Lofoten islands, norway

aslabend

aslabend

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has anyone sailed in this area? A friend is planning to charter a yacht there this summer from svolvear
and was wondering if anyone has had any experience (good or bad) sailing in that area. Is there any where particular to visit or anything That should be researched prior to visiting?

Thanks.
 
aslabend said:
has anyone sailed in this area? A friend is planning to charter a yacht there this summer from svolvear
and was wondering if anyone has had any experience (good or bad) sailing in that area. Is there any where particular to visit or anything That should be researched prior to visiting?

Thanks.
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One of the mags had an account of sailing around there a year or two back. Sorry, can't remember which one, but I expect it was YM or ST.
 
I've not been there but I know someone who has been to the North Cape via Lofotens. If there is anything specific you want to know, I could ask him.
 
I've had some sailing experience there.... some time ago.

FWIW, should high pressure dominate, your friend will motor here and there. If there's wind, it will be changeable/unpredictable, with fierce downdraught squalls spinning down in the lee of the 'Mountain Wall' and through the glaciated gaps. I was there in August, and a distant-water trawler skipper, walking with his family, advised that they don't get four seasons there. Between summer and winter, in lieu of autumn, they usually have a day or three's interlude. "We've had that", he said, "and now we're waiting for the first winter storm. I recommend," he advised, "that you are not sailing here in a small boat when that arrives. We are well north of the Arctic Circle here, and you will know that when the storm blows in off the northern ice...."

Salmon and cod is 'cheap as chips'. Chips aren't....

We made our excuses and left.

Consider Rostlandet and Skomvaer.....

skomvaer.jpg
 
We went to Svalbard in 2012 direct from Stornoway, but then returned via Tromso and the inside passage (Indrelia) to Bodo past Harstad and thence S. So we passed through the Lofoten and have some experience of Norway generally, but didn't cruise Lofoten specifically. However we were told you could spend a whole season in Lofoten happily enough! But general points for the whole area are:

1. Charts. You'd need hundreds of paper charts, so what we did was buy electronic ones plus planning ones at 1:200,000 iirc. A charter boat probably has a chart plotter, but we don't hence we bought SeaPro. The Norwegian vector charts proved very accurate.

2. Weather. In high summer it's probably quite quiet: worse weather is normally found further south, but of course it might be horrid! But nothing someone experienced in W Scotland would find disconcerting. There will be katabatic gusts, and the wind will run along the sounds so it's always from ahead or behind and will bend at each bend of the channel.

3. Tidal currents. The idea of a stream atlas, so familiar to us, is alien to the Norwegians. It seemed to us that the currents always ran with the prevailing wind, which will be from the S and so currents are N bound, about 1kt. This of course doesn't apply to the famous maelstrom, but you won't want to go there!

You can PM me for a bit more if you want - places to leave the boat for a few weeks for instance (not that you need that for a charter). And I could bore you silly with photographs! The scenery is beyond words.

We found the RCC Pilotage Fundation / Imray pilot book, written by Judy Lomax, invaluable for harbour information. For pilotage you mostly have to use your own sense.

http://www.rccpf.org.uk/publications/europe-a-mediterranean/norway

PS: When flying into Norway you must use your full duty-free allowance. This is made a bit harder than it should be by Thiefrow as the selection of wine in duty free is both disgusting muck and a rip-off. Beer can be bought in supermarkets in Norway and isn't so bad nor as expensive a we'd feared. Akavit Linnie is reserved for gullible tourists and is to be avoided.
 
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I can recommend the Lofoten area, including the northern part of Lofoten (Vesterålen, pronounced like Vester-olen). If you like a whale safari, Andenes village is a good starting point.

The whole area has impressing scenery, where eagles soar and the summer breeze is gentle on a nice day. As to go from Lofoten to North Cape, I would rather recommend that trip on board the Hurtigruten (coastal “fast ships”, read more on http://www.hurtigruten.no, in English). You could start from Svolvær, Sortland or Harstad, or any other port along the western coast, up to Honningsvåg near North Cape. Bus trips are arranged the 31 km from Honningsvåg to North Cape. Some Sami families’ reindeer herds are there over the summer season.

If you take a Hurtigruten fast ship trip, it will stop in Tromso, Skjervøy, Alta and a few other places along the route. This trip takes about 2 days each way. Service, cabins and food are high class on board. Even in winter, this trip is impressing with the northern lights, polar night-days and all that. The only mid-winter “daylight” is the twilight.

BTW, I have a listing of the dates of polar night-days and midnight sun period in Tromso on http://aasli.net/weather/sun.php . Those dates are for 2013, but just minor changes apply to 2014.

If you would like to know more, don’t hesitate to ask! :)
 
I walked the chain one summer years ago. At the time I thought the sibling would be magnificent.

Deep water close in. Sheltered on the eastern side. You'll have 24 hours daylight.

Sailing in nor ways is amazing. You need to watch out sailing below glaciers, the cold air creates rushing winds that can catch you unaware.

Take plenty of memory cards, scenery is stunning. Chance of seeing a whale or two, too.
 
I can recommend the Lofoten area, including the northern part (Vesterålen, pronounced like Vester-olen). If you like a whale safari, Andenes village is a good starting point. Summertime is a very good season for sailing the area. Lofoten and from Lofoten north to Skjervøy is popular with plenty of guest harbours and marinas, and outports.

The whole area has impressing sceneries, where eagles soar and the summer breeze is gentle on a normal summer day. As to go from Lofoten to North Cape, I can also recommend a trip on board the Hurtigruten (coastal “fast ships”, read more on http://www.hurtigruten.no, in English). You could start from Svolvær, Sortland or Harstad, or any other port along the coast, up to Honningsvåg near North Cape. Bus trips are arranged those 31 km from Honningsvåg to North Cape. Some Sami families’ reindeer herds are there over the summer season.

If you take a Hurtigruten fast ship trip, it will stop in Tromso, Skjervøy, Alta and a few other places along the route. This trip takes about 2 days each way. Service, cabins and food are high class on board. Even in winter, this trip is impressing with the northern lights, polar night-days and all that. The only mid-winter “daylight” is the twilight.

BTW, I have a listing of the dates of polar night-days and midnight sun period in Tromso on http://aasli.net/weather/sun.php . Those dates are for 2013, but only minor changes apply to 2014.

If you would like to know more, don’t hesitate to ask!
 
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