Sailing between snow-capped peaks towards beautiful and ‘warmer’ Helgeland 🏔️⛵️☀️

As soon as we can, we’ll head south. We know the wind is a bit stronger, but we’re taking the inland route between the fjords, so there aren’t any high waves. We battle against the strong wind (at times reaching force 8) under engine power to the sheltered little harbour in Fjelldal. We’ve been here before too. It’s a great stopover so that early the next morning, with the tide with us, we can sail through the narrow Sund into the ‘open sea’ between the Norwegian mainland and the Lofoten Islands. It’s a lovely sunny day with little wind, and we can even sail for a while with our beautiful purple gennaker 😃. It hasn’t been out at all for the whole of last year 🤭.

We’re stopping briefly in Stukvik to fill up. Unfortunately, the price of diesel has gone up significantly in Norway too (more than 1.5 times as much as last year 🥲), even though they produce their own diesel 🤔. That does, however, encourage us just a little bit more to look for ways to use the engine less 🤭😎. Although that isn’t easy in Norway when you’re near the mountains 😅.

We drop anchor in a beautiful anchorage where the gentle breeze is just right for having a drink outside in the sunshine in the cockpit 🤗. Our first time anchoring in 2026 and also our first time sitting outside ☀️😊.

The next morning, we set off from the anchorage under motor power, sailing between the mountains and under a 25-metre bridge (we just about fit 🤭) back out to open water. There’s a nice breeze for sailing. In the end, it turns into a tough trip sailing close-hauled with reefed sails, choppy seas and very gusty winds. But we’re sailing and making headway!! ! We decide to carry on to the beautiful anchorage at Osholmen on Andegode near Bodø, as it’s well-suited for sailing. This is our third time there. It’s very sheltered, although we do suffer from strong gusts during the night and the following morning. So it’s not exactly peaceful there. Despite that, we have a lovely Easter brunch and listen to the St Matthew Passion 🐣😊.

After lunch, we set off expecting the first stretch of open water to be a challenging sail and the second part to be a gentle motor-boat ride in the shelter of the islands. Nothing could be further from the truth. The stretch across open water is a delightful sail close-hauled in the full sun. The stretch between the islands is challenging sailing with winds between 4 and 7 Bft. There is little swell, but the strong gusts of wind with a lot of sail set make it a bit rough. We read later that easterly winds in this region are always stronger than forecast, as they come from the direction of the high mountains. Well, we certainly noticed that. We stop at the beautiful little harbour of Sørfugløy at the foot of two mountain peaks in lovely Helgeland. We skipped this on the way there last year, so it’s really nice to be able to visit it now.

Just as we sail to the little harbour of Bolga the next day, 20 nautical miles further south. We skipped that one last year too, saving it for the return journey. The trip there is under engine power, with a very light breeze and plenty of sunshine. We’ll stay here for three days to go for walks and wait out the strong southerly wind on the second day.

Bolga is a beautiful island in Helgeland with around 100 permanent residents and a school with nine children aged between 6 and 15. We’re moored alone at the wooden guest jetty next to a lovely little restaurant run by a Swedish owner and chef. He’s just had a very busy Easter week and is now closed again until the tourist season starts sometime in May 😅. We do meet him, though, and he gives us free coffee and tea, and for dinner a Swedish cold fish dish left over from the Easter week. We also have a nice chat with him and the Czech student (who works there) outside in the sun after our walk.

The walk is a challenging hike to the summit (Boltinden) of Bolga. The weather is lovely and sunny, and there’s no wind. But it’s a fairly steep climb. When we’re two-thirds of the way up and come to a very steep section with steps and a rope, and a deep precipice alongside, we decide to call it a day. It has to remain fun and safe! And fun it certainly is 🤗. It’s lovely to be able to walk without snow for the first time in ages ☺️.

On the second day, there’s a stormy wind, but we’re well sheltered. I go for a lovely walk on the lower part of the island. Otherwise, we spend our time indoors. And then it’s time to set off again. There’s still a strong wind (Beaufort 4–7) and our next destination is just within sailing range. With reef 2 in the mainsail and the cutter rig, the SeaQuest sails fantastically under control. It is therefore a delightful 16-nautical-mile sail to the old trading post of Selsøyvika. On the final stretch through the narrow passage, we see the wind briefly shoot up to 33 knots 🤔. We sail the final stretch behind the Hullu Poro (🇩🇪HR43). We last saw each other in early October last year in Svolvær (where they spent the winter). We are invited in for coffee or tea with homemade cake, and it’s lovely to catch up with Bernd and Suzanne 😃.

The next day, we head another 40 nautical miles further south to the beautiful anchorage at Hjartøya. The Hullu Poro stays put for another day. The headwind is too strong to sail, but motoring along with reef 2 in the mainsail and the engine running to maintain our course is going very well. Once again, the wind varies between 5 and 30 knots and the direction is also unstable 😅. Fortunately, it’s sheltered between the islands so there’s no swell and the sun is shining 😃☀️. There’s no change in the weather forecast for the coming days, so it feels good to make our way a bit further south this way.

At the end of the morning, after 10 months, we cross the Arctic Circle again, this time heading out of the Arctic. Last June, we sailed into the Arctic together with Lian and Quirinus. It feels like a wonderful milestone 😊💙🌐👍. We look back on a fantastic time and forward to new adventures. After arriving, we’ll have a drink to celebrate 🥂🍾. Just like last year on the way there, we’re moored in this beautiful bay with blue skies and a view of the Seven Sisters 🏔️🏔️🏔️🏔️🏔️🏔️🏔️🤗.

It’s great to see that the SeaQuest has come through the winter in excellent condition. Everything is working perfectly, the sails are undamaged and the teak deck looks spotless. The only real damage is that three fender covers have been torn by the frost and snow. But if that’s all, it’s better than expected!

So far, we’ve sailed 270 nautical miles (in 12 days) and still have about 440 nautical miles to go to Bergen over the next 3.5 weeks. The wind will remain southerly for the coming week, so we’ll be sailing close-hauled or motoring for a bit longer. We’ll see. For now, we’re enjoying the lovely weather and this beautiful anchorage 🥰.