so much wanted to see. As it happened, just across our pontoon there was another of those rib adventure companies called Lofoten Explorer. Trollfjord, sea eagles, sandy beaches, emerald green water… how could we resist?

We rushed to Trollfjord at 35kn! We saw sea eagles (they are used to be fed by the ribs) so they wait for us tourists to come… But nothing prepared us for the colour of the water near the sandy beaches, it almost looked unreal.

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And now the ‘winter’ has returned…