We had an uneventful crossing. 325 nm, 60 hours with only 8 hours sailing. We had been looking for a weather window with not too much wind and swell.

We got two out of three as the swell was not too bad and the wind direction was alright, but the wind was seldom strong enough for reasonable speed. Not even with the Code 0 that we had put up before leaving Kirkwall. We found ourselves motor-sailing most of the way.

This route took us past many oil/gas platforms over a stretch of more than 100 nm. They lay far apart, and it is not difficult to pass between them even if the chart looks full of obstacle. Most of what you see on the charts are underwater installations that you can sail over. Our experience is that only objects with lights on them (shown on the chart) needs to be given due clearance, we go for 2 nm to be on the safe side.

It was interesting to approach the Norwegian coast with its high mountains at an angle. We sighted land already six in the morning but did not pass by “the corner” by Lindesnes light house until almost eight in the evening. The weather was very calm, and we could go quite close to the rocks.

We were also lucky enough to get one of the few spots suitable for larger sailboats in the small harbour of Lillehavn.