We woke up to showers with rain and hail in Risor (Risør). No need to jump out of bed in a hurry.

Yesterday was different with sunshine when the alarm went off at six. We left half an hour later with some frost still on deck in the shaded spots. Not much wind so we motored. Later motor sailed. Eventually, there was enough wind from NE to allow us to sail for some hours.

As we approached the Norwegian coast, the wind died down and the engine was put back in service. Unfortunately, the irregular swell didn’t settle. As we rolled along, our newfound see legs were put to the test and found working. Bloody annoying though when you cook or eat and quite challenging to bring a full cup of steaming coffee to your partner in the cockpit.

All in all, the 59 nm took us some 10 hours. Sunny or light clouds. The cockpit tent and our neoprene insulated overalls kept us warm. The new cockpit tent has some improved features that makes it easy to use whilst sailing as it allows us to remove any half of one side to allow full access to the ropes and winches and still provide good shelter and protection from the freezing northern wind.

Risor (Risør) is a quaint little town with white wooden houses. It is said to be one of the best-preserved towns with wooden houses in Europe. Most of the beautifull houses in the centre were built after the devastating fire in 1861. The town has a very protected harbour and at this time of the year it’s no problem to find space in the old inner harbour.

Timber export and late ship building is recorded from the 16th century. With its charter from 1723, Risor is one of the oldest towns on the coast. Nowadays, it is mostly a “summer town” and the annual wooden boat festival, held the first weekend in August, is famous.

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