We arrived in Alesund (Ålesund) late in the afternoon after motoring from Runde. The plan was to stay there for the 17 Maj celebrations.

Alesund is an interesting city. It was rebuilt after a devastating fire in 1904. It destroyed almost the whole city centre, built mostly of wood. The town was rebuilt in the then contemporary Jugendstil (Art Nouveau) and it was nice to stroll the streets.

We went on a mission, to find Norwegian cash. Some marinas can only be paid in cash, so we needed a pile of banknotes in smaller values. We had been told by our bank I Norway that some shops would give out cash. As we have not been home since Evas account was opened, she only has her card electronically in her iPhone. That should not be a problem, said the bank but, the shop’s refused it.

We had also been told that the bank offices could not give out cash. The Alesund office could and, as a bonus, we were able to by shellfish from the boats in the harbour on our way back to the boat. We were also able to provision and by a fender step in the well stocked chandler. The later has since been a great relief for our old knees as the pontoons are quite low.

However, the marina, if you can call it that, was very noisy from traffic and totally without facilities. This led us to rethink and promptly leave having sorted all the immediate needs that required a larger town. We motored, again, to a smaller place.

Runde is an island far to the west. It has a small community of people but, the largest bird colony on this part of the coast. The marina is small, with room for two boats at the pontoon.

We arrived here in the afternoon after rounding Stad. We took a short walk to the information centre and an ice cream in the sun. The weather was fantastic with very light winds and summer temperatures.

Having oriented ourselves the previous afternoon, and taken advise from our neighbours on the pontoon, we unloaded and unfolded the bicycles. A 3 km road along the coast took us from the harbour to the starting point for the walk up to the birds. The bikes were locked to a fence and the clime started.

The first part was steep but once we were up on the moor, the going got a lot easier. We found a nice rock to sit on for a coffee and sandwich (as good an excuse as any to rest tiered legs).

We did not see all that many birds, but the views were breathtaking.

The fairway towards Alesund lies behind the small skerries.

We tried to sail for a while when we left Rude but never exceeded 1.5 knots. It was nice and calm whilst we had a salad for lunch in the cockpit but took us nowhere fast. Vetus was put to work as we gracefully motored across flat water towards Alesund (Ålesund).

We passed Stad, Norway’s Caspe Horn, in company with the Norwegian boat Salto.

Started in fresh but shortly dying wind that forced us to motor for a while.

The wind came back, and we were able to sail close to the impressive rock in a warm, and somewhat variable, breeze from the shores. Stad is known for its dangerous and confused seas.

We were spared the dangers, but the sae was markedly higher and irregular as we passed this headline thar protrudes like a fist from the coast.

It is also tricky in the sense that there are no harbours for the 15 or so nm around the head.We carried on a bit further north and entered Fosnavag (Fosnavåg) around lunchtime. This is a small town with a protected harbour but with nothing much beyond provisioning to offer.

Having had lunch in the somewhat smelly (fish and diesel) harbour, we left for a better option. to the west – Runde.

The landscape has changed now. Higher mountains, wilder and much less houses and cottages along the shores. The wind comes and goes between the high mountains. Luckily, it has styayed around S allowing us to sail quite a lot downwind up the beautiful channels.

There is markedly more snow on the higher mountains inland and even on some of the island we pas inside.

Cold in the mornings but warming up in the afternoons.  We shred layer after layer of cloths as the day goes on and sometimes end up with shorts and T-shirt in the sunny cockpit.

Passing the island of Alden with its characteristic mountain “the Norwegian horse) (Norska Hästen). The mountain rises straight out of the ocean, 481 m above sea level.

We spent a night in Norways westernmost town Foro (Florø). Nice marina, good facilities and shopping nearby. The busy ferry terminal is also nearby. Quite noisy but luckily not during the night.

One can tell that we are getting north by the evening sun that sets at half past ten now. It is still sunny and warm in the cockpit at eight in the evening.

We reached the small island of Silda on the second day. It is the last harbour before the open (and dreaded) passage around Stad.

Fees are paid in cash in an envelope for the not so crowded pontoons.

We tried to fish outside Silda. Stopped the boat over some 10-15 m rocks and put on our new “Svenskepilk” on the rod. We had a small pollack (NO=lyr, SW=bleka) hoked. We decided it was not enough for dinner and throw it back. No cod but another pollack shortly thereafter that we decided to keep hoping to catch one more. They are said to be good fried and one each would have been enough. But that was not to be. We gave up after a while and throw also the second one overboard. Now we know to keep what we catch as you never know if there will be anything better.

There is a nice walk around the Island of Silda. It is marked 1.5 km but for us it was more than double and then we only took some shorter detours on our way. It has several viewing points with benches where one can admire the scenery and look out towards the Stad peninsula.

We sailed up the coast in beautiful channels. We had a good talk with our friend in Strusshamn who has sailed up and down the coast several times. He gave us good advice on the waters N Lofoten. And, he pointed out that the open and easy fairways to the west heading N from Bergen was quite boring. Instead, he showed us a protected route taken by many ferries, including Hurtigrut, even if it looks unbelievable on the charts.

The channels we took has a minimum depth of 7 meters and minimum hight of 22 meters – no problem for us. The first narrow passage is Alverstraumen at the S end of Radnoey (Radnøy). This is where the fun, and the beautiful surroundings really starts.

We had light following winds and motored quite a bit in the morning. As the waters opened up after Radnoey (Radnøy), we put up the gennaker for the first time this year. It comes folded from the sailmakers and we need very quiet conditions to hoist it the first time. We were then able to sail with it for a while before the channel became more winding and the genoa replaced it.

The fairway goes across quite a volume of enclosed waters. This makes the tide run towards the middle when rising. Thus, the current runs N in Alverstraumen and S in Kilstraumen on a rising tide. The Norwegian pilot warns about currents up to six knots in the narrowest parts, but we experience less than three knots in Alverstraumen three hours before high tide.

It was a nice day, following winds, quiet sailing, and sunshine in the cockpit – bikini weather. The second narrow passage is Kilstraumen S Mongstad. We arrived shortly before slack water and had no problems sailing through.

We stopped for the night in Skjerjehamn. An old trading post now owned and operated by one of the large fish farming companies. They had not spared the money when renovating the place. Some nice walks, restaurant, exhibitions, and good facilities.

We got a lift with a boat neighbour to town. Bergen is a nice town with a relatively small centre. The city park was in full bloom.

A visit to the old quarters on “bryggen” is a must. It is an amazing maze of small streets between the buildings behind the waterfront. We found a fish tackle shop amongst all the tourist shops and bought cod lure; a “Svenskepilk” of a suitable size for the cod we hope to catch. We have a much larger one, courtesy of Eva’s brother, onboard that we are reluctant to use as it is intended for the real big ones, the ones too large to handle and too much to eat for two persons.

The cable railway takes you some 300 m up the mountain Floi (Fløi) and to a very nice view. There are a lot of tracs and activities on the mountain. We took one of the shorter ones and had a lovely walk in the woods.

The catamaran fast ferry from centre of town took ten minutes across the water and a buss waited on the dock to take us back to the marina. We had a good view of some of the places we had visited as the ferry left the harbour.

We have zigzagged our way up the coast for some days now and are now in Strusshamn, a small quiet harbour outside Bergen. Bergen is a city we want to visit. It is also a city known to be very rainy. Today is one of those rainy days, so we are relaxing on the boat and hope for better weather tomorrow.

Yesterday started with drizzle during breakfast but it sone cleared some. Clouds were still hanging low on the mountain sides as we motored from Rosendal in very light winds.

We saw some unusual ships on our way. One UFO had landed by a fish farm.

And a U boat passed us later as we saild towards Bergen.

We were surprised by the strong tide we met under the bridge and in the narrow parts of Lukksund (between Tynesoeya and the mainland). It was running up to three knots an hour or so before high water.

No real dangers, we increased our speed a little to make reasonable headway through the ripples.

We had hoped to be able to sail on Bjoernafjorden (Bjørnafjorden = the bear fjord) but, the wind was light and dead against us. The sails were not unfurled until we could head NW after lunch. We then sailed until the wind disappeared behind the high mountains near Bergen.

Another calm morning as we motor inland.

The landscape gradually changes as we head for the Hardanger fjord.

It is still not summer, and snow lingers on the higher mountains.

Today we can sail quite a bit when the breeze picks up around lunchtime. Wing and wing up the fjord.

We are heading for the small village of Rosendal. The scenery is magnificent as we sail inside the islands Skorpo (Skorpø) and Snilstveitoey (Snilstveitøy).

Rosendal comes into sight as we round the stone cairn.

Rosendal is a small village with a lot of history. It is located in a very beautiful fjord landscape.

Today has been a cloudy day without wind. Good visibility but a light rain on and off. Just enough drops to dot the teak. Not quite wet but, leaving  irritating drops on our glasses. We motored all day.

Karmoey sound (Karmøysund) had a lot of industry but also some nice stretches.

We motored through Haugesund and were not very tempted to stay.

We steamed on to our planned destination on Rovaer (Røvær) Another gem along the coast. Rovaer is a group of islands NW of Haugesund, almost as far out as Utsira. It has one of the most protected small harbours with a very narrow, albeit well marked, entrance.

We found the taxi stand by the ferry dock – there are no cars on the island.

Walking towards the top took us on a detour across fields and over rocks. We should have taken the blue, not the red, path but, who was to know. Good exercise and nice views rewarded us for our efforts. And, quite rainy on the way back to Sally.

Today has been a lazy day. No wind. light rain, fogy and hazy weather has not encouraged sailing. Yesterday, on the other hand was a very intense day. We woke up to light S wind blowing us against the dock, so we decided to leave before it picked up.

We took on fuel on our way out from Kvitsoey and started sailing around eight. The moderate S wind propelled us along towards the fjords in the east. Breakfast in the cockpit and easy going.

We had light to moderate winds gradually shifting from S to N as we sailed downwind. We passed Stavanger and met this crane, when delivered, the largest in the world. It can lift 2 000 times the weight of Sally.

The plan was to head for Jorpeland (Jørpeland) from where one can take a bus a bitt up the mountain and then walk to Pulpit Rock (Preikestolen). A perfect excursion for the following day we thought – until we checked the forecast.

We docked at 12:45 and a suitable buss was leaving 13:35. We decided to go for it, and ruched form sailing mode to walking mode, redied the boat, bought the tickets online, packed food, water, extra clothes, and other tings for the walk. No time for lunch. Stressful, but we made it with a 3-minute margin that allowed Hakan to rush back to the boat to get the medicine we had forgotten to bring.

The bus took us from Jorpeland to “Pulpit Rock base camp”, some 9 km and 250 m up hill. We had return tickets for “friend”; two adults for the price on one and a half (323 NOK). (You can also go by taxi, call Kalle, the local taxi driver on +47 400 800 39)

The trail from “base camp” to the rock is 4 km and very well marked. It is also “paved” with stones and wooden bridges to facilitate walking. It is obvious that there is a lot of people walking her in the season as the trail is wide and worn.

The clime is quite exhausting. All the steeper climes were on “stairs” made by rock and stones. Uneven and high steps made climbing a challenge.

But the views on the way was beautiful.

We took it in steps resting every km with some water, fruit or snacks. It took us a little more than 2 hours to reach the rock.

Pulpit Rock (Preikestolen) rises 604 meters over Lysefjord. The site grants visitors a viewpoint that both CNN and Lonely Planet have rated as one of the world’s most spectacular.

After taking in the views and taken all the obligatory pictures, we had a well-deserved coffee break before starting the decent. One would think that going down would be easy but, it is still tricky with the stone steps and uphill passages over some ridges.

We arrived back safely with a two-minute margin to closing time, so we got ourselves well deserved bears whilst waiting for the buss. Total time (for us) was about five hours. We had walked nine kilometres with a total of 500 meters uphill.