After our lovely and relaxing day on Alden, we made a long run of 60nm to Bergen. The sky was once again overcast and grey but for the first time in a while, we were able to sail along nicely the entire day which made me incredibly happy. Because of our good speeds we arrived in Bergen in the afternoon, earlier than I had expected and secured a nice spot along the wharf next to the Bryggen. The Bryggen is a historic harbour district in Bergen, one of North Europe’s oldest port cities on the west coast of Norway which was established as a centre for trade by the 12th century and has since then been pestered by fire’s many times but rebuild, Bryggen’s appearance today stems from the time after the fire in 1702. It is also in the city center, which the teens really enjoyed as they were able to walk around and explore close to the ship.

As we arrived clusters of people curiously gathered around Guppy, and it stayed that way for the three days we were in Bergen. Anyone who knows me a little will know I’m no fan of cities. The amount of people, consumption and general carelessness about anyone or anything makes me feel claustrophobic, annoyed and grumpy. But I think I did pretty well and tried to focus on the nice things in the city. Bergen has a very rich history and is beautifully build. On one of the days we toko the first Funicular which is a mountain cable car up to the top of Floibanen. This usually very busy spot was almost deserted when we got to the top and we enjoyed some lovely views, said hi to the goats and played some team games in the playground. We walked down, back to Guppy. We also visited the Maritime museum and some of us enjoyed an afternoon in the Nordness Seawater pool. A heated seawater pool, sauna and option to cool of in the sea next to the pool. All in all it was a very good stay in Bergen, but we were also happy to get out again and anchor alone in a peaceful bay. We spend one night in Leroy Island before continuing further south to Lykelsoeyvaagen, which as it turns out is a very popular little anchorage. There is a tiny white beach, BBQ set up a table and even a small slide going into the water at high tide.

Laura