Vardø

Day 4 and first day not sailed. Reason: strong winds, heavy seas, hail, snow - take your pick!

First 'night' in Vardø was spent under the sail, until 3 o'clock when it blew away along with attached board. No damage done and second part of the night was more comfortable after rearrangements - despite intermittent horizontal hail and snow.

I kept warm enough, just. Woollen socks, 2 layers thermal leggings plus outer trousers, thermal top, two fleeces, down jacket, outer (synthetic insulation) jacket, down sleeping bag rated to -2º 'comfort' rating. The wind really robs the heat away...

This is the Arctic, what did I expect!?

Breakfast was preceded by a walk to warm up. There is a very impressive memorial to those burned as witches in the Finnmark region. There were a lot of these unfortunates. Trial was being thrown in the sea to see if they'd float. They all did - so they were all determined guilty - and most were then burned.

Porridge and coffee were followed up with sausage (polse) cooked in butter. Delicious. The sun came out too (too briefly).

I'd checked Vardø on Google Earth. It is on an island with surprisingly complete infrastructure, but no bridge connection. That seemed odd until I learned connection to the mainland is by tunnel.

The islands get inhabited because the surrounding sea keeps them warm. Compared to the air, the sea is indeed warm, as I can confirm, having fallen in every day so far.

I wouldn't normally fall on easy days, but sailing my laden board is like sailing an upside-down boat. All the weight is high up, exactly where it is is most destabilising. So get a little bit out of shape and a capsize becomes difficult to avoid. I look forward to sailing with fewer supplies once further south. In the meantime it is an additional factor to consider.

Just to clarify the above, the sea is only warm in a comparative sense

One thing you don't see from Google is the bird life. The seas are teaming with birds, I've only recognised a few of the more striking ones, but is wonderful to see these creatures. Puffins, kittiwakes, cormorants, razorbills, guillemots, lots of sea eagles, many beautiful ducks and geese (sorry twitchers, will attempt better IDs another time)...

The coming days look like they will have significant amounts of swell and the coastline is very exposed. Temperatures are set to remain around the one degree mark; wind direction means I'll be sailing upwind.

The snow storm whilst composing this post has cleared. My thoughts move on from the need to wear a second pair of woollen socks to the sea outside the harbour. With a bit of blue sky it doesn't look so bad.

Below are some pictures from the last few days.