Ålesund to Trondheim

2/6/25 - 6/6/25

It was time to get going once again!  Fuelled by bacon rolls and having said a temporary goodbye to our friends on Polaris, it was time to top up Evolene's fuel stores and head north.  We motored round to the south side of Ålesund to a fuel pontoon that had been recommended.  Perhaps unsurprisingly, refuelling a boat is remarkably similar to refuelling a car, save for the location of the pumps!  We berthed alongside, purchased diesel additive from the small shop at the top of the pontoon, fed the fuel pump with our credit card details to let the pump, in turn, feed the boat.  To this point we had used 420 litres of fuel equating approximately to about 4.5L an hour (or about 6mpg when motoring).

Sucking diesel

Refuelling complete, we set off into cold and showery conditions but a very decent wind.  We had no fixed destination to start with (other than north!) and with hugely enjoyable sailing conditions and next to no wind forecasted the next few days we pressed on to an anchorage at Harøysundet just south of Bud, covering 50 miles in total for the day.  The anchorage was well protected, with typically attractive Norwegian houses scattering the shore line.  In one corner of the bay there was a fish warehouse and a couple of considerably sized fishing vessels alongside but even these were gleaming and attractive in their own industrial way.

Harøysundet anchorage

As it was getting on by the time we had set the anchor, we were glad for the pre-made pasta bake that I had made the day before, which just required some reheating in the airfryer, and we were able to enjoy fully the beautiful evening.  I slept so soundly that night, I had no idea until the morning that the small fleet of fishing vessels had left some time in the early hours!  In fact, the unexpected noise that did wake me up was that akin to violins being tuned...  Curiously, we discovered that when the line on the fishing rod is at a particular tension and the wind conditions right, it will vibrate and create sound in the same way that a violin string does when drawn across by a bow.

Anyway, I digress!  The morning was glorious and I had the suncream applied before breakfast.  Also, for the first time since leaving Orkney, I was able to scale back on the number of layers I was needing to wear!  This had previously comprised: insulated sailing boots, woolly socks, thermal trousers, walking trousers, waterproof trousers (I find these so much easier to wear than more traditional sailing salopettes unless conditions are really foul), thick merino base layer on top, fleecy jumper, down jacket and wind/waterproof, finished off with a snood, fleece-lined woolly hat and frequently a pair of Sealskinz gloves.  The plus side was that combination had kept me cosy to date but it was a welcome change to be able to scale it all back somewhat!

Suncream and clothing sorted, we set off!  The first part of the morning was a motor through the complex Hustadvika - a maze of tight passages weaving through hundreds of islands, skerries and rocks (most visible above the surface, many not).  The route is well marked but tight and charts essential to ensure safe navigation.  As we emerged from the maze the wind unexpectedly picked up and we enjoyed another cracking sail to our anchorage at Klubbøya, one that is not too dissimilar to a favourite of ours from the West Coast on the south west corner of Mull, Tinker's Hole.

Klubbøya

Whilst we were enjoying beautiful weather conditions, we were also very aware that another large depression had been passing across the north of Scotland back home.  The east edge of this depression had been impacting the west coast of Norway, sucking the air northwards in an anti-clockwise direction.  The resulting impact of this for us, a bit further along the northwest coast of Norway, was an area of relative low wind movement and stable conditions.  We think that most of the wind that was being created locally was due, largely, to temperature differentials between the sea and the land, and this has made for some lovely sailing across flat waters. 

Glad we weren't in Scotland!

  

As we weighed anchor the next day, a sea eagle circled not more than 100m from us and, in a day very similar to the previous one, we started off by winding our way through another labyrinth of rocks marked with posts and perches.   Except I think this one was even tighter than the previous day!  Again the wind picked up shortly after emerging into open water and we set the sails to Evolene's favourite point of sail - a beam reach - and glided up the the coast. 

Coffee and careful nav

We improvised with our anchorage, given the wind was still gusting from the east and our initial planned anchorage would have been uncomfortably exposed.  It also gave us an opportunity to deploy the tripping line and get myself accustomed to how this piece of kit works.  (It is a piece of rope/line which we tie on to the top of the anchor and is attached to a buoy that floats on the surface.  The idea being, that if for any reason the anchor gets wedged under a rock or debris on the sea bed, by pulling on the rope you can change the angle of the pull on the anchor which (hopefully) will allow it to free itself.)  

Fortunately, the tripping line wasn't required and we set off again, with plans formulating to aim for Trondheim as our next 'land' stop on Friday.  This meant we could have a shorter day, this time wholly under motor given the light winds, and we anchored in a small bay diagonally across from the mouth of the fjord leading to Trondheim.  The passage was relatively unremarkable with very little passing traffic.  Grey clouds were coalescing behind us and a definite highlight of the day was seeing three F35A fighter jets thundering overhead in quick succession, against the backdrop of the building weather and the beautifully atmospheric soundtrack of Titanium by David Guetta blaring in the cockpit!

Threatening clouds ended up not coming to much

The anchorage that evening was glorious.  We ate dinner al fresco in the cockpit and even managed to catch sight of a seal and, later, an otter swimming.  We had been advised that sealife can be quite rare in Norway, with fishermen keen to protect cod stocks, so these sightings were very much an unexpected delight. Talking of cod... we caught our first fish!  A small cod, just big enough for eating but clearly too exciting to photograph!

Glorious evening at anchor

The following morning we were up early and enroute to Trondheim.  All in all, over those five days we travelled 175 miles, around 110 of which were under motor and the rest under sail with four wonderful nights at anchor.  The transition back to city life was going to be a fun adjustment!