Norway

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NORWAY CRUISING GUIDE

An online cruising guide for sailing along the coast of Norway.

Norway
Norwaymap.png
Norway - map does not show the islands of Jan Mayen, Bear Island or Svalbard
Norwayflag.png
Flag
Capital: Oslo
Language: Norwegian. English is widely spoken.
Currency: Kroner
More notes about the country

Background

The Kingdom of Norway is one of the Scandinavian Countries going back into history a very long time, it's got a reputation through the famous Viking explorers who sailed to the Shetlands , Faroes, Iceland, Greenland and N. America (Vinland). Though the world might look at Scandinavia as a a number of very similar countries the Norwegians are very proud of their present independence (upon the Dissolution of the Union with Sweden in 1905), after having spent literally hundreds of years in unions, firstwith Denmark and later Sweden. There are abt 4.5 million Norwegians who share presently not only what might be described as the best scenery in the world (the Kiwi's might stand a chance here, all others are definitely out) and an enormous oil and gas reserve in the North Sea, the proceeds of the latter are invested by the State in a national reserve fund to be able to cope when the oil has run out. It has close ties with the EU without actually being a member.

There are heavy investments still being made in the infrastructure but the fact remains that the few bigger cities count for most of the population and the remainder is rather sparsely populated. Norway consists of mainland Norway, the archipelago of Svalbard (Spitsbergen), Bear Island between those latter two, Jan Mayen, N of Iceland and Bouvet(in the Southern Ocean and thus beyond the scope of this article).

Round the turn into the 20th century in many Norwegian towns cooperating entrepreneurs bought older sailing ships, these partnerships forming the foundation of numerous shipping lines, tanker operators and tramp operators. These international contacts mean that Norway has developed a very international and down to earth outlook on the rest of the world and -as rumor has it - the main reason that only a non-coastal-minority conforms to the tall blond blue eyed Viking image.

The country has two main flavours of Norwegian, Bokmal an Ny-Norsk, the latter a product of a lot of research into the history of the language spoken in Norway and basically a reconstructed language based on this research. The whole thing as a reaction to the fact that many people in Norway thought the official language (Bokmal) as used by the authorities was far too close to Danish and did not befit a proudly independent country. It is up to the local county authorities to decide which flavour is to be used (next to the local dialect to complicate matters further.

Climate & Weather

The norwegian Meteorological office www.met.no is the source and very elaborate on the local climate

Lot's of water, snow, ice and rain but there are frequent and ofen long spells of amazingly good weather (in T shirts N of the Polar Circle has been experienced..) Most of he Fjords do not freeze up in winter because of the Gulf stream influence. There is a lot of permanent ice cap on the mountains. In summer the nights are short or non existent, a very special experience

Sources of weather forecasting.

  • Norwegian Weather Service Both on the climate and forecasting (offshore,coastal ice conditions) the relevant pages are available in Norwegian and English.

Navtex

  • While coasting the VHF coastal stations (yes they still have coastal radio and very extensively) are issuing weatherforcast (in norwegian) and traffic lists (in english for foreign vessels) on their WORKING Channels (most can receive channel 16 and or MDSS. But you have to call them on a working channel preferably (see coastal radio frequency plan). They will give you the latest forecast in English on request.

Charts

Norway issues it's own very elaborate full size chart series covering the whole coast. There are special yachting editions of sequential coastal sections (presently from the S to Halfway up the country) which take up less space but are sometimes a little confusing if you need a completer picture. All towns on the coast have at least one bookseller that's an agent for the Norwegian Charts, they will stock the latetst charts of surrounding area's. If you sail to Norway a good strategy is to obtain a coastal chart of the general area (300 series)where you want to make your landfall plus some of the more detailed series (nrs 1 into the 100 plus series) and just buy he most up to date charts when coming ashore.

Special Navigation Notes

Be aware there are a lot of overhead high tension cables (luftspenn) plus an ever increasing amount of fixed bridges and that for route planning in this respect you need adequate up to date info (which is available on the 100 series charts).

There are a lot of books with pilotage information, The best is without doubt the 'Norske Los' issued by he Norwegian Hydrographic Service also available through the local booksellers. This is meant both for commercial ships and yachts carries charts and pictures with a wealth of information it comes in coastwise volumes but unfortunately is only in Norwegian, with an extensive glossary though.

Remember there is a lot of Norway, there is an enormous coastline with a lot of submerged rocks , small outlying islands etc. Do not skimp on your info as especially in the N of the country help might be hours away if needed !

As far as the anti collision regulations come, Norway has it's own inshore rules. Basically if it is or looks commercial it has the right of way so behave clearly an keep your eyes open and hurtigbater can and do appear out of narrow channels with 25-30 knots. There is a lot of inshore coastal traffic. AIS is a very handy thing especially in bad visibility.

Local Radio Nets

Also see World Cruiser's Nets

Submit details of Cruiser's Nets and VHF operating/calling channels here.

Arrival/Departure procedures

Submit any details about advance notification of arrival, etc.

Immigration

For ships larger than 24 metres there are established procedures. By Norwegian Law non-military vessels from all flags can pass throuh the inland waterways when proceeding on a voyage. For smaller yachts it appears that you just present yourself to available police upon landing in the country. This sounds pretty slack compared to a number of other countries but be aware that here a relatively very few foreign yachts in the country a any time, that there are a lot of local boats/ferries while a number of Kystvakt (Coastguard) patrolvessels are on constant beat. The country is very well surveillanced by modern means. Norwegians love their own privacy though and will respect yours unless they have reason to believe differently.

If you want he latest regulations, go to the Official Website

Customs

  • VAT (at 25%) will be refunded on goods taken out of Norway on a non norwegian yacht, though you better ask for it beforehand if you want work done or need equipment to see if your chosen supplier is familiair with the procedure.

Health & Security

Submit any health warnings/information and any security details here.

Popular Cruiser's Ports and Stops

S Coast (Swedish Border to Flekkefjord)

Relatively densely populated with numerous towns and villages at relatively short distances with good facilities.

  • Egersund, a well sheltered harbour with good facilities, bunkering and a railway connection to Stavanger, be sure to have a proper chart if you are unfamiliair especially at night (this applies to the country as a whole really).

Between Egersund and Tananger there are no really useful sheltered harbours in S to SW winds

On the Sly W coast and upwards

Coming from ports to the S while aiming for the W Coast, the village of Tananger (a W suburb) of Stavanger is highly recommended it has refuelling facilities (at tax free -avgifts fri- tariff) at the Hummern Hotel, there are shops in town and it's very close to Stavanger Inernational Airport.

Further N you'll find places like Haugesund and Bergen with as a recommended winter stopover place I would like to recommend the Norheimsund Gjestehamn in the Hardangerfjord (abt 70 km E of Bergen) which has excellent shower and laundry facilities full shopping and banking, good shorepower adequate shops and is on the bus route to Bergen, It is also Home to the Hardanger Fartoyvernsenter museum shipyard. Winter mooring 15 Kr /feet/month in 2008. webcams and info

On the way up the Hardanger Fjord you can see the waterfall at the mouth of the Mauranger Fjord.

N of Bergen population density decreases rapidly so does the size of towns and villages and the number of harbours; though Floro, Aalesund, Trondheim, Bodo ,Narvik, Tromso and Hammerfest are places with all facilities.

A good winterstop place is Levanger on the Trondheim Fjord. Levanger also has a slip ( operated by Persoy) that will take heavier and larger yachts (which have far less beam than the average fishing boat. If your boat is to heavy for a boatlift hat's the place to go, though there are many fishing boat slips they won't allways be able to accomodate a yacht for the reason mentioned earlier.

Lofoten and Vesteralen are very beautiful and so is the glacier at Svartisen

Be aware hat there are few trains in this country but both bus air transport is very frequent and covers most larger towns. ALl coastal towns are linked by hurtigbater (express boats 30 knots) which are a major part of he transport infrastructure.

GSM phone coverage is very extensive on the coast.

Offshore Islands

Norway administers a few off-shore islands. These are:

  • Spitsbergen (Svalbard). Spitzbergen or Svalbard is a group of Arctic islands which have been mandated to Norway by the United Nations. The Norwegian presence is concentrated to the university (the world's northernmost) town of Longyearbyn whilst Russia maintains a presence at the coal mining town of Barrentsberg. A metreological reporting station is located on the Hopen Island in the eastern part of the group. If anchoring off the island beware of kelp beds and be advised of the rocky nature of the sea bed.
  • Bear Island. Norwegian territory in the Barents Sea. A metreological station is located on the island which lacks safe harbours and anchorages
  • Jan Mayen. A small island north of Iceland, also Norwegian territory. A metreological station is established on the island which lacks safe harbours and anchorages
  • Bouvet Island. An unpopulated Antarctic Island without safe natural harbours or anchorages

WARNING

Be aware of the possible presence of polar bears on all the above mentioned islands with the exception of Bouvet (no polar bears in the Antarctic)

Cruiser's Friends

Submit details/contacts of cruiser's "friends" that can be contacted in advance or on arrival - who can offer information and assistance to our cruising "family".

References & Publications

Books, Guides, etc.

Links to Forum Discussions

List links to discussion threads on partnering forums. (see link for requirements)

External Links

Submit useful website links for the region

Personal Notes


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