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| Here it is... this tiny boat. Ready to bring us off and away to the North Sea, Bay of Biscay, and beyond. |
On the last day of June, we sailed over to Norway from the Swedish West coast, trying out a 18-hour leg in order to get ourselves ready for the 5-day crossing of the North Sea. It was a hard work to do it for the first time, painful, wet and dangerous. The worst is the waves that give sea-sickness and drowsiness, but hell it's great to sit here in a small Norwegian village in the sun, and know that we made it.
I had to fly off to Moscow to attend a funeral of my beloved uncle. The trip took a long time, bus to train to flight, I lost count of hours and did not really understand which country I was in or what my name was, but I really wanted to be there. Afterwards, I went back to Norway, to continue the trip Westwards.
When we got to Farsund, the weather report was great so we set off to Scotland, which in the best case could take two full days, while five being more realistic. However, a report from a friend, and a VHF ch 16 broadcast warned us of possible gale winds in the middle of Northern Sea so we chose to tack starboard into the little harbour of Egersund, to wait off the winds and get my satellite phone to work. We have been recommended to go here, because of the nature or the lighthouses or the convenience - I do not really remember, but upon arriving I cannot recommend this place to anyone except if they would ever close the fish oil factory down. Oh the stench!
Norway had the most expensive drink and food for the whole trip. Living on a strict budget, it’s a harsh fact that a beer in one country is equal to a week’s budget in another. As soon as the gales were past, we set off. And here's how it went - all about the North Sea crossing to Scotland.