Norway south west and fjord coast

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Mike Bryon

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Planning a 6 weeks trip to Norway aim to landfall Mandal around 16th June then to cruise West and North. Would really appreciate suggestions of not to miss anchorages and where to celebrate the solstice. Also is it feasible/legal to go without a holding tank (2022 pilot says law may change)? UK flagged, 39ft, 2m draw sailing boat. Thanks in advance.
 
You could have a look at our 2010 blog

Fairwinds 2010

. . . though a lot has probably changed since then. We are heading back with Fairwinds this year.

In Norway there is no formal regulation requiring foreign-flagged vessels to have holding tanks installed; however, Norwegian law states that the discharge of sanitation devices is not allowed within 300 m of shore.
 
We spent 6 weeks on the West coast in 2019, made landfall in Tananger and cruised to Bergen and back south again, departing from Egersund. We spent a lot of time in the Lysefjord and mainly the Hardangerfjord and its islands. We received very valuable insider tips from local sailors we met.
The Lysefjord is not to be missed for the Preikestolen, or the Pulpit, an overhanging rock with a sheer drop to the water of over 600 meter. The walk up to it is not to be missed and can be undertaken from Tau. No anchorage in the Lysefjord, it is too deep, but there is a quay with mooring buoys halfway down the fjord at the old Flørli hydropower station.
The Hardanger is such a giant complex of fjords and inlets and islands that you could easily spend a whole season exploring it. Sundal is a nice spot, with a beautiful hike to the foot of the glacier an a charming hotel/restaurant. Norheimsund has a most interesting centre for wooden boatbuilding, a working museum. If you’re looking for solitude, Botnen at the head of the Fyksesund was one of the local secrets. It can only be reached by boat, not by road. There is a beautiful little harbour on the island of Burgundoya, tipped by another local.
Kvitsøya has already been mentioned, I can endorse that. Another island is Stora Kalsøy and its tiny harbour Bakkasund, reached through a maze of rocks and islets.
Want bigger cities? Bergen, of course, where we lay in front of the famous red Hanseatic houses, and Stavanger, both ideal for crew changes.
In six weeks we barely scratched the surface, and Bergen is not even a third of the way to the North Cape. You will also need to take the time to hike and enjoy the scenery from a different perspective.

We hope to go back one of the following seasons.
 
webcraft said:
however, Norwegian law states that the discharge of sanitation devices is not allowed within 300 m of shore.
Click to expand...
To which can be added that, since a couple of years back, there is also a complete ban on discharge to sea in the Oslo fjord area:
Forbyr utslipp av kloakk fra fritidsbåter i Oslofjorden
(should you change your mind and head in that direction...)
Concerning where to spend time etc, my advice would be to take a few days to enjoy the area once you arrive, since I think that part of the coast (say from Kristiansand to Flekkefjord) is a great cruising area, very unspoilt, with many outlying islands and skerries.
Further to the NW, if you continue past the entrance to the Hardanger fjord, one area we found particularly beautiful was the maze of islands between the larger islands Bømlo and Stord.
 
norskhavneguide.no
Make a free account and enter the tresurehall. Lots of 'naturhavns'
We,ve been there in '23. Unforgettable. We have information on our page skikopreis.nl. it is in Dutch but maybe you can translate it in your browser or otherwise the images and videos will speak for theirselve.
It is a wonderfull coast. Don't forget a fishingline. Evers day fresh and various fish!
 
Adding to above: Norwegians are a bit solent but not unfriendly. The are somewhat shy to speak English.
If they take your lines you just might be able to 'defreeze' them with the sentence: takk du er veldig snill. (Thanks you are very kind)
I learned them as very helpfull but they will not easaly initiate contact.
 
Skik op reis said:
Adding to above: Norwegians are a bit solent but not unfriendly. The are somewhat shy to speak English.
If they take your lines you just might be able to 'defreeze' them with the sentence: takk du er veldig snill. (Thanks you are very kind)
I learned them as very helpfull but they will not easaly initiate contact.
Click to expand...
I've never yet met a Norwegian who was shy about speaking English, and I worked with Norwegians and spent several seasons in Svalbard! I thought of learning some Norwegian, but gave up when I found that I couldn't find a Norwegian who didn't speak good English. They are mostly only too pleased to have the chance to practice on you!
 
Such useful replies. I will definitely be using the mentioned resources, thank you.

Is it possible that the experience of Skik op reis and AntarcticPilot are both valid? I guess AntarcticPilot speaks English as a first language whereas Skik, like most Norwegians, likely speaks English as a second language. This might explain their different experiences/successes in speaking to locals.

Thanks again all.
 
Mike Bryon said:
Such useful replies. I will definitely be using the mentioned resources, thank you.

Is it possible that the experience of Skik op reis and AntarcticPilot are both valid? I guess AntarcticPilot speaks English as a first language whereas Skik, like most Norwegians, likely speaks English as a second language. This might explain their different experiences/successes in speaking to locals.

Thanks again all.
Click to expand...
Well, my native language is English, and I supplement my pension by revising academic manuscripts in English for researchers whose first language isn't English.
 
I think AP has been there more often than I. My impression was that of myself after sailing there once for three months. Maybe People react different on me LOL. This isnt important in this topic. I hope you checked out norskhavneguide.no It helped me to find wonderfull spots wich I will never forget. Deo Volente I'll be able to visit the region again. It lacks the giant mountains that one finds further North. But I appreciated the landscape as more lovely and easyer to make long walks. Thereby I think it is better sailing between lower coasts and isles, than in the fjords.
By the way: I'm just sharing impressions and what I've learned. I'm not really that keen on discussion. And I don't pretent to know beter than others to.
 
Skik op reis said:
I think AP has been there more often than I. My impression was that of myself after sailing there once for three months. Maybe People react different on me LOL. This isnt important in this topic. I hope you checked out norskhavneguide.no It helped me to find wonderfull spots wich I will never forget. Deo Volente I'll be able to visit the region again. It lacks the giant mountains that one finds further North. But I appreciated the landscape as more lovely and easyer to make long walks. Thereby I think it is better sailing between lower coasts and isles, than in the fjords.
By the way: I'm just sharing impressions and what I've learned. I'm not really that keen on discussion. And I don't pretent to know beter than others to.
Click to expand...
But my experience is mainly of Svalbard in the high Arctic. I've only visited Oslo and Molde in the more southerly parts of Norway. Passed through Tromso, of course, but not to say I know it. And of course, I've worked with Norwegians. Indeed, a Norwegian and I palled up on an academic conference in Holland; my main recollection is that on exchanging opinions of the various brews (neither of us were impressed with the various offerings!), he came up with the memorable saying "This one is approaching beer-like qualities!"
 
Beer always tends to be a nice opening for a coversation doesn't it? :) Furthermore about Norwegians: on a spot I lost my expensive aluminium anchor.I had forgotten to lock the chain properly. (wich my lovely wife kindly emphasized ). We could see it lying there in the deep water but were not able to dive it up or dredge it. One of the ( very silent) Norwegeian neighbours did swim to us, and dived, rather like a Cormorant on a sharing angle. The guy seemed to stay there for ever. After what feeled like ten minutes he came back to the surface (turning quit red, I must say) and handed me o er my anchor!
Off course I rewarded this action with a bottle of Dutch spirits and a pack of waffles.
The other day he was very keen on conversation and came by on his paddleboard countless times :)
 
Be careful of new regulations in Norway particularly if your boat is over 15m. The new rules make it almost impossible to visit the country unless you plan to stay in marinas if you are over 15m.
 
Seven Spades thanks for your post. Anchoring without prior permission would be a pain but needing permission to use the tender ..! Happy days that this new policy does not apply to us, we are well under 15m.
 
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