Active in the cold Norwegian winter landscape ❄️💪🥶🤗

The first two weeks after our return from Tromsø, we are very active in the cold winter landscape of Norway. Active in the harbour with our own boat and boats belonging to other sailors in the exceptional winter weather with lots of ice in the harbour and snow on the boats. Active on land on snowshoes and especially cross-country skis in the cold but dry winter weather with beautiful coloured skies. The first night after our return, it is still snowing heavily, but after that, it is very clear and cold every day for almost two weeks. The thermometer regularly reaches -20°C, especially during the first week, and in the car on Senja, we see -27°C once ❄️🥶.

We are active in the harbour with our own boat. We are moored at the first jetty for the first week after arrival. We are happy to be here, but it is clearly less sheltered, especially with the strong easterly wind that regularly blows here. So we are keen to return to our own more sheltered spot. Especially because there is also water available there. Halfway through the first week, we try (after first de-icing all the lines we are moored with using a bucket of hot water). But we notice that the ice is still too thick and too solid to break through 🥲. That would damage the boat too much. So we have to be patient for a while longer, and luckily the watermaker is working well.

We create an app group with all the sailors who have boats moored here and are currently away, to keep them informed about the unusual winter conditions in the harbour. Normally, there isn't this much ice. This is due to a combination of heavy rain (and therefore more fresh water), a cold easterly wind and snow. There are six fans in the water that keep parts of it ice-free. There is also a fan at our jetty. We clear snow and check on other boats. While clearing snow (wearing gloves), Toine unknowingly breaks a tendon in a finger joint (mallet finger, tip of right ring finger) 🥹. It is now in a homemade splint with a plaster around it so that the tendon can grow back. But after a week, Toine decided to visit the GP here for a more permanent solution. 'Splinting only makes sense if there is definitely no piece of bone broken off. Otherwise, it must first be surgically removed (in Tromsø),' said the doctor. After the weekend, Toine can come here for an X-ray. The healing process will take another 6-8 weeks 🥲. What a hassle for what at first glance seems like a minor injury, but fortunately Toine is not bothered by it much.

After a week, there are only two pieces of ice left that we have to break through, and they look a little thinner. We embark on the adventure with Toine at the helm and me at the bow. We can talk to each other easily because we are calling by phone and using apple ears to communicate. To break the ice (which is about 10 cm thick), we first have to sail onto it a little. Then it breaks into pieces, so we reverse and move on to the next section. Suddenly, the large block of ice breaks completely in two and we can sail through it and then around it to our dock. Phew... we are so happy when we arrive safely. And now, a week later and with slightly warmer temperatures (but still below zero), the harbour is completely ice-free again 🤔.

In Tromsø, we had decided to spend more time together this year in Finnsnes, exploring the beautiful winter landscape. We start with a walk on Senja with rented snowshoes. This is great fun and, for Toine, the first time he really enjoyed walking in the snow 😄😊.
We can't hire ski equipment in Finnsnes, but Toine takes the initiative to contact a desk here in the municipality of Finnsnes to ask if we can temporarily use various items of ski equipment. It turns out to be a fairly well-equipped room in the old school where they have a lot of equipment (for the poorer people here in Finnsnes, but it is hardly ever used, so they are happy to do this for us). We both get cross-country skis and snowshoes, what great service! We try out the cross-country skis right away near Finnsnes, just across the bridge on Senja. It takes a while to find a parking spot for the car, but we eventually manage to find one near the start of a trail. We are both immediately very enthusiastic; the trail is well prepared and fairly flat (great for us beginners ☺️) and runs through beautiful countryside. After an hour of trying them out, we drive on to the hotel in Hamn i Senja for a lovely visit to the sauna and dinner in the restaurant (a bit for Toine's birthday). What a wonderful day 🤗.

The following week, we go cross-country skiing five more times. The trail around a frozen lake in the middle of Senja (half an hour's drive away) is our favourite. It's a wonderful 1.5-hour workout that isn't too steep, with beautiful deserted scenery and a car park at the start of the trail. We also spend a day in Finnfjordbotn on the east side of Finnsnes. There is a whole network of well-groomed trails there, but they are quite a bit steeper 😳. Going uphill isn't the problem, it just takes a little more energy. But going downhill without falling is quite exciting. Strangely enough, Toine clearly has less trouble with it than I do 🫢. Anyway, it's great fun and it feels really good that we've found an activity that we both enjoy 😊🤗.

We both have a bad cold for five days, with lots of sneezing (I catch it three days after Toine) 🤧. I can't remember when we last had such bad colds. It's been a while. But luckily, it doesn't really limit us. Only my mood suffers sometimes 🫢 (when we're indoors, not when we're active outdoors ☺️). During a Sunday afternoon walk in Finnsnes (to lift my spirits), I see beautiful northern lights 🤗.

We also go cross-country skiing twice with Camilla and Jonas from Jera 🇩🇰 (after they have also picked up skis from the municipality). On the way, we drink delicious hot chocolate milk that Jonas has brought with him in a little hut 😋. The first time, we also make a day trip of Senja, driving around to a few viewpoints after cross-country skiing and having lunch at a nice little place by the water. A very enjoyable day and fun to do together 🤗.

At the beginning of the second week, the temperature suddenly drops to just a few degrees below zero. At that moment, the ice on the inside of the windows thaws and water drips down everywhere. We remove the Plexiglas panels in the cabin, dry everything thoroughly and remove all the ice, and then put them back in place. But in the days that follow, even at around -6°C, water continues to drip in all sorts of unexpected places. Where is all that water coming from? Where was there ice that is now thawing? We lay towels here and there to catch the moisture. Well, those are the inconveniences of living on a boat in cold Norway 😅. The hairdresser I visited last week (born and raised on Senja) wondered what we do here in winter. To be honest, we sometimes wonder that ourselves 🤔🤭. But not when we're out on our cross-country skis 🤗.

Ah, time flies. Before we know it, we'll be on a plane to the Netherlands (in five weeks). And when we return at the end of March, we'll be heading south.
Kathrin and Daniel have also just returned from Switzerland 😊, and I've started a nice new knitting project (a spring jumper). ChatGPT is helping me translate the Norwegian pattern (based on a photo I took of it 😄). The sun will also be visible over the mountain tops again sometime next week 🤗☀️. This weekend, it will be above zero for one day and there will be some rain. We'll see what this does to the snow and the possibilities for cross-country skiing!