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Route map of the Norwegian leg of Ataraxia's adventure.

Joe Boyle, Steve Pickles, Barney Eliot and Pete Struthers waiting for me to stop taking photos and get on board.

Crewed up, we left Bergen on Thursday 1st August and our first stop was Straume to try (again) to get a propane bottle refilled. We'd been trying all over and feared that every kettle boiling would be the last: Norway has loads of different types of gas bottle fitting, none the same as ours. A fabulous bloke called Ivar (he had CDs of Metallica and the Vengaboys in his car - legend! Thankfully he only played Enter Sandman) took a break from refurbishing his ferro concrete yacht in the marina yard to drive Pete and I into Straume centre where we tracked down VestGass and were finally able to fill our bottle. Cooked food was back on the menu.
It was baking hot again after yesterday's downpour so Joe and Barney took the dinghy for a spin and went swimming while we were drilling for gas.
After one unsuccessful attempt to find an anchorage we settled in a 19m deep bay on Trollsøya, a tiny island near the Western edge and a good stepping off point for our trip back to Scotland.

Pete, Joe and Barney played jellyfish roulette, looking for ways to try and annoy jellyfish by jumping on them. Mostly they just got stung. The jellies seemed ok about it all. They also went barefoot rock climbing on the island - either very hardy or just foolhardy?

Going up in the world - the hard way!

Ataraxia at her last Norwegian anchorage of the trip in Trollsøya.

On Friday 2nd August we set off just after 6am, motored out of the fjord into the North Sea and set sails for a broad reach in a Northerly, force 3-4. As the day wore on the wind steadily rose to force 5-6 so we pulled in reefs and bashed on, covering 175 nm in a 24 hour spell. We were romping along and enjoyed a stunning sunset as we passed through the oilfields.

Chaaarge!

Oil rigs look much more dramatic in real life than my camera can relate.

Pete developed a distinct list to port.

Sunset. The first heavenly body we saw after the sun set was Neptune, shining brightly on the Southern horizon. Nice to know King Neptune, god of the seas, was watching over us.

By 10am the wind had eased back to force 2 and the sun came out so we motorsailed the final 60 miles to Kirkwall. We had covered 258 nm in 38 hours.

Our return to Scotland was marked in the traditional way.

It's always sunny in Orkney (for us, anyway), matched by the warm welcome from the harbour master and an invitation to the Kirkwall Sailing Club regatta week prize giving party. Steve and I took up the offer and had a great night in the company of these lovely people, with a band, pizza slices and drink prices we could afford again.
I was a bit fragile on Sunday morning, so there must have been something that didn't agree with me in the port and blue WKD mix they were putting in their trophies and sharing around. Probably silver polish...

Scallop diving boats and pilot cutters at rest in Kirkwall harbour on Sunday morning.

Absolution was only a short walk away however, and we all attended the service at St Magnus cathedral on Sunday morning. A beautiful setting with a good choir and organ for an uplifting service and a chance to catch up with Fraser and Carol MacNaughton - both in fine form and enjoying being a part of the Orkney community. At the service, Pete, Joe and Barney also bumped into Hannah, an old friend they had studied with in Edinburgh. She invited them to visit the archeological dig she was working on at Ness of Brodgar so an extra day in Orkney was agreed on.

Kirkwall's glorious technicolour dream- launderette.

Sunset under a canopy of mist.

We were all set to leave at 3am on Tuesday 6th August but during the night Steve suffered a sudden and severe illness, which required medical attention and in-patient care at the new Balfour Hospital. In a way we were lucky that this episode happened alongside in Kirkwall as the care and facilities were first class from the speed and efficiency of the ambulance crew right through to the transfer team who flew him to Aberdeen despite problems with fog at Orkney airport, and a spacial mention goes to the lovely Carol Stewart in Public Health who kept an eye on the rest of us to contain any possible spreading of whatever had caused Steve's illness.
We spoke to Susan and agreed the best plan for the boat and crew would be to get them all to Inverness marina, with good transport links and a safe berth for Ataraxia.
Trevor, Pete, Joe and Barney girded our loins and set out on Tuesday evening after consulting the harbour master for weather and tide information, and with a boat full of wet laundry hanging inside. Despite fog for much of the trip, we had a following breeze and reasonably benign seas to chase us down the coast and we ran two watches of three hours on, three hours off down the 120 or so miles to Inverness.

Relieved to have safely delivered Ataraxia to Inverness and eager for some news of Steve's recovery.

Ataraxia will wait for the boss to get back to bring her through the Caledonian canal and back to base to round off her eventful 2019 season.
She has logged 2,633 nautical miles (3,030 miles or 4,876 km) since leaving Ardrossan on May 4th.
In that time she has carried nine people who have shared unique experiences, marvelled at the beauty of nature, made new friends and overcome challenges together while enjoying the people, culture and scenery in wonderful Norway, Orkney and Shetland.
All her crew members would like to thank Steve and Susan for their time, effort and care in preparing for and leading this adventure and for so generously accomodating us on Ataraxia. We wish Steve all the best for a speedy return to full health and look forward to more good times together in the future.

The last leg:
Steve and Susan were joined by Fiona and Lewis Merrylees to bring Ataraxia back through the Caledonian Canal to Craobh Haven. Despite a windy start (30+ kts on the nose through Loch Ness) then the wind disappeared and the lock-keepers' opening hours taking over as main progress inhibitor, she tied up in Craobh on Monday 26th August with 2745 nautical miles on the log.