Across the far north sea

Marsali Taylor and Joe Irvine describe a memorable 1600-mile voyage from Shetland to the Lofoten Islands and back – an adventure that includes a North Sea gale

Sailing across to Norway is something Shetland yachts do almost as regularly as South Coast ones go to France, so when Joe said “How about Lofoten?” I said yes straightaway. The other crew member aboard Joe’s Contessa 32, Cynara of Arne, was Graham Sutherland. Our original plan was to go up the west coast of Shetland, past Britain’s last island of Muckle Flugga and directly to Lofoten – a five-day journey. The forecast gave us a southerly wind, Force 4 or 5, but with bad weather coming, so we had to make it to Norway before it arrived. It turned out to be our first wrong forecast. We motored northwards through rain, and at last met a very nice breeze – in the wrong direction – meaning we’d miss the…

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Practical Boat Owner (Digital) - 1 Issue, August 2020

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