Crossing the Arctic Circle

Gregor's motto for our first sailing trip with the Aegir to the north is: We test the ship and the crew! We had a very intense start - be it through strenuous sailing days, the weather, great impressions of the country, great fishing experiences. In addition, there are some technical issues that keep us very busy and push us to our limits. You could also say that we move between eustress and distress. However - the learning curve is steep. We try to develop a certain serenity when it comes to our planning, projects and goals.

Winter is approaching and we are drawn to Tromsø. Nobody is forcing us to continue. In the meantime, we have also made friends with spending the winter in Trondheim. In the end, the journey continues. So we continue to aim for our winter destination as best we can, hope for a few impressive northern lights, whales and also sail expectantly towards the increasing darkness.

We want to try a long shot directly to Bodø - at the expense of being close to the coast. We therefore choose the version of easier navigation more on the open sea versus impressive landscape. We can now well imagine staying in Norway a little longer. The great fjords deserve a lot of time. We approach the Arctic Circle, smuggle our way into the port of Traena with the famous "hand's breadth of water under the keel" at low tide and explore the island. The weather is fantastic when we crossed the Arctic Circle. This stage ends in a full moon ride, which is finally rewarded by the first impressive northern lights. We are amazed and deeply touched by this natural phenomenon. Completely satisfied after an impressively long day and night, we fall into bed at 3 a.m.

Already during the night drive and here in Bodø we feel the winter: the piers are icy, the cars drive with spikes and one (or two) more layer(s) of clothing is needed. The onward journey to Tromsø should now take place in shorter stages. However, weather reports let us carefully look out for anchorages or harbors in our route planning. A few storms are approaching with uncomfortable wind speeds. Another week and we should have reached our winter goal.

We are already looking forward to cozy winter days with sewing, reading, making music, indoor projects and the snowy landscape.