A colourful mid-summer week end in Bergen

We made our approach to Bergen (13.06.16) through the Fedjefjord and the Hjeltefjord, a straight stretch of water, the main inner lead between the fringe islands and the mainland.

At the very top of the outer islands lies Fedje, which was our last stop before Bergen.

Magical evening light in Fedje

Vestervåg på Fedje (60º 47’N 4º 42’.4E) is hidden between the skerries at the northern tip of the island. It is a very peaceful and picturesque small fishing harbour spanning across several islets. We moored alongside a new pontoon belonging to an old lead factory, which is now being turned into holiday accommodation. There was a fascinating moment just after sunset when the water was completely calm and the light so pink that it gave the whole village a magical feel.

Now we are in Bergen waiting for our friend Sally to finish her last medical masters exam at UCL. She is flying from London on the 21^st straight after her last exam and we will sail from Bergen to Shetland together on the 22nd. We have been monitoring the weather since we arrived and it looks that so far the weather will be good, with southerly to southwesterly winds (F5-6 or less) and only some hours of rain (!). Thanks to the new weather forecasting models and associated Grib files, one may get quite a good picture of what is waiting for you out there.

Since we have arrived, we have done some essential maintenance on Easy Rider and prepared our next legs for our journey from Shetland, Orkney and the West Coast of Scotland. Timing is of essence if we want to meet Beth in Shetland on the 25th and Christian, Sydney and Andy in Fort William on the 15^th of July.

 

Approach to Gudvangen, Nærøyfjord

‘Norway in a nutshell’ is an excursion widely advertised by the Information Centre. It takes you to the most remote arm of the Songnefjord, the Nærøyfjord, a narrow canyon branching off Aurlandsfjord that is only 200m wide in places between almost sheer mountain walls almost 1000m high! This excursion also included the ride on the Flåm steep railway with its spectacular descend from Myrdal to Flåm. That was the perfect ‘encore’ for us to see places that we would have liked to see on Easy Rider, but that were 115M inland and seemed too far off our planned route.

So, where is the party?

The party is on

Yesterday was St Hans

festival (Midsummer’s Eve) in Bergen, or was it just another Saturday Night’s Fever? The harbour was packed with boats, mostly motorboats and the partying went on until about 5am. We were five boats abreast and Easy Rider was the inside boat (…and had the dirty deck to show for !). People kept shouting to each other and trampling over our deck like a herd of elephants and as the night progressed the trampling became more uncoordinated, clumsy and loud. We never knew that so many guests could fit on these small-ish boats.

Full House

PS: We met one of our four neighbours, very polite professional sailors, who explained that the big party was related to the famous Bergen Fest and did not celebrate the midsommernight weekend. We were however wondering whether, after midnight, they had joined the mutant elephant herd trampling over our deck, which kept us awake until 5am?