Spitsbergen 2013

Svolvaer II

Posted by admin on July 15, 2013

At 2300hrs on Saturday night we rounded Anda Light marking entry into the northern fjords of the Lofoten Islands.  We have made good time although it has been a 'robust' passage with blustery winds and rough water most of the way.  The smooth waters of the fjord were a welcome respite.  By 1200hrs on Sunday we had motor sailed through the Raftsund and arrived safely back in Svolvaer.  Atlantis and her crew have stood up well through the rough and tumble of the crossing and remain in good shape.

Regular readers will remember the disappointment of our earlier arrival here when one of the world's most spectacular mountain vistas was masked by mist and our entire stay coincided with persistent rain and dismal weather.  Well ..... plus ça change! We would have posted a photo but it would be so similar to the dreak images of our last stay there seemed little point in expending the bandwidth.

We are not stopping for long.  We have already refuelled, filled water tanks and fixed a few minor electrical instrument gremlins that had evolved over the last few weeks.  As previously described, the weather for the next phase of our journey is unhelpful, but we do have a short 24(ish) hour window on Monday night when we might be able to make some progress to the south before being confronted by strong southwesterly winds later in the week.  We intend to take it and will leave on Monday evening and make best time south before once again heading inland very early on Wednesday morning.  From then, if the forecast remains unchanged, we face 48 hours of unfavourable winds (and persistent rain!) and may try to thread our way through the inshore passages and fjords that punctuate the north Norwegian coastline. 

On a more positive note, at this range, the forecast from next Sunday looks altogether more promising.  We certainly hope so.

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