29th June – Espevaer to Leirvik 18nm
Breezy, and because I knew we would be downwind under genoa once we rounded the Southern tip of Bomlo we did the first two miles close hauled under genoa in lively conditions. Once in Bømlafjorden, the outer part of Hardangerfjord, we had a very pleasant sail through lovely scenery to the town of Leirvik, on the island of Stord.
Leirvik is a modern town, good for shopping and with an excellent and sheltered guest harbour. (GoMarina). We had a wander round and did a little shopping.
30th June
In Leirvik. We’ve now been in Norway a week. Haugesund-Røvær-Espevær- Leirvik. Today in Leirvik, a rest day, a wee wander around. Marina is £22.50/day which includes the best marina showers I have ever experienced (complete with piped radio and underfloor heating) and free washing machines/dryers. Had a long lie this morning to be woken by a knock on the hull. A youngish couple, Adrian and Inga, admiring the Vega. Adrian is Romanian, he has rescued an abandoned steel yacht, fixed it up and (with Inga) sailed it from Holland to Bergen. Inga showed us the island she is from on the chart and recommended it for scenery and tradition, so we will try to swing by when we come back this way on the way to Bergen. In the afternoon we walked up to Sunnhordland Museum in Vidsteenparken. We were too late to actually visit the museum, but the museum surrounds are always open and feature cultural and historical buildings from all over Sunnhordland. Among these are the protected building Ådlandsstova, a smokehouse from the 1500s, a glass and timber house from the 1700s, as well as a blacksmith’s shop, cookhouse, general store, and barn. Well worth a walk up the hill.
Tomorrow’s plan is Rosendal, about 20nm into Hardangerfjord.
