Norway was very much ‘unfinished business’ after our failed attempt to get there in August 2025. We planned this year to transit the Caledonian Canal and leave from Peterhead for Stavanger or Haugesund, but in the event Peterhead was closed to visiting yachts due to storm damage, and Whitehills was a nearer option with pretty much the same crossing distance.
We had hoped to arrive in Norway by Midsummer, and very nearly made it. Fairwinds was pretty much ready, the engine had been serviced in Shetland last year near the end of the trip, and apart from fitting the new tiller there weren’t many things to do before we set off – although it later became apparent that I should have changed the cutlass bearing before we left, but that is a saga to be revealed later in this log.
(The tiller was one of the items that failed last year on our attempted crossing to Norway when the Navik tiller line jammer fell off due to rot. Many thanks to Geoff Crowley for the shiny new one. We had also purchased a waterproof cover for the Simrad tillerpilot, as this was another item that had thrown its hand in due to heavy rain on the attempted crossing to Norway in 2025.)
For navigation the Navionics Norway subscription I took out the previous year was still valid, and I had purchased a North Sea passage chart in Lerwick. We still had the old edition of the Judy Lomax Norway pilot I had purchased for the 2010 Norway cruise, and I later bought and downloaded volumes one and two of the Norwegian Cruising Guide as e-books.
We knew Norway was expensive, so the boat was stocked up with plenty of tinned goods, instant potato, whisky and beer – the latter two items inadequate in quantity as it turned out, but my research had indicated that there was always a possibility of a snap customs inspection so I was cautious.
We also bought an electric induction hob (single plate, all there is space for on Fairwinds) as Camping Gaz is virtually unavailable in Norway and electricity is usually included in the very reasonable marina prices. We had to buy a couple of new pots for the hob, as our existing pans were not suitable for induction.
Other things I had done included paying for a canal transit, checking that Haugesund is an official port of entry and going over what we needed to do before and after arrival. More about this later in the log.
Norway seemed a big ask of Fairwinds and its aging crew, but we felt were as ready as we would ever be. We went on board on the 10th June to spend the night on the mooring in preparation for an early transit of Cuan in the morning, enabling us to carry the tide all the way up to Corpach.