Remember Sula … the one summer’s day?

Rørvik, Kuringsvågen, Sula and Kristiansund (9th to 14th July 2015)

Before we reached beautiful Sula, we had a rather tedious (or rather unpleasant) stretch of coast to do (I hate this patch, boring and unpleasant…). Folda, is also named as one of the dangerous wave areas around the coast of Norway. Just south-west of Rørvik, Folda, with its very uneven sea bed and conflicting currents is a recipe for short (very) confused waves. It is about 20nm in a straight line (if you don’t make a long detour inland). It was a (perfectly) grey day with very little wind and unpleasant swell when we left Rørvik. On top of that, progress was slow because we had the current against us at first.

the Aquarius hotel at low tide

After the bumpy ride it was a (very welcome) relief to ‘dive’ back into the inner lead. Protected by small islands to seaward, the swell disappeared like by magic and the sail towards Kuringsvågen (64º 02’.4N 10º 03’.7E) went smoothly. Kuringsvågen in Stokksund was a beautiful surprise. After entering through a dramatic entrance, tucked behind an island that you could not make up until you were about to touch it, appeared a well kept (almost pretty) marina with a generous and welcoming long pontoon and a neat clubhouse. The Aquarius hotel was run by a young ( Norwegian-American, German) couple, which served delicious traditional food. I went for the Bacalao, originally a Portuguese dish cooked with stock-fish, tomatoes, potatoes, lots of spices, chilli and black olives has become a traditional Norwegian dish a

Easy Rider in Sula

s well and you find it almost everywhere. The cook (husband) was German and Stephan went for the Bavarian sausages ( I really felt like on the Octoberfest in Munich…) and potato salad.

Another two days of sunshine were forecast, so we went for it the next day and sailed to the outer islands and skerries to the NW of the island of Frøya. Sula was another of the small gems highly recommended by a Norwegian sailor advising us  that you should only attempt in settled weather (if you don’t know the area, which we did not).

There was very little wind when we left Kuringsvågen, but by the time we were entering the very complicated approach, the wind got up (22kn) and made for a very nerve racking entrance to Sula!

Sula is a small fishing community with about 50 permanent residents (…and declining) Many visitors who love the sea, fishing, diving and kayaking come here to spend their holidays. It has a lovely feel to it. The sun was shining (at last, I put even on some sun cream.)!

sunny Sula

The temperature reached 16ºC for the first time on our cruise this summer.

From he imposing lighthouse, first established in 1793 and rebuilt in 1909 (some 30m up the hill, the only hill in the whole area) you could see the archipelago and the rocks as far as the eye could reach. In the evening almost the whole village congregated (and drank…) on the hill from where you had a perfect spot to see the sun set behind the horizon. It was not quite the midnight sun any more, but the sun went down at 23:30.

We spent two days on Sula and were reluctant to leave, partly because the grey and rainy weather was returning.

From Sula we sailed south between the islands of Frøya, Hitra and Smøla into Trondheimleia. As we approached the mainland, the sky became progressively like a grey blanket. By the time we arrived in Kristiansund the temperature had reached its ‘default’ level of 10ºC. At the end of May when we started here the temperature was the same…

As we are slightly ahead of schedule we will stay here until we get good weather (if we are not back by November, you know where we are) to go past Hustadvika.  

(almost) the midnight sun in Sula