The Helgeland coast is really beautiful and also a bit magical. Because of the landscape with the many islets off the coast (big and small, high and low with unusual shapes), and the coast itself with high mountains and snow on the peaks 🏔️🤗. Of course, there is a geological explanation for the origin of these peculiarly shaped mountain peaks. All this was created in the Norwegian Ice Age by melting glaciers and then sliding continental plates of America and Europe against each other. This is how the entire mountain range of Norway (and also Scotland) was formed.

But the explanation from a troll legend from Norse mythology is much more fun 🧌🇳🇴 😊. We experience sailing along the Helgeland coast in the atmosphere of this legend.

Long, long ago, there lived a mighty mountain troll called Hestmannen. He rode on horseback across the mountains of the North, wearing a black cape and fiery eyes. One day he saw Lekamøya, a beautiful maiden of Leka, bading in moonlight. Hestmannen fell instantly in love.

But Lekamøya wanted nothing to do with his ardent desires and fled. Along the way, she met seven mountain daughters - the Seven Sisters - who joined her in their flight. Together they ran across the Helgeland coast, the night their cover, the moon their guide.

But Hestmannen did not give up. He galloped after them. Realising he would never reach Lekamøya, he grabbed his bow and cocked an arrow with the force of desperation. He aimed at her heart.-who joined her in their flight. Together they ran across the Helgeland coast, the night their cover, the moon their guide.

Fortunately, the wise mountain king of Sømna had seen it. He threw his hat between the arrow and the girl. The arrow pierced the hat - but spared her life. At that same moment, the sun rose, and as all the trolls feared: the first sunlight turned them all to stone.

Hestmannen still stands as a dark diamond-shaped mountain on its island. Torghatten, the mountain with the hole, is the petrified hat. The Seven Sisters lie in a graceful row along the coast. And Lekamøya, her silhouette is visible on the horizon, always on the move, always free 🧌👌. 

Also, the journey along the Helgeland coast takes us above the Arctic Circle, a magical milestone for sea sailors 🌐🌎. The Arctic Circle is approximately 66°33' north latitude. Above this latitude, the sun does not set (midnight sun) or does not rise (polar night) at least one day a year.

Our journey along this beautiful coast runs in the following steps.

After an overnight anchorage in the rain just north of Rorvik, we sail 30 nm to the extraordinary island of Torghatten. We sail past Lekamøya but we don't see much of that in the rain. There is little wind so we motor for much of the way. We can see the beautiful round high shape of the mountain from afar Torghatten. After 5 hours of sailing, we moor at a very small jetty in Moyhavna Bay. We are again all alone there.

The next day, the sun shines all afternoon with blue skies ☀️. Time to take the scenic walk through the hole in the mountain (35m high, 20m wide and about 160m long). In the last photo above, you can just barely see “the hole in the hat”.
We enjoy an afternoon of sunshine in these beautiful surroundings immensely. In the evening, the wind gets stronger, and into the bay. So it's a bit more sloshing. But we sleep well through it and are also quite happy to be able to sail away the next morning. After all, the jetty was a bit on the small side for our boat 🤣.

It is only an hour's boat ride to the cosy town of Brønnøysund, which lies on the narrow passage through which large ships and ferries pass. This is exactly the middle of Norway (if you draw a straight line to the north and south points). We are fine at the inner jetty together with an Austrian boat that will have its wife visiting tomorrow and will sail together for three weeks. There is an occasional rain shower and in between those showers we hang our laundry outside. We also do some shopping again and I study the cruising guides for the next route. In the evening, we go out for dinner at a nice bandstand. They have delicious beef tenderloin for Toine and halibut for me 😋.

The next day, we sail on to the small island of Ylvingen in two hours. Again, we are completely alone. The weather is sunny so we get on our bicycles and cycle the entire island in 12 km round trip 🚲. Halfway there, we take a walk to a fort on top of the island with remnants of gun emplacements and cottages made by order of the Germans in WWII 🪖. Very unusual to find that on such a small and remote island 🤔. Back at the boat, we take off the bimini. We don't expect to need it anymore 😉 . Toine also looks at the underwater ship with the GoPro and fortunately everything looks good. The anodes can also last a while longer 👌😃. Sometime in autumn, Toine will have to dive under the boat once to replace the annodes. He then hopes for warmer sea water in the Lofoten 😎.

There will be rain during the night and morning. The forecast for the afternoon and evening is sunny with blue skies. Good timing to head to the beautiful anchor bay on the islet of Hjartøya with a view of the Seven Sisters. We sail some 20 nm through beautiful surroundings. We feast our eyes. The anchor bay is really incredibly beautiful. How lucky to be able to lie here in this beautiful weather. An ideal place to take beautiful photos with the drone.

The next day, we sail 25 nm with clouds, occasional light rain and little wind on to the large and remote bay Sila with high mountains surrounding it. The Seven Sisters are in the clouds. When we arrive, it starts raining and we spend the rest of the day inside (including watching the exciting ladies' final of Roland Garros 🎾). We are using ChatGPT for the first time this week and the one well-answered question was “give me a recipe with brown rice and brocolli”. ChatGPT came up with a delicious recipe with 'satay sauce, and then you've come to the right place with Toine 😎. We now use it much more often for all kinds of questions😊.

Next up, we motor to Tonnes in 3 hours with windless and cloudy weather. The stop there is planned at Being able to meet Lian (sister Toine) and Quirinus tomorrow. We entertained ourselves for the rest of the afternoon/evening with the wonderful men's final of Roland Garos 🎾. What a worldly party👍. At 0.00 am (when we had just spent an hour sleeping soundly), a Polish boat comes alongside us somewhat noisily. We met him earlier north of Bergen. It takes us a while to get back to sleep ☺️.
At 9am, Lian and Quirinus are on the quay 😊. They are travelling through Norway in their car for 6 weeks and we are spending a day together. We are on our way north and they are on their way south; we managed to plan a day together. A lot of fun and incredibly cozy 🥰.

We sail straight out to Hestmonna (the island with the mountain peak Hestmannen, the rightmost photo above). On the way, we pass the Arctic Circle monument 🌐 which is located on a small island. By now, it is not really on the Arctic Circle (it is now a little more north, the Arctic Circle moves with the tilt of the Earth's axis). Anyway, here we perform the ritual with a toast with fine whiskey (a little in the water to tune out Neptune) and some for ourselves👌🥂😇. This feels like a special milestone for us!

When we arrive in Hestmonna, it starts to rain and we quickly head inside. There is plenty to chat about! When it is dry in the afternoon we attempt to climb Hestmonna. We get quite a long way but all the way to the top is “too much”. In the evening, we eat delicious rendang from the crockpot and have a great time chatting and playing games of rummikub 🤗.
The next morning, we sail the short stretch back to Tonnes (and once again cross the Arctic Circle 😎). In Tonnes, we say goodbye; they continue south by car and we sail north again for a bit. We really enjoyed their visit 🥰.

It is only 10 nm (on the engine, because no wind) to the island of Rødøy. There we moor at a nice modern jetty in an atmospheric bay near the little restaurant Klokkegården. This is in the old school building where children from surrounding islands used to go to school. Our lines are tackled by a Norwegian couple who used to sail and now they fly along the coast of Norway in their seaplane. That's something different 🤣.
In the afternoon, we take a hike to the top of Rødøy. It is a beautifully formed summit with a steep precipice. The climb (and descent) is very steep over stone steps constructed by sherpas. What a magisterially beautiful view, but also quite a tough hike👍☺️. We spend the rest of the afternoon resting outside in the tub in the sun. In the evening, we treat ourselves to a nice dinner at the little restaurant 😋. What a nice atmosphere there with old furnishings and very nice service. We also meet a Danish couple there whom we have seen sailing in our sight before in the past few weeks. They live on board and winter in Helsingor. We have a nice conversation with them 😊.

So we have crossed the Arctic Circle and that feels like quite a milestone. For the next 10 months or so, we will stay in this special arctic environment. We are very much looking forward to that 🤗🤗.
We are already thinking a bit about the winter season. We got in touch with Daniel and Kathrin of the Polaris Helvetica through Sam's mother. A Swiss couple of our age who now also sail around northern Norway and spent the winter on their boat near Tromsø last winter. They will be mooring there again next winter and gave us lots of good tips. They moored in Finnsness and they found that a very nice port. We are going to try to berth there together and are now in talks with the harbour master about it. We will pass there on the way to Tromsø and hope it will work out 🤞🤞☺️😃.
Kathrin teaches online fitness classes 2-3 times a week to a group of girlfriends. I will join for the first time tomorrow morning 🤣.