Geirangerfjord

Sunset at sea

Traversay III typically moves at a speed between 5 and 6 knots - about 10 km/h.  At this jogging pace, an 8 hour day would only move us along 80 km or so.  This is a fine pace for sightseeing and is slow enough that problematic navigational concerns rarely surprise us but, in terms of the size of a typical country or ocean, it is S L O W.

When night navigation is easy, our solution is to travel around the clock and eat, sleep and fix things while moving along toward our destination.

Gunnery observation bunker at the Ergan - WW2 fortress

Torghatten was the last northern touristy spot we had planned to visit.  For some days before arriving there we had noted that on August 6 the wind would shift NE for a couple of days providing the perfect opportunity for a sail offshore down the coast.  This would crush 5  or 6 days of coastal travel into 2 and deliver us to Bud, a coastal town near where friend Eva lives. We first met Eva in Cocos-Keeling on Opportune and recently shared the Norwegian national day with her in Molde.

Bud has a well preserved German fortress from WW2 built into a hillside overlooking the town.  The museum, naval guns and tunnels provided a historical diversion before a shared dinner with our friend.  Eva had been serving as crew on a Spanish sailboat for the summer on a cruise of the Scottish islands and had lots of stories to tell about her experiences on that trip.

Geirangerfjord

A few of many many waterfalls

Geirangerfjord is a particular highlight of this part of the Norwegian coast.  While the very touristy town did not interest us enough to draw us ashore, the countless waterfalls pouring down the vertical walls of the narrow channel are stunning.  Additionally, our cruise up Geiranger and back was graced with a rare sunny day to make the green and rock of the fjord walls even more spectacular than usual.



 To add even more color on a human scale, grazing goats and tiny farm houses cling mid-height on the cliffs with seemingly no route up or down save ancient cableways rigged down to the shore.