East Lofoten

29.7-5.8.2022

Track: Harstad - Grøtavær - Blokken - Skrova - Lodingen - Kjopsvik - Skarstad - Harstad
Mileage: 225 NM
Role: skipper
Tidal: yes

Resources

Navigation:

• The official map https://norgeskart.no is amazingly good, has smartphone apps.
• Navionics is good.
• Tides calculator, based on both astronomy and meteorology: https://www.kartverket.no/en/at-sea/se-havniva

Meteo:

yr.no, Windy, Windfinder

The log was created after the fact, the mileage is a conservative estimate, the daily records are missing.

Log

We sailed in the East of the Lofoten and Vestfjord in early August.

The area is tidal, the straights between islands are narrow, this implies strong currents.

The area is located above Polar Circle, which means very bright and short nights and virtually 24 hours day/twilight sailing, which is very helpful, given the strong currents.

Vestfjord is open to the ocean swell, at the same time it is narrow, and its seabed has areas with very steep depth decline. This combination creates areas with races.

The bottom close to the shore is often shallow and rocky.

I haven’t tried overnight anchorage.

The harbors are mainly for fishing/locals, the depths may be tricky, depending on the weather and tidal currents the entrance may also require focus. Oftentimes a harbor is a pontoon with a mailbox to leave the fixed charge for the night, with free access to water and shore power.

We chartered the boat in Harstad.

One week is rather short for this loop, the scenery warrants more time commitment.

The most tricky bits were:

• N entrance into Raftsundet;
• the shallow waters around Store Svaelingen. On the positive side - one can visit the nearby lighthouse on a dinghy;
• a failed attempt to enter Offersøy in fresh weather conditions. The entrance is tight and the pontoons are only visible after the turn, there were decent current and wind. We had to reverse the engine until we were back in the straight;
• Tjeldsundet near Fjelldal: strong current, narrow and shallow.