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Tromso, the Paris of the Arctic.
Fisherman in Crow's Nest.
Kelly and Jos in Red and Blue with boats they built.
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Looking for Polar Bears, Part III
June 23rd, 2009
68 48.5N 16 33E Harstad, Hinnoy
This is a large town by local standards - pop. 23,000 - and we are tied up to the dock opposite a University building and the Clarion Hotel. There is a Midsummer festival going on, daily ferries coming and going from other islands and a cruise ship in for the day, so there are lots of people on the pier. We are not being charged for tying up so we can't complain. We have a day to get Onora "ship-shape" before Kelly and Jos arrive but dinner onshore tonight sounds like a great idea.
June 25th, 2009
69 25N 17 10E Hamn
We met Kelly and Jos at the ferry dock last night, put them onboard and set off for a quiet anchorage, Sandsoy, about an hour away. They had come from a sailing trip in Greece and were trying to acclemate to the Artic temps and the difference in time. After a good night's sleep we took off today for Hamn, a lovely sheltered harbor with a small hotel that gave us WiFi access. Beautiful sunny day so some of the crew went for a hike and others rested. Dinner on board and played "500" to see who did the dishes (Jos and Jean).
June 27th, 2009
69 28N 18 01E Vangshamn
This is our last anchorage before heading to Tromso tomorrow and it is a lovely sight with green farms and snow capped mountains all around us. Having Kelly and Jos onboard has been a real treat as they are great company, cunning card players and comfortable sailors, not to mention all the "to do" projects on the boat have been done!
June 28th, 2009
69 39N 18 58E Tromso
We arrived in Tromso around noon and rafted off of "Leonore" (2003), Kelly's 80 ft. ketch, which was rafted off of "Wind Horse" (2005), Kelly's 80 ft 'unsailboat'. It was quite a scene in the town harbor and there were pictures being taken from all angles of the three boats, their builder and the owners.
Later that day, after we had moved to our proper dock space, Onora hosted a cocktail party to celebrate the largest gathering of Kelly Archer boats in, of all places, "The Paris of the North". A good time was had by all.
June 30th, 2009
69 39N 18 58 E Tromso
Kelly and Jos have departed for their long trip home to New Zealand and the rest of us are gearing up for new crew, up-to-date weather information, last minute provisions and filled fuel tanks before heading north to Svalbard. We are waiting for the arrival of our friends, the Wards, from Chicago, who have shared numerous sailing adventures with us but nothing quite THIS daring! They arrive tomorrow night and if all looks favorable we will leave on Thursday for the 400+ mile sail (?) north to Spitsbergen, the largest island in the archipelago. We will be in the company of Leonore and Wind Horse and even though we may be the caboose, there is great comfort in knowing our friends are nearby.
Stay tuned...
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