Friday 20 July 2012

Korshavn

In the two weeks since we last posted a report we have had a lovely time wandering down the coast from Bergen to the southern tip of Norway and are now anchored in a pool amongst the islands at the southern entrance to Korshavn, an old fishing village in a narrow cut between two islands. We had thought to tie to the village visitor's dock, but one look said that the cut was just too narrow. Far safer to anchor outside and go in by dinghy. It was like driving down the main street of a little town except that the street was a water-way with brightly painted houses, docks and boathouse on either side and at the head, the post office, mini-super market, gas dock and bank. The old fishermen have long gone and their neat wooden houses have been renovated up for summer visitors, mostly it seemed from Germany, who come here for sports fishing. At the head of the "street" is a little marina with twenty-odd identical outboard driven boats for rent. On the dock are stainless-steel benches and trays for cleaning the daily catch.

Coming south from Bergen we had a choice of numerous possible routes amongst the myriad of islands and skerries. It would be easy to get lost without a computer mapping program linked to the GPS. Each night we found a perfect anchorage usually in a pool created by a group of islands. Several were in public parks that included tie off points on the rocks, or docks, along with park benches and hiking trails. Norwegian's don't seem to like anchoring. They prefer to drop a stern anchor, run the a line ashore and haul the bow to the rocks and jump ashore. It is a learned art and not for Taonui with her high bow and 'senior' crew! In one anchorage we watched a total of 12 men spend almost an hour trying to secure two power boats in this manner. There were already six other boats tied to the shore so there was plenty of advice given as anchors were dropped and retrieved, boats bounced on rocks, and then repositioned by inflatable's acting as pushing tug boats. Anchors were reset but too far from shore or mis-aligned with the on-shore tie points. There was much not-so-quiet Norwegian shouting. Finally the bigger of the two boats was sort of in place but his buddy could only get his bow against his friends stern. He had run out of anchor chain! He raised his hands above his head and signaled to his wife, now on shore in the dinghy, that he had given up. This was as good as it was going to get.

At the end of all these waterways is Stavanger after which all south-bound traffic must go offshore to reach the southern tip of Norway. This stretch of the coast can be treacherous and has a reputation for strong winds and currents. But there are several places where a yacht can run in and shelter behind islands. Korshavn is one such shelter. The entrance from the south or west, as we came, is a twisting and turning channel amongst smooth weather-beaten islands and underwater rocks marked by stakes with top markers of arrows pointing to the right side on which to pass.

Stavanger is the third largest city in Norway. It was once a major fishing port and Hanseatic trading centre with strong links to the Shetland's and Orkney's which were once part of Norway. Today Stavanger is the service centre for Norway's offshore oil and gas extraction industry. The coastline leading into Stavanger is lined with warehouses and factories fabricating strange looking steel shapes for the drilling rigs and huge docks for the fleet of 250 foot long strange looking service vessels that shuttle parts and equipment to the rigs and act as safety patrol around the rigs. It was these vessels that "escorted" us through the rigs as we crossed the Norwegian Sea. This is BIG business. Norway has only .6% of the world's known oil reserves and 1.6% of the world's gas reserves. But for tiny Norway (4.8 million people) this is an enormous asset. Norway is the world's fifth largest exporter of oil. The industry employs 200,000 people, accounts for 50% of Norway's exports, 36% of the Government's income and 25% of GDP. Oil was discovered in 1969 and production started in 1971. The Norwegian's have been smart. They know it will not last forever. In 1972 the Government decreed that the industry had to be managed to serve the long term interests of all Norwegian's. Oil and gas earnings beyond current needs are set aside in a transparent Government fund that now stands at around 350 billion dollars. By law, only the income of this fund can be spent each year. To date most income is re-invested. This "sovereign" fund owns around 1% of the value of the world's stock markets. Norway is cognizant of the moral conflict between it's oil based wealth and threat posed by carbon emissions. Norway is the world's largest contributor to campaigns to prompt re-afforestation throughout the world.

Stavanger is also a great tourist attraction, especially for cruise ships. On each of the three days that we were there were two HUGE 2,500 - 3,000 passenger monsters on the docks at each side of the narrow harbour. They only stay one night, but each day around five thousand tourists hit the town to wonder through the narrow winding hilly streets where the old wooden buildings have been converted to swanky shops and eateries. The Cathedral is well worth visiting. The old part of the Cathedral is similar in style to the one in Lerwick, Shetland with massive stone Gothic columns. It sits on a hill looking over a wide public square that runs down into the harbour. For us the best part of the square was the fish market and each night we went back to the boat with lovely fresh shrimp, salmon or cod. As an aside note the cod fishery in the Lofoten Islands in northern Norway is recording record catches. Seems that the warming of the oceans is having some beneficial effects somewhere.

No comments:

Post a Comment