Exploring the Bodø area - part 1 (north)

10/7/25 to 14/7/25

A trilogy of blog posts to come as we enjoy the Bodø area while hosting friends and family!  

Bodø is such a convenient location for crew to join and leave as the airport terminal is just a 15m minute walk from the marina.  Many sailors use it as a stepping off point for crossing to Lofoten but there is so much to see and explore around the Bodø area itself, and it is beautifully understated.

With Kirsty aboard, we said goodbye to our lovely Swedish neighbours aboard Tess on the Thursday morning and slipped the lines to head north to Kerringjøy.  Unfortunately the southerly winds that we had been hoping for turned out to be much lighter than forecasted but that did give us the ideal opportunity to hoist the cruising chute (a type of spinnaker sail).  I love the colours of this sail (it came with the boat but we had no idea what it looked like until a few months after purchase!) and it was great to see it flying again.

Pretty cruising chute

Kerringjøy is a very attractive harbour and, in its heyday, was one of the most important trading posts in northern Norway bringing considerable wealth to the town.  (More details on Kerringjoy here).  On arrival there was a space on the main pontoon but it was looking tight!  A gentleman from a neighbouring boat started pacing out in strides the gap to estimate the length and, yes, it was still tight!  Very kindly, at this point, he eased the lines on the boat that would be to our stern to move her back half a metre and, with that extra bit of wiggle room (still not much considering the total length of our boat is almost 15 metres including the bowsprit and dinghy!), we started manoeuvring her into place.  With help from the shore, Kirsty and I poised with the berthing lines and Stuart on the helm, thankfully all went very smoothly and we tucked her in and settled in for the afternoon. 

The facilities at Kerringjøy are excellent and folk on the neighbouring boats incredibly friendly and welcoming.  The notice advises that crew of boats that are longer than 40 feet need to contact the harbourmaster.  Whilst Stuart was arranging payment via the online app and chatting to the people around, it turned out that one of the gentlemen was the harbourmaster and confirmed he was very content for us to stay.  We were even more relieved at that point that berthing had all gone to plan!

With Evolene secure we chose to stretch our legs and headed up the hill behind the harbour.  It was a lovely wooded walk, with an easy to follow trail winding up and through the trees, amid stunning greenery and great viewpoints.  

Walk

Walkers

Back aboard we enjoyed a beautiful evening watching the coming and goings of boatlife, meeting boat neighbours and gaining fishing tips.  The best advice - use the FishBuddy app!  We hadn't heard of it before but sure enough it maps out best fishing areas and also lets you know what species of fish you are most likely to catch where.  (Which reminds me, at some point I will do a blog post with all the apps that we are currently using in Norway in case of help for anyone else's future travels here.)

Kerringjøy 

The next morning the weather was drizzly and overcast but there was not a breath of wind so it was going to be another motor.  We therefore chose to head up round the headland into nearby Støfolda Fjord to a recommended anchorage at Færøyvalen.  Keen to try out the FishBuddy app enroute we stopped the engine to drift just outside the anchorage entrance and dropped the lures.  Kirsty and I alternated on the deeper lure and after a couple of nibbles, Kirsty felt a tug!  Sure enough she had caught her first fish!  A good-sized, beautiful pollock.  Dinner secured we finished motoring into the delightfully secluded anchorage with stunning backdrop and dropped the hook (anchor). 

Evolene is top right of the bay

We took the dinghy and our swimming stuff ashore and explored a bit of the local shoreline.  There were a few scattered holiday huts and boats along the shoreline of the inner lakes but all in all it felt quite remote and rarely explored, adding to its magic.  We opted to swim in the small pool of water closest to the main body of the fjord and soon were enjoying the deliciously fresh water.  There was a short run off from the pool down to the fjord and it was clear the water had carved a smooth route down.  Stuart needed no encouragement to appropriate it as a pseudo-flume and had great fun riding the perfect current down!

Swimming pool

Given that it was a Friday evening and we had our first visitor aboard we continued our tradition of fizz Friday, expanding it this time to include fun, fishy, fjord, fantastic, fabulous fizz Friday with friends!  It was a lovely relaxed evening aboard and whilst Kirsty and I were finishing the washing up and catching up, Stuart headed up to the bow with the fishing line.  Five minutes later came the call 'do you want a cod?'  Finally, after all the pollock, we had caught an elusive cod!

The next morning it was mirror-glass calm and quickly Kirsty was in her swimgear again and in the water.  Fish were darting about everywhere and whilst still overcast, it was beautifully atmospheric.  Given the lack of wind and that the weather looked better as the day progressed, we weren't in a hurry to get going and made our leisurely way out of the anchorage and back up the fjord again when ready.  Keen to stretch our legs , our plans gradually evolved as we were underway and we headed to a bay at Brennvika which looked like it had a walk starting from the shoreline which would go up the hillside behind to a mountain lake (384m), with the option to continue on to a mountain top (837m) depending on progress and conditions.

We wound our way through skerries, catching site of four majestic sea eagles sitting regally on a low lying island surveying their territory (and us!) as we motored past and dropped the anchor in the early afternoon in the bay.  We had already planned to double-back on ourselves a short distance for the evening anchorage to the skerries and were particularly grateful for this plan when the bay anchorage turned out to be surprisingly rolly!

Sea eagles (x4!)

Evolene secured and dinner partially prepared, we headed out for our yomp!  At this point I wish I'd taken a photo of the hillside we were going up - from the shoreline it was clear that it would be quite a vertical ascent and sure enough it was quite a scramble!  (Made particularly exciting by the rainforest-like greenery, humidity and slippy mud underfoot due to the cascading waterfall alongside.)  I can't think of many other hikes I have done that have required quite so much persistent and consistent consideration of foot and hand placement throughout the ascent and descent!  It was superb to reach the mountain lake and the views from there were spectacular but given time and my own ability, that was quite enough for me!  Stuart and I enjoyed a fun dip in the crystal clear lake and then headed back to Evolene to finish preparing dinner (pan fried fresh cod with chickpea and cauliflower curry side).  Kirsty, meanwhile, was keen to press on and headed up to the summit, returning to the boat later in the evening.  All back aboard, we motored down to our pretty, cosy anchorage for the night at Vettøya

Looking down on Evolene (bottom left)

Halfway lake

We awoke to another stunning morning, bright sunshine, beautifully transparent water all around, sea eagle overhead and, after breakfast, all three of us took to the water for a refreshing dook.  With Kirsty due to fly home the following day it was time to start winding our way south again.  We headed to the anchorage at Sørøya that we had stayed in previously (with Polaris) for a lunchtime stop and while Kirsty and I explored the local archipelago by kayak, Stuart cracked on with cleaning more of the hull - thanks Stuart!  

Lunch stop

Lunch kayak

Our final anchorage of Kirsty's trip was at the south west end of Landegode.  Again, very sheltered, beautiful water, steep hillside to the east and beautiful sandy bays to south and west.  Oh, and yes, another sea eagle swooping overhead as we were eating dinner!  The only slight downer to the day was that our Raymarine chart plotter screen started flickering in the afternoon and, after considerable investigation and elimination of easily rectifiable solutions by Stuart, it would appear that it is the screen itself that is nearing the end of its life and will need replaced soon.  Thankfully we do have a back up system with its own screen (Orca) that we can resort to using in tandem with some remaining functionality on the Raymarine one but the larger chart plotter, when working fully, has excellent functionality and it will be missed.  It is now on our mind to replace or repair the screen when we can next get to a Raymarine dealer.  Either way, it won't be cheap but this is the first 'failure' of any of the boat's equipment which we think is pretty good going really.

Landegode sunset

Monday morning brought the final few hours of Kirsty's visit and after a short leg stretch ashore we headed off back to Bodø, with finally some wind to help us on our way!  Sails out we enjoyed a very delightful beam reach on the port tack for the latter half of the hop.  On approach to Bodø we furled the sails, put out the fenders and readied the lines.  Similar to last time, however, there were no free spaces directly next to the guest pontoons - Bodø is a popular place!  Perhaps not surprising given the marina's proximity to the airport.  We therefore employed our back-up plan and berthed briefly ahead of the fuel pontoon and all too quickly Kirsty's time aboard ended sadly.  With Kirsty on her way to the airport, it was time to top up the water tanks, dispose of the rubbish, do a quick top up of fresh food (milk, eggs, some fruit and vegetables) and then vacate the berth we were currently squatting in!

This next week we have preliminary plans to explore the area immediately south of Bodø and then the week after, with Stuart's family, perhaps the area a bit more south but as all good sailing plans go, it will all be somewhat dependent on weather, and undoubtedly subject to change!  But making plans and then adapting plans, is what can make sailing and particularly cruising so much fun.