Sarah Pedersen 24th of June
We had a fine day motoring to Tromsø where Steve had put on the “follow the route” function on the autopilot, so sailing without working was taken to a new level. Now we only had to press one button to accept when the route changed course, then the boat would do the rest.
We were both a bit groggy from the early start so it was nice with a slow day, where the most action packed event was sailing into another whirlpool, which created some turbulence in the boat.
When we arrived to Tromsø we could see this would be a nice place to spend a few days. But even though this marina is quite new it has neither toilets or showers or what we really needed – a washing machine, so we used a laundry service without checking the price and thus spent more on having underwear cleaned than it would have cost to buy a new 10 year supply🤣.
Steve needed a little nap after the early start, so Sarah went for a run. It was another very warm day, so Sarah was a little tired only to have thermal running pants with her. The packing list had in many ways gone wrong as we have been about eating out a lot more than expected and she only brought one pair of jeans and a 2 turtlenecks for going out – not the right clothing for 23 degrees warm Tromsø.
After having a lovely dinner at Maskinverkstedet, we had guests over on the boat for rhubarb crumble and white wine, as Sarah’s friends from a North Sea regatta live here.
The next day we had a visit from some friendly customs officers who seemed far more interested in studying every page of Sarah’s passport in minute detail than checking for illegal contraband, (the Norwegian authorities always get excited and surprised when the learn that there is someone from Denmark aboard!), after a small friendly reprimand for having a little extra alcohol aboard Steve got to experience Sarah’s organisation skills, or rather the complete lack of these. The weather forecast looked like we would be able to leave for Bear Island on Friday, so the boat needed to be ready. We had to shop, the engine had to have oil changed and we needed to refill the propane gas for cooking. Sarah is much more of a having fun person, so after having tried to make a shopping list her mood was completely down and the day seemed impossibly hard to get through.
Steve had to add ‘have fun’ to the to do list, so there was something to look forward to. Wednesday evening came and the weather forecast had changed so it no longer looked like we were able to sail Friday but had to wait until Sunday. This made it possible for us to slow down with the practical work and mix it with relaxing and seeing more of the town.
We had a great day of drinking wine at different bars in sailing shorts and flip flop shoes and at then end of the night Sarah saw a seagull swallow a pretty big fish whole, which made her fear of that stupid bird a little bit worse. It was a terrifying sight.
The weather forecast is still not great for sailing to Bear Island, but we hope to leave tomorrow! And had a visit from Friendly police today to check us out… This will also mean less connection and pictures in the posts as our network will get worse.
