The Daily Logs
- July 23, 1996: Arrival in Oslo
- July 24, 1996: Touring Stavanger
- July 25, 1996: Hundvaag Circumnavigation
- July 26, 1996: Mountains, Fog, Goats, Rocks and Cows
- July 27, 1996: Ferry to Skudeneshavn
- July 28, 1996: Kids Away -- We Play
- July 29, 1996: Fastboat to Lysefjorden
- July 30, 1996: Skudeneshaven.
- July 31, 1996: Flipper Sees us Off
- August 1, 1996: Maritime Museum and Tallships
- August 2, 1996: Marion makes Ravioli
- August 3, 1996: Down the Southern Coast
- August 4, 1996: Tingholmen Rock
July 23, 1996 Arrival in Oslo
Norway is a nice cool place... High's in the 70's, Lows around 60. We spent a day in Oslo walking from one edge of the map clear off the other edge. Oslo is only Three hours wide.
We ended up at a park called Frogner Parken at the top of the hill. From that elevation we could see the Ski Jump from the 52 Olympics in the distance. It's about 100 years old and has grown from a 20 meter jump to it's current 90 meter height.
The bridge in the park was full of bronze nudes. The fountain was surrounded by dying nudes, and the monument was made of a pile of marble... guess what?... NUDES!
There are young nudes, old nudes, baby nudes, child nudes, male nudes and female nudes. All of them are bigger than a normal size and all of them are overweight. There is one plaque of a mule kicking an infant nude high into the air like a soccer ball.
One guy, Gustav Vigeland, did all of this back in the twenties and gave them to the city.
That afternoon we flew on to Stavanger and were met by Phil and Ingrid.
We went for a walk down to the water's edge before sunset (10:45).
July 24, 1996: Touring Stavanger
Next morning I woke at 5:30; the sun had been up for hours. Light rain in the morning. I decided to walk over the horizon. There I found a marina.
That afternoon we all went into the city for site seeing. St Swithen Cathedral was built in 1125 in Roman style, and added a Gothic nave in 1340. Reformers later redecorated the place and removed St Swithen's arm.
We also visited the Norse Hermetik Museum. That's really a sardine cannery. In 1924 the factory sent 15,843,721 cans of sardines to the USA, their biggest customer. In return we sent 7 Model T Fords. Such was trade in the roaring twenty's.
I bought 3 Cans of sardines and a Tee shirt featuring a famous sardine label.
July 25, 1996: Hundvaag Circumnavigation
Today we sailed in the harbor and circumnavigated Hundvaag Island and the surrounding rocks. The area is about the size of Galveston Bay but it is full of Islands of the size you would see in the Virgin Islands. Everything is close togethjer. (sp.)
We departed port around noon. Wind was about 12 Kts from the NNE. That's the direction of the Greenland Icecap. The summer weather and relatively warm water brought the air temp up to 64.
Ingrid took the helm for the first two beats. Phil took over on the third beat that later turned into a reach. I took the helm as we entered the Harbor at Stavanger. We did a wing-on-wing passing by the tour boats and car ferries. That's always a crowd pleaser. We passed under the high bridge between Stavanger and Hundvaag and started the northern treck back to the harbor.
We had lunch around 3:00 on a pleasant reach to Lindoy. As we started the beat to the northeast the winds picked up. The wind was raw. Foul weather gear was donned. It was suffering time.
Marion said, "Are we close to done?" I showed her the chart, gave her the helm, and went to the head.
When I returned Marion had fallen off about 20 degrees. I was irritated that she, who was in a hurry to get home, was now dallying about. I said nothing. Sensing my feelings she explained, "I was only allowing that ferry to pass."
I am sure our wake would not have rocked the ferry, but I kept my observation to myself.
Being unsure of the way through the many small islands, we took the long way around them all. This involved four extra beat legs. At one point our heading was 180 from home port. Marion said, "Do you know you are going the wrong way?" I knew that I should have never shown her the chart.
We made port around 5:30, total passage 16.5 NM. We cleaned up the boat and went home to warm up.
July 26, 1996: Mountains, Fog, Goats, Rocks and Cows
Heavy overcast day with intermittent showers in the morning. The plan for the day is a motor trip to the country south of Stavanger.
First stop is a bookstore in Sandnes. I found a nice picture book on Norway and a book of knots from Great Britain. Phil and Ingrid bought us a set of Marine charts for the Fjords around Stavanger. I'm sure we will use them in the days of sailing ahead.
We headed east and started climbing into the mountain country. The road follows a river that connects lakes along the way. The scenery is lush with vegetation. The clouds rest on the cliffs above and spill down the sides of the canyon. Its a beautiful but kind of spooky sight.
Next stop was a factory that spins yarn for all sorts of knitware. Very fine made sweaters costing over $200 discouraged this big spender. So we take a picture and get back in the car. Now we are off to the candle factory/giftshop/restaraunt/mountain goat preserve.
Here we did it all. Phil made friends with a mountain goat but I missed a great picture of them gazing into each others eyes. We got a shot of the goat, also shots of Ed on the rocks, and Ed & Marion on the rocks.
We watched candlemaking. It's not too exciting unless you spill hot wax all over. We bought candles in the giftshop and had Norwegian meatballs for lunch (very good food). Water came from a well vigorously pumped for everyone by an eight year old patron of the restaraunt.
Next we continued climbing up the canyon till we came to its crest. There at the top is the biggest pile of boulders you could imagine. They are all sizes from doghouse to Volkswagen to 2 bedroom condos. The pile fills a canyon that is 100 meters deep at this point, 400 meters wide and extending for at least a kilometer.
There huge boulders all got dumped off the mountainside in the Ice Age thaw of 8467 B.C. Here both Phil and I played mountain-goat-on-the-rocks. Our nannies didn't like it so we stopped and headed for the seashore.
At the seashore the land is relatively flat. Beautiful farms with rock fences surround the fields and pastures. Narrow lanes and scenery straight out of Wuthering Heights.
At the shore side we met a farmer walking his milk cows up the lane. They were headed for the barn up the hill. I swear one of the champs had a 5 gallon udder. She didn't stop to visit. A couple of 1 gallon cows did stop to be petted.
We also met a pair of calves that were tethered together on a 4 foot leash. They naturally went everywhere together. Number 0494 was on the left and number 0496 was on the right. We think their sister number 0495 used to be in the middle but somehow got off the tether. V
July 27, 1996: Ferry to Skudeneshavn
Today Marion and I went down to the marina and along the way we passed a bakery in the shopping center. I promised we would return after we had seen the boats.
It is a small marina. About 20 sail and 20 motor boats. Two of the sail boats featured wooden masts like I had never seen. The formula seems to be chop down a 50 foot tree of 16 inch diameter at the base. Lop off the top and strip off the branches and all of the bark. Sand smooth and apply 6 coats of varnish. Make a big hole in the deck and drop in the mast. Similar timbers are used for main boom, gaff top and the bowsprit. This construction is common on recently built boats in the 35 foot size. Above 40 feet the boat is usually a ketch. Most are traditional double enders.
Any way we did head back to the bakery but not before I tried out the ATM machine. I'm not much for shopping but I do like to try out different ATMs. Today however was different, we passed a big bold sign that said SALG. Marion explained that meant Sale in Norwegian.
"Let's see what they got," I said, just trying to be nice. Well, to make a story short, I found a perfect Norwegian foul weather coat on half price. It features 9 pockets, a hood with Velcro tabs and four Bungee cords to take in bottom, waist, neck and hood. Every feature except full battens in the shoulders. I could not resist.
Then we went to the bakery. We had lemon cream filled pastries with coconut on top.
Two tables over from us there was a group of ladies speaking Norwegian. I could not understand a word I overheard. That made everything they said seem a secret. I think they were plotting something but I couldn't figure out what.
I told Marion, "I think this is a meeting of the Hundvaag Ladies Terrorist Society".
She was not amused by this. "I think," said she, "its just wonderful that the ladies get out to meet on Saturday mornings for tea." She obviously believed they were not plotting anything.
Phil, Ingrid, Marion and I took off around noon in their car. The plan was to catch a ferry to Skudeneshaven. That's pronounced Skudeneshaven, and, if you say it real fast, it sounds like Skudeneshaven. Gesundheit!
Skudeneshaven won second place in the "Best Preserved Village" category in the 1990 NORTA competition. The first place went to an unnamed East coast village so Skudeneshaven is "Vakrest I Vest" (Best in the West).
I wore my new jacket and took along cameras, charts and GPS to properly record our passage. The ferry took a short cut through the Kvistoy Island cluster so we got to see a lot of rocks up close. The charts made the passage interesting.
Skudeneshaven lived up to its booking as a beautiful and charming village. Lots of artists that paint pictures of boats, that fishermen use to catch the fisk, to sell to the tourists, that come on the ferry, to eat the shrimp sandwiches at the Harbor restaraunt. Such is the economy of Skudeneshaven.
As we were leaving for home a large wooden sailing ship was coming into port. She was a ketch with a cutter rig and featured a very long bowsprit. I got lots of pictures to show for this trip.
July 28, 1996: Kids Away We Play
This is a Sunday and Phil and Ingrid left early this morning to go to Oslo for the christening of Ingrid's nephew, Halvor. Marion and I are taking the sailboat out for the day.
We got an early start. Left the house at 9:30 and were pulling out of the slip by 10. The day started out lovely. There were puffy clouds beneath a light overcast. We could see sun on the distant mountains.
We set sail for Rennesoya, a large island about 6 nm North of the harbor. The map shows a village with a marina at the foot of a 650 foot cliff.
It was a close reach to get around the island of Aamoy and on the way the sun came out for about 10 minutes, then it was gone. Since we were in no hurry we sailed into cove at Aamoy and took a look at the farms along the shore. In the light air we were only doing about 3.5 Kts.
A 22 foot wooden sail boat with a single cylinder diesel chugged past us with no sails up. She was lovely, and was flying the Norwegian flag as most of the boats do. Marion realized we were not properly dressed and went below to search for a flag.
She gave up the search and I gave her the helm and went below ostensibly on a different errand, but I knew there must be a flag on board. At length I found the flag and was quite smug about the discovery. Marion says I can't find things that are before my very eyes. I installed the flag, and she approved. We then had lunch on an easy reach around the Eastern end of Aamoy.
The sail up Mastrafjorden to Vikefjellet (try saying that real fast) was a beat. It turned out that the harbor at Rennesoya didn't look interesting enough to warrant stopping so we reversed course and headed back down the fjord and tried Mosteroya.
As we approached a very dark cloud was moving in from the West; it was carrying lots of rain so we turned tail to outrun it. By now the wind is quite light and we are wing-on-wing doing about 3 Kts hoping to make it around Aamoy's Eastern end so we can get out of the way of the rain.
It's cold. I add on my foul weather jacket. We move everything below that could get wet including Marion. We made the turn South around the end of the island. We only got grazed by the edge of the storm.
The Storm approaches
It is now around 1:30. The rain has passed to the North and we can see sunlight on the Island of Bru about 8 nm to the east. I dried out the cockpit and invited Marion to come up and take the helm. She did and we were immediately becalmed. I went below to attempt to master the head.
Marion at the Helm
After a while I heard the engine start. I went above to see what was going on. The tide had carried us into a shipping lane and a small freighter was approaching at flank speed.
"Don't worry," said I, "that guy is going to Tau; he won't come this way. There is nothing this way but that rock behind us."
"What about the channel to the marina?" challenged Marion.
"That ship is not going to the marina.. it won't fit," said I.
Ten seconds later it turned toward our position, smartly passed us twenty yards off, and headed up the channel past the marina.
Only a few minutes passed before the wind once again returned. It was a beat to get to Bru. On the way we researched the material on board and found that we were aboard a Contessa 26. It was designed in 1976 and won the round England race the following year for its class.
Sailing out to Bru a 30 footer beat us handily, and as we passed the point at Bru heading into the North Sea, a Soling with two hiked out passed us with some extra effort.
At 4:00 we turned for home and reset the GPS for our home port. The Garmin 45 is a real neat model. Slightly smaller display than our Model 75 but every bit as capable. ETA 5:04 range 5 nm.
Wind dropped and moved around to due West. We did a wing-on-wing for about 3 nm. All of the other sailboats had broken equipment and were motoring home.
Arrived in port at 5:30. Home at 6:00. Dinner at 8:00. Picked up the kids at the Airport around 10:00. Sunset around 11:00. To bed around 12:00.
July 29, 1996 Fastboat to Lysefjorden
"Yes, Dear, I would just love to go shopping." I can't believe I said that.
We did go shopping, and we found the baby store (Ingrid is in month 8). The last time I was in a baby store was 36 years ago. I was impressed with what the space program has contributed to the age-old technology of caring for babies. Talk about technology transfer they have Velcro on everything a baby can ever use.
Next we went to the lighthouse at Tungenes. It was founded in 1820 something because the fishermen could not find Stavanger easily. The town merchants persuaded the farmer on the point at Tungenes to create a lighthouse to attract the fishing fleet into the town. He used candles! Do you believe that? Well, that's what the story says.
Anyway, the candles worked and they finally persuaded the legislators in Oslo to fund a proper lighthouse on the point. They got an oil lamp in 1840, a gas lamp in 1870, and an electric lamp in 1890. Today the Tungenes light is on a pole twenty yards out to sea and has a solar cell/battery combination to power it.
GPS has made all of this obsolescent. I mean GPS is so accurate, it can record whether you are in front or in back of Fred standing in line for the movies.
They have a map museum at the lighthouse with copies of charts going back to 1600. It's a wonder they didn't give up sailing because some were almost pure fiction compared to what we have today.
We got lots of pictures of the lighthouse with cows, and with sailboats passing by. There are some Lesbian cows on the lighthouse grounds, according to Marion and Ingrid, but I did not see, nor photograph, any of their reported activities.
We then went downtown to catch a fastboat to Lysefjorden. That's a super trip. You get to see some of the most beautiful scenery in the world.
We saw the summer homes of the barons of Stavanger trade and industry. We saw the Pulpit Rock 600 meters above the fjord. We saw seals on the rocks, and goats on the rocks, and drank water off the rocks. We saw where the tax evaders hid in the rocks and threw rocks at the tax collectors to drive them off. The history of the place is full of rock this and rock that. Rock is in, in Norway.
Ingrid says we don't need to go to Bergen to see a fjord, because what we saw today is just like what we would see in Bergen. All Fords are alike.
July 30, 1996 Skudeneshaven.
The trip to Skudeneshaven got off around 11:00. We loaded provisions to feed the Norwegian Navy but I forgot to bring our new Nav Charts . I was not worried because I had entered the route in the GPS and there was a chart on board.
We had a nice sunny sail for the first few hours. The wind was 10 kts out of 300 degrees. The route to Skudeneshaven from Hundvaag has a 280 leg to Kjeoya, a 310 leg to Sveinane and a 300 to Skudeneshavn. That's an 18 nm beat across the North Sea.
We were rejoicing in the nice sunny weather as we passed the Island of Bru. We had tacked 9 times in the Stavanger channel to get the first 6 miles. Now we had open sea and no shipping or rocks to contend with for at least 4 miles. Time for a gin and tonic and lunch.
The wind cooperated and moved around to 280 allowing us a close reach past the lighthouse on Fjoloya. Got a real neat picture of the lighthouse and the shore.
It's 3:00 PM and we are over half the way. The clouds roll in and the wind shifts to 320 and freshens to 15 kts. We are taking occasional spray over the windward side. It is cold, and Marion is driven below with numbness in fingers and feet to warm up.
About every half hour we tack, and I call Marion up to give a hand. Each time she asks, "When will we get there?"
Each time I answer, "Around 6:00."
Then she says, "I don't believe that GPS knows we are off course. It's telling you the time to the next tack." Then she adds, "I think it will be 4 more hours."
Even 2 hours later her estimate never changes; its still gonna be four hours.
We made it into port at 6:20. I must admit the last 13 hours since lunch were the most uncomfortable I had spent on many a sail.
The Contessa at Skudeneshaven
The woman who owns the Inn greeted us and took our lines. She seemed amazed that we came on such a small boat, and that we were only 20 minutes behind our original ETA. I wasn't amazed; I make response time estimates for a living, and I was ashamed this one was off by 5%.
We thawed out in the sun on the dock where we tied up. We had gin and tonics, and sardines and crackers. A powerboat with five aboard pulled up and parked in the space ahead of us. They too seemed curious about how we got there in such a boat.
The man who owns the Inn visited with us. He recently purchased a lovely old wooden trawler. It's double ended and has a two cylinder diesel. It's in the picture next to our boat at the dock.
After cocktails we checked in, and then went to the Lantern Restaurant for dinner. We strolled around town. We turned in around 10:30. Died at 10:31.
July 31, 1996: Flipper Sees us Off
Rose from the dead at 9:00. The weather was cold and raining.
We found 5 rolls for breakfast in a sack on our door. They have a small kitchen with everything you need for cooking. I made a pot of coffee, some for the thermos and the rest for breakfast. After breakfast we went shopping in the rain. I got a 1.5 meter bungie cord for the boat tiller, a 1.75 meter Norwegian Vee banner for Great Ketch and a very colorful foul weather suit for Marion.
Around 12:00 we made our farewells to the folks at the Inn. They took a lot of pictures of the crazy Texans that sailed over yesterday and who are now departing in rain and fog for Stavanger. They offer to notify Ingrid, our official next of kin, that we are on our way.
The guys in the power boat watched as I looped the bungie cord around the tiller. One asked what I was doing. I said it was my automatic pilot. They thought that was very funny.
We headed out in the rain. First stop was the gas dock. With light air we might have to motor all the way. The guy at the dock said they don't sell diesel until 2:00 PM.
Then with great excitement he said, "Look, there's Flipper... boy are you lucky."
As we turned to see what he was talking about, a very large dolphin surfaced about five yards off our starboard and blew a loud puff before diving under our boat. He circled and surfaced again before disappearing. He seemed half again as long as any I have ever seen in the Gulf around Galveston. "Flipper" came to Skudeneshavn about two years ago and decided to stay. The townspeople feed him regularly and he is quite a curiosity.
I determined that we had enough diesel to make it home, and decided to head out to sea. We set sail and motored out of the harbor. Very light air on our stern. Large swells rolling in from the West meet with reflected swells from the shoreline. These create a terrible chop at the entrance to the harbor. With no wind to steady us the boat is tossed about and the sails flog to and fro. This combined with rain and fog is not a pleasant way to be starting an 18 mile trip home.
About 2 miles out of port the engine quits. We are tossed about by the choppy seas and have very little wind to go by. Decision time: return to port and repair the engine or press on under sail alone?
As we turn to head back there is enough wind to make some headway on the beat back to Skudeneshavn. Two miles away there is even some clearing of the weather. Its coming our way.
Marion says "Why don't we just sail home? It seems to be improving."
"OK by me," said I, and we headed for home. After about an hour of sailing Marion said," Let's try the engine."
"Why waste the starter power, I haven't fixed the problem" said I.
"Just humor me."
I did, and it started up. What kind of person works miracles like this wondered I.
After about ten minutes the engine gave up again. I gave my miracle worker the helm and then headed below to introduce myself to the errant diesel.
Without tools I could not take the filter apart to clean it. I used a pancake turner to loosen the hose clamps on the rubber fuel lines and proceeded to drain all the fuel I could.
Next I opened both lines at the filter and blew as much dirty fuel out as I could. The fuel looked like coffee with just a little cream in it. Fortunately the fuel level in the tank is higher than the engine so gravity helped the draining process.
We ran for a while out of a gallon jug of clean fuel. Bypassing the filter completely. Doing this we ran out of fuel in about 20 minutes, because the return fuel went to the tank and not to the jug.
I drained more from the tank and then tried a tank to engine hookup bypassing the filter. The engine ran even on the dirty fuel. We needed the engine because the last 3 miles to home we were becalmed.
We made port at 6:30, an hour and a half later than promised. Ingrid was waiting and had read the paper and taken a nap. Tomorrow I will finish repairs on the filter.
Sailing is all about coping with the elements and the equipment. Once that lesson is learned, all of sailing is a joy... even engine repair at sea.
August 1, 1996: Maritime Museum and Tallships
I went to the boat around 8:00 to restore the fuel system to its working state. I removed the filter bowl and cleaned out the sediment. The filter element was not as dirty as I expected and there was little water in the filter bowl. I cleaned it up and reinstalled the filter element. Then I flowed fuel into the system and bled air at the entry to the fuel injector at the top of the engine. The engine started immediately and ran smoothly under light load.
In the aft starboard compartment, where the fuel tank resides, I found about .5 liter of water and about .1 liter of diesel fuel that leaked from the tank or its connections. I suspect that the rubber tube that is used for a fuel level indicator may have leaked. I may have left its valve in the on position to cause the leak. At any rate the hose was split where it attaches to the valve. I put it back on and made the valve tight. I then cleaned out all of the water and the fuel spill.
You might check for further leakage on your return.
I hope I am not leaving an impression that I in any way disapprove of your lovely Contessa. I have owned a 1969 Ericson 30, a 1984 Hunter 34 and now have a 1982 Morgan Out Island 41. None of these boats have a fuel system as well laid out and as accessible as the Contessa.
Your fuel tank is high enough to gravity feed the system. There is a drain valve at the bottom of the tank that makes cleanout easy. There is not a bunch of high pressure lines from injector pump to injectors that require bleeding. When it comes time to sell your boat, you should emphasize these superior qualities in your sales pitch. It was a joy to work on.
Later in the morning Marion and I went to the Stavanger Maritime museum. It traces the history of Stavanger from a fishing town to ship building to its preeminence as the oil capital of Norway. Kvaener shipyard, formerly Rosenberg Vershaft, has built some of the largest offshore platforms in the North Sea. Ten story high hotels perched high above the water with hundred foot derricks atop that. The shipyard is less than a mile from Phil and Ingrid's place on Hundvaag so all of the aerial photos show their apartment complex.
Along the main docks at Stavanger the wooden ships Pauline and the Ann Margarite were tied up. Pauline is a 100 year old sailing ship that has been recently restored to its original design and converted into a museum. The ship is about 75 feet long and 24 wide. It has a single mast with a giant square rigged main. 40h x 30w.
The Ann Margarite is the same ship we saw in Skudeneshavn a week before. It was built in 1880 and is a two masted ship with gaff top Main and Mizzen. Its 90 feet including its 15 foot Bowsprit.
A group of about ten Red Cross workers were aboard the Pauline and showed us about. They are using the ship to sail from port to port promoting safety. They were giving CPR demonstrations at dockside and demonstrating fire fighting techniques. We returned later in the evening with Ingrid and Phil to show them the boat. One of the young Red Cross workers told me about his experiences rescuing people who attempt suicide by jumping from the high bridge at Haugensund. He also told me that even on days when the rest of the North Sea is flat you will find large waves at Skudeneshavn. They are caused by the Gulf Stream meeting the Arctic current at that Southwesternmost spit of land. My theory is that Flipper, who is really a Miami Dolphin, probably rode the Gulf Stream to Skudeneshavn, developed a taste for Norwegian herring, and decided to stay.
That evening we had a wonderful supper at La Piazza, the Italian restaraunt next to the Museum. The food and the service were first rate. The avocado appetizer with shrimp and crab was superb. Marion had the Escargot and I got to sop up some of the juice on a roll. It was very good. I had Risoto San Marco... The Italian equivalent to Spanish rice with shrimp and mussels in a deep red sauce. Phil had Fetuchinni Paisano and Ingrid the Canalonni. Marion was undecided about an entree'.
The restaraunt owner told her, "When I'm here I am the menu. Just tell me what you want."
She ordered her favorite spaghetti sautéed in a garlic pesto with olive oil.
Then home for taped Seinfeld and B&B before bed.
August 2, 1996: Marion makes Ravioli
Early Marion and I went down to 'Sloop du Jour' and washed the cockpit and just checked things over. It rained hard as we left to go home.
We went shopping for Ricotta cheese and other stuff that Marion would need for cooking Homemade Ravioli. Then we went to the big shopping mall near Sandenes and had Hamburgers and fries for lunch. We found a nice turtleneck sweater for Marion and a pair of warm socks.
Marion did Ravioli cooking school and Ingrid caught on real quick. We had the finest Italian dinner available in the town of Stavanger.
August 3, 1996: Down the Southern Coast
Today we toured the farm and shore side region south of Stavanger.
The first stop was a ruined church that had been rebuilt with loving care by the local citizenry. The church is situated on a prominent hill overlooking the sea. In WW2 the Germans decided the church made their position easy to locate and destroyed the church. They gave enough notice of their intentions that the townspeople painted numbers on all of the important stones around archways and corners. This would make it easier to reconstruct the church. I discovered that I had left my camera at home.
On the way down the coast I saw very high sand dunes along the shore. They were so high one could not see the sea. I asked to take a look and we turned down a lane and discovered 'Friluftshuset pa Orre' at the beach.
There is a building with a semi-enclosed courtyard nestled among the dunes. The building houses a small auditorium that doubles as an art gallery. A collection of works by Frank Frantzen was on display. We bought a poster of one of his paintings that advertised his show.
Then we headed for the lovely sand beach. The dunes are full of wild flowers and insects that appreciate the flowers. Phil got a picture of a beautiful fuchsia colored flower at my request.
The dunes are spectacular. They are as high as the ones I remember seeing at Mustang Island. They rise very sharply up from the shoreline. Its as if the higher the wind, the higher the dune.
We went down to the waters edge and Ingrid found footprints made by a bare human foot coming out of the sea. The trail ended abruptly; we did not find a frozen person so there was nothing more we could do.
I made my usual sand castle at the waters edge. The sand is less muddy than Texas Gulf Coast sand so it does not pile as high. It has a delightful squeaky clean feel and drains quickly, It is a little coarser than Galveston, but finer than Ft Walton, Cancun, or Puerto Villarta.
We then went on down the coast to the parson's farmhouse. It has a barn that serves as an art museum/gallery and a farmhouse that has a cafe. We had coffee/tea and cakes and watched the cows on the very green pasture.
The farmhouse is also the site of an ancient burial ground, circa 400 to 600 AD. The shore line is very deep in rocks. Baseball to breadbox size rocks are the most prominent. There are some the size of an Ottoman, but none as big as a Honda Civic.
The dead were buried under cairns that were surrounded with Ottoman and breadbox sized rocks and filled with grapefruit sized rocks up to a level of about six feet. I took a softballball sized rock that was not being used for anything.
I tried out the stilts at the art museum. I was shaky at first, but after a little practice easily went 15 yards on a slalom course across the parson's farmroad.
We headed for home and stopped in the town of Bryne so Ingrid could hit the ATM. Phil motioned for us to get out of the car and come. We got out and headed his way. I could see a disco night club behind him, so I thought having a beer would be nice.
He had found a mill pond complete with ducks and geese and one black swan. We saw several varieties of web footed water fowl. There were some very unusual silver, gray and black geese and Norwegian blond ducks. There were also some chubby little divers that looked a lot like lesser grebes. We were only able to positively identify the Mallard in Ingrid's Norwegian Bird Book. I think there had been a lot of crossbreeding going on at that pond.
At the Western end of the pond there was an old mill and a photographer was taking pictures of a couple dressed in ceremonial Norwegian costume.
With all of the beautiful sights I could not contain myself and broke into song:
- "Down by the old mill stream,
- where I first met you,
- with you eyes of blue,
- dressed in gingham too.
- It was there I knew,
- that you loved me too.
- You were sixteen,
- my village queen,
- down by the old mill stream."
We surveyed the scene. The town was deserted. We headed for home.
On the way back we stopped at the marina and townhome complex under the bridge from Stavanger to Hundvaag. It's a beautiful marina and there were a number of sailboats I would have been proud to own. Tops on my list was a 40+ foot Nauticat Ketch. The owner had just returned from Southern Norway and I helped him with his bow line. He had a totally enclosed center cockpit so it would not be a hardship to sail it anywhere.
Super supper at Ingrid's Pizza Palace. Ham, Cheese, Peppers, Mushrooms and Onions. No anchovies please. And wash it down with Cote' du Rhone Vin 1994.
August 4, 1996 Tingholmen = Redfish Island + Vikings
It's Sunday and our last day in Norway. The sun is shining and the day looks like a good one. I suggested that we sail to Tingholmen.
This is the place where King Olaf had a big conference with all of the lords of Norway back in 997. Tingholmen is an uninhabited rock at the intersection of Horgefjorden and Hogsfjorden. This made it easy for all the lords to find the place. They made a big bonfire on the end of the rock where the present navigation light is set.
They all came in authentic Viking ships and wore Viking outfits. The conference lasted for several weeks. The beer ran out on this very day, August 4, 997, exactly 999 years ago.
Then all the lords went home. King Olaf got his well-earned respect for throwing the most successful conference in Norwegian folklore.
A place with a reputation like that.... I knew we would have a good time if we sailed there.
We headed for the boat at noon and pulled out around 12:20. The course was a wing-on-wing all the way. The distance is about the same as sailing to Redfish reef from Kemah. It is a very popular daysail destination.
Tingholmen is about the size of a soccer field. It has a little cove on the South side where you can anchor off the stern and tie up to steel eyes driven into the rocks.
At Tingholmen Rock
There were about twenty other boats there. Most were powerboats. There were lots of people basking in the sun. It was actually the warmest day we had.
I saw pretty girls in bathing suits and kids playing in the water. A boat came by pulling a water skier. We tromped around on the rocks Viking style, and had a picnic on the rocks. Then the beer ran out so we headed for home. Does that sound familiar?
On the way back we had a match race with another sailboat. It lasted for about an hour until the wind gave out. We were winning.
We started the engine and headed for Stavanger Harbor to get supper. After about 20 minutes, the engine acted up and finally quit. Then we decided to head for home instead of going to town. The air was very light and we ended up beating all the way back at about 1.5 Kts.
I restarted the engine twice and saved the last effort for our trip into the harbor. Same problem with the fuel. However, it did run with the filter bypassed. We got to port at 6:20.
The spectacular scenery and the wonderful warm weather made this absolutely the nicest sailing of the whole trip.
- "Down by the old mill stream,