Blog post from Svalen´s crew member Selma, with help from Thea Kari and Sigrid.  

The beginning of Sigrid, Thea Kari, Hege and Selma´s time on Svalen

Sigrid, Thea Kari, Hege and Selma joined the crew at Svalen in Bergen Saturday 23^rdof June to an already fully packed boat. After struggling to get all the new “supplies” (really a whole lot of personal things) stowed into the many small cabinets, we started moving towards Hummelsund just north of Marstein Fyr, a place where ship pilots come and go. We had some trouble settling into the sailboat-life as it had been some time since our last time at sea, so nausea wasn’t uncommon. Anyhow we had a very nice first sail with many things to see. For instance, the 23^rdof June is the date of St. Hans celebrations in Norway, meaning people gather on beaches and along the coast lines and burn large bonfires together to celebrate the longest day of the year. The coastline was scattered with such bonfires and people standing out in the rain watching them, making our sail colorful and much more interesting.

Our first sail ended with a nice salmon dinner that Sigrid and Thea Kari cooked on command, and a short walk in small Hummelsund. We all prepared ourselves for the long sail across the North Sea the next morning, with mixed feelings about how it was going to be.

Whales in the North Sea

During our much longer sail than expected, due to constant headwind, there hadn’t been much to see except a few Fulmars following us along the way. However, early the last morning of the Bergen-Shetland stretch something large and black emerged from the water on our port side. After some discussion Sigrid and John, who were on watch, concluded it must be a killer whale and immediately woke the rest of the crew to finally witness some wildlife. The whale kept emerging and descending into the water, blowing air and showing off its tale. We understood there must be more than one and we were fascinated. The whales weren’t with us for long, but we managed to take some pictures of their very dark backs, as they were moving up and down in the early morning.

It was spectacular seeing such huge creatures all alone out at sea, and it got us thinking about all the life going on underneath the surface of the sea we were sailing. Later on we even spotted several seals and could appreciate the wildlife even more! We are now looking forward to seeing more animals along our way down the Scottish coast.

Thea Kari´s fishing luck

Thea Kari has always been keen on fishing whenever we are out at sea, so naturally she was excited to fish in the North Sea! John had provided a fishing line and a hook for her and she got to it. However, after fishing and fishing, and fishing, for anything that would bite, she lost some of her drive. There simply seemed to be no fish in the sea, what so ever. Anyhow, she was persistent to keep on going as seen in the picture below.

In the end Thea Kari ended up catching one small mackerel that unfortunately let go off the hook just before she managed to pull it on board. Hence, the happiness! was short lived. The conclusion of the long lasting fishing-attempt was therefore that Thea Kari still has some fishing luck, but that the very limited catch this time was due to factors outside of her control. Thea Kari is now hoping for better luck next time, and better conditions of course!