Logbook – Week 7
Monday 30th of May through Sunday 5th of June 2023
From Bodo to Svolvaer
Leaving early Monday morning from Bodo, we headed to the south of the Lofoten archipelago. Our navigation plan shows 60 nautical miles which corresponds to 12 hours in Northabout equivalent. Our idea is to gently sail up to Tromso, making the most of what these magnificent islands have to offer.
From the start, our roadmap includes several parameters that we try to align as best as possible:
- The first one is the weather window to the Svalbard. It sets the tempo and sets the overall schedule.
- The second is the immediate weather, the one that allows us or not to go to sea to move forward.
- The third is the playful interest of the area we are approaching and the expressed needs of the crew, scientifically calculated according to a clever ratio of fatigue/energy over city/nature times fish and chips pubs squared.
At D&D (see previous episode), we don’t just say bullshit, we also write bullshit.
No rest, moreover, for our engineers who this week have once again proved to be heroic in the theater of operations…
Tablet Holder 3.0
Luxury Red Backrest
We arrive at Reine Lofoten at the end of the day and the sun which honors us with its rare presence, allows us to take the full measure of the exceptional character of this place.
It is breathtakingly beautiful.
Once, the boat is secured, we go for a drink at the village pub which closes at 11 p.m. We all have a lot of energy and we use it to honor French song. The next day the weather is polar. Powerful balls of wind descend from the mountains at more than 40 knots and shake Northabout, a little cramped on its pontoon. The snow fall redraws in a few hours the relief of the mountain and it is a magnificent spectacle.
Eole appeased, we leave for NusFjords, located at about ten nautical miles. Here again we can not believe our eyes. This small fishing village has been restored to its’ original state, and the seagulls who welcome us laughing tell us old stories about cod. The landing maneuver is tricky. The port is very narrow. We end up laying the mooring lines to a construction barge, which will earn us a fanfare awakening in the early morning (4:30 a.m.), by a tough native in a hurry to go to work.
A few meters from the boat is the mountain and nature is dazzling. Hiking, fishing, swimming: everyone does, does what they like, likes, likes.
Pat, Fredo and Fabien went to look for cod with the dinghy. They will see killer whales: first encounter in the Norwegian Sea with this animal that we have already encountered once in 2021 off of Royan.
We have a problem with a freshwater leak on board and manage to call in a plumber on Thursday morning. The operation completed, we set sail again for about sixty miles to the North. The conditions are quite good. We are still imbued with the calm and tranquility of the place we have just left.
Randomly checking we discover fresh water in the bilge. The plumber’s repair did not hold. We activate the pumps, cut the water, and modify the navigation plan to head to Slovaer, the capital of Lofoten, with the idea of attempting to repair ourselves, while benefiting from a plumber’s backup the following Monday, just in case…
We land around 8 p.m. and Frédo manages to solve the problem. A real good shower and we put on our evening clothes before going on an expedition in the heart of the city. We look forward to going there to check if there is a beer leak problem to be solved somewhere…
And one and two and three zeros…. Our small team of world champions walk outside shines until late in the day.
…..Narrative break….
On this Sunday morning, buckets of water are falling from the sky and everyone retreats into their shell to clean-up their heads and prepare their little things for the future.
“Honey, have you checked to see if the laundry is dry?” This crew is starting to look like an old couple.
The adventure goes on.
