Copenhagen? Bergen? Mediterranean?

Or just the way the wind blow?

It’s Easter and the days off are lined up, total of 11 days, its just like heaven above.

 

After spending 6 months at the dock, it was a pleasure to undress the “queen” her winter coat, that has protected her and us against wind, rain, storms, snow and cold. She looks fantastic as she stands ready to take us out to sea.

It’s Saturday morning, the sun is shining, it’s still below zero, but we loosen the moorings and set sail out the Oslo fjord. Where to go we ask? Copenhagen, family at the west coast, Mediterranean? We wish 🙂 Or just follow the wind?

Follow the wind sounded absolutely incredible, so we did! 

Along the beautiful Norwegian archipilago, it’s an amazing sight to sail with the main sail and jib in 11 knots, even with 0 degrees. We have a saying in Norway,

“there is never bad weather, only bad clothing”

Our first stop was at Bolærne guest harbour. Bolærne is an archipelago in the outer part of Oslofjord. The islands have a total land area of 2.6 km².  There was a coastal fortress from 1916 to 2002. The archipelago is included in the National Park which was established in 2013.

We moored up at the Bolærne guest harbor and stayed the night.  Here you can find a restaurant and large areas for walking, playing, barbecuing or just relaxing.

On the island you will find the former Bolærne fort, which was in operation from 1916 to 1999. The area has been secured, but one gets a good idea of the fort’s size when you walk around the island.

The next morning we decided to sail as much as we could and in not the best weather conditions we ended up in Stavern guest harbor.

Stavern is a small town located south of the city of Larvik. Currently there are around 3,000 inhabitants in Stavern. It is a small town where tourism is one of the most important sources of income. During summer, the population increases to around 30,000-40,000 people, due to camping sites and cottages around the town centre as well as boats visiting the harbour. 

The ice had not yet melted in the inner part of the port, and we were the only visiting boat this day at the marina. It turned out that the water supplies for toilets, washing facilities, and drinking water had frozen during the cold winter and they had still not been able to defrost it, so the marina gave us two free nights 🙂 Thank you:) We are self-sufficient with power through our generator and had full water tanks and enough gas to last a week.

Next to the marina you can find Stavern Fort, which was a military facility located on the island of Citadell iland. The construction on the fort began in 1677. The fortress was expanded in 1687 until 1689 to include three canon batteries and a blockhouse. The fortress served as an important base for Norwegian naval hero Tordenskiold and his fleet during the Great Northern War. Today it is a well known tourist attraction, with spectacular view over the town and the seaside.

We had a great evening walk and when the sunset sets in it is just an amazing view, that cant be missed.

Two lazy days in Stavern was over. We were ready to move on and again we just followed the wind. This time it wanted us to sail all the way to Resø in the swedish archipelago.

“The wind filled our sails with cold northerly winds and in soft movements, we sailed through the shades of blue sea”

 

 

After a good sail from Norway to Sweden across the Skagerrak, we arrived at Resø Guest Port as the only boat. It is easy to see that the boat season has not completely started up here in Scandinavia. We had good space at the pier and had a nice time for two days with walks in the nature and on the beaches. We did not go for a swim!!! 🙂

 

Resø is a small island in the Swedish archipelago and here you can come by car or boat. The nature offers nice experiences and has a rich fauna. In Resø harbor there are still fishing boats that are atactively fishing for shellfish. On the island there is a community with shop, restaurant and a guest harbor with all amenities.

Before we were heading back to Norway we set sail south to the little village of Grebbestad. Here we stayed for one night, ant took the opportunity to swing by the “systembolaget” or “Vinmonopolet” as we call it in Norway! You don’t know what that is??? Cant blame you 🙂  Maybe it’s hard to understand? Let me explain.

Vinmonopolet

” Vinmonopolet in Norway is a Norwegian limited company owned by the state at the Ministry of Health and Care. The company has a national monopoly on retail sales of wine, spirits and strong beer. That is, drinks with a higher alcohol content than 4.75% by volume. There is an age limit of 18 years for the purchase of goods with a lower alcohol content than 22% by volume. For products with 22% or higher alcohol content, the age limit is 20 years. They have 270 stores in Norway, so no need to say you cant find them anywhere:)” Oh, and let me tell you, it was established in 1922 🙂

Well we got our wine and were pretty happy 🙂

The next few days we were on our way back to the Norwegian border. We had very good wind, blue sky and the sun was big and yellow. We hoisted the mainsail and the foresail and headed north to our destination Skjæløy in the Oslofjord. We had never been there before but we knew the guest harbor had opened for the season.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

What a pearl!

Skjæløy is beautifully situated in Østfold with the island of Rauer and Ytre Oslofjord right on the outside. The island consists mostly of cabins and you will get a great archipelago tour if you choose a hike on the roads here. If you want to have a bike ride you can rent one at Skjæløy Marina.

Skjæløy Marina is a top modern marina and guest harbor well sheltered for wind. Very good water quality with an average depth of 3 meters at normal water level.

The guest harbor has new facilities with shower, toilet and complete laundry room. They offer wifi guest services, petrol / diesel at the ATM, septic emptying station, bike rental, boat shop with boating equipment and kiosk goods and a new eatery with all rights at the seaside that opens this spring, Kystkroa Skjæløy.

A trip has come to its end – but the journey has just startet.