Internet est capricieux ici donc je ne mets que quelques mots pendant que cela marche. Je raconterai plus plus tard.
We are now on Suduroy, the moste southerly island on the Faroes. Very good crossing, very calm.
Internet does not work very well here so I only write a few words while it is working. I will come back and write more later on.
Nous nous réveillons tôt. Jens a bien dormi, moi moins bien. Il fait gris mais calme, un peu brumeux. Nous partons à 7 h. Collivoe (qui, oralement, s’entend presque comme notre Kollevåg à Askøy) est près de la sortie nord-ouest d’un détroit entre Unst et Yell. Ce détroit peut être dangereux à cause du courant. Si la houle d’ouest se heurte à un courant fort d’est dans le détroit il se forme de grosses vagues. Jens a bien étudié les heures de marée et de courant et le temps est très calme. Et bien, même dans ces conditions, il y a des vagues à la sortie du détroit. La moitié droite de la sortie a même des vagues qui se brisent. On passe bien à gauche et ça va. Mais la première demi-heure est mouvementée puis tout devient bien calme et, comble de bonheur, le soleil apparait. On programme Suduroy (l’ile la plus au sud des Féroe) et on y va.
La journée est magnifique, ciel bleu, mer bleue, soleil mais pas de vent. Même moi, je souhaiterais un peu plus de vent pour avancer plus vite et pour stabiliser le bateau. Nous avons une bonne houle de trois-quarts arrière d’à peu près 2 m, et Maja roule. Mais c’est un mouvement assez régulier et pas violent. Mais ça bouge bien, il faut toujours se tenir sinon on tombe. Le bateau oscille de 40 degrés. Tout est bien calé et nous sommes bien préparés : j’ai pris une pilule et tout ce dont nous avons besoin est en haut dans le « dog house » (la cabine de pilotage). On ne va en bas que pour se coucher ou pour aller aux toilettes. Nous allons au moteur à 1500 tours minutes. C’est très calme et on avance entre 4,5 et 6 nœuds. On accélère en descendant des vagues et ralentit en remontant dessus.
Nous voyons des centaines d’oiseaux. Même très loin des Shetland, à plus de 100 km, il y a toujours beaucoup d’oiseaux.
Nous restons ensemble un bon moment et je vais me reposer dans l’après-midi. Jens voit des centaines de « gannets » sur l’eau. Vers 17 h Jens remarque que le foc, qu’on a hissé pour stabiliser un peu, est un peu déchiré au niveau des barres de flèches. Il décide de le baisser et de le recoudre. Il met son gilet de sauvetage qui comporte aussi un harnais. Il va à l’avant en s’accrochant à des points solides sur le bateau. Comme ça s’il tombe à l’eau il est accroché au bateau. Il travaille presque une heure à l’avant, s’arrêtant de temps en temps pour regarder l’horizon afin de calmer le mal de mer. Ce n’est pas très confortable à l’avant, cela bouge plus qu’à l’arrière. Il se repose même et je ne vois que ses pieds.
Nous grignotons, comme d’habitude pendant nos longues traversées ; mais le menu est un peu plus étendu cette fois-ci : knekkebrød avec kaviar, ou fromage ou fårepølse (saucisson de mouton). Jens barre de 9 h à 1 h du matin et je prends de 1 h à 5 h du matin. Très bon moment, il ne fait pas nuit juste gris un peu plus foncé, ça ne bouge pas trop, il fait beau. Je chantonne pour passer le temps (Barbara, Maxime Le Forrestier …) et ensuite je mets la radio et j’ai Radio France Internationale très clairement. C’est drôle, j’écoute des émissions sur l’Afrique et je suis dans la mer du nord ! Jens reprend à 5 h et je me couche mais ne dors guère. Le deuxième jour est gris mais toujours très peu de vent. La houle est moins forte mais est toujours là. On guète pour voir les iles Féroé dans l’après-midi mais plus on s’approche plus le temps devient brumeux. Elles ont des falaises élevées et on èsperait les voir de loin mais non, il faut avoir le nez dessus pour les voir. Il y a du brouillard quand nous arrivons mais ce n’est pas dangereux, on voit à peu près à un km. Enfin nous voyons Suduroy et nous entrons dans le port de Tvøroyri. Drôles de noms. Il est 19 h 30, on a mis 36 h et demie. Cette traversée a été très agréable, assez confortable et sans mal de mer.
Le port est bien plein, surtout de vieux grands beaux voiliers parce qu’il y a une régate de vieux voiliers. On ne le savait pas, c’est tout à fait par hasard qu’on arrive quand ils sont ici. Il y a une toute petite place le long du quai entre un yacht américain et un hollandais. On se case juste, mais vraiment juste, on a 50 cm devant et 50 cm derrière. Les Hollandais trouvent que c’est drôle mais pas une femme américaine. Jens va sur le quai et lui demande si elle peut reculer son bateau un tout petit peu, elle a 2-3 m de libre derrière. Elle répond, pas très aimable « if I must » (si je dois). Elles sont 3 femmes à bord, deux aux cheveux blancs et une plus jeune. Mais elle le fait quand même parce qu’elle a peur qu’on touche son bateau.
Les Féroé paraissent très différentes des Shetland, plus montagneuses, brumeuses mais d’un autre côté les maisons colorées sont plus gaies que les maisons en pierres grises des Shetland. C’est juste une première impression.
On prend un ankerdram et on va faire un petit tour. On achète des fish and ships pour le diner. On dine dehors sur le bateau mais en combinaisons chaudes, il fait 11 degrés. On ne se sent pas très fatigués. On lirait bien le journal mais les seuls qu’on a trouvés sont en langue locale et on ne la comprend pas assez pour acheter un journal.
Voilà, on est arrivé aux Iles Féroé, bien content.
We wake up early. Jens slept well, me not so well. It is gray but calm, a little foggy. We leave at 7:00 am. Cullivoe (which, orally, almost sounds as our Kollevåg on Askøy) is near the exit of a northwest passage between Unst and Yell. The strait can be dangerous because of the current. If the swell from the west is facing a strong current from the east of the strait, large waves can happen. Jens has studied the hours of tide and current and the weather is very quiet. Well, even so, there are waves at the exit of the strait. The right half of the mouth has even crashing waves. We pass well on the left and that's fine. But the first half hour is a little bit uncomfortable then everything becomes more quiet and, even better the sun appears. We program Suduroy (the most southerly island of the Faroe) and here we go.
The day is beautiful, blue sky, blue sea, sun but no wind. Even I would like a little more wind to go faster and to stabilize the boat. We have a good swell three-quarter rear, about 2 m, and Maja rolls. But it is a fairly regular movement and not violent. But it is moving quite a lot, we must always hold on something or we fall. Everything is secured and we are well prepared: I took a pill and everything we need is up in the "dog house". We're going down only for lying or to go to the toilet. We are going with the engine at 1500 rpm. It is very quiet and we have a speed of 4.5 to 6 knots. It accelerates going down the waves and slow down going up.
We see hundreds of birds. Even far from Shetland, over 100 km, there are still plenty of birds.
We stay together a long time and I go down to rest in the afternoon. Jens sees hundreds of "gannets" on the water. At around 5:00 pm Jens notices that the jib, that we hoisted to stabilize a bit, is a little torn at the spreaders. He decides to drop it and to sew it. He puts on his life jacket which also includes a harness. He goes to the front, clinging to solid points on the boat. That way, if he falls into the water, it is attached to the boat. He works almost an hour at the front, stopping occasionally to watch the horizon to calm seasickness. It's not very comfortable at the front, it moves more than at the back. He takes a nap when he is finished and I see only his feet.
The day is beautiful, blue sky, blue sea, sun but no wind. Even I would like a little more wind to go faster and to stabilize the boat. We have a good swell three-quarter rear, about 2 m, and Maja rolls. But it is a fairly regular movement and not violent. But it is moving quite a lot, we must always hold on something or we fall. Everything is secured and we are well prepared: I took a pill and everything we need is up in the "dog house". We're going down only for lying or to go to the toilet. We are going with the engine at 1500 rpm. It is very quiet and we have a speed of 4.5 to 6 knots. It accelerates going down the waves and slow down going up.
We see hundreds of birds. Even far from Shetland, over 100 km, there are still plenty of birds.
We stay together a long time and I go down to rest in the afternoon. Jens sees hundreds of "gannets" on the water. At around 5:00 pm Jens notices that the jib, that we hoisted to stabilize a bit, is a little torn at the spreaders. He decides to drop it and to sew it. He puts on his life jacket which also includes a harness. He goes to the front, clinging to solid points on the boat. That way, if he falls into the water, it is attached to the boat. He works almost an hour at the front, stopping occasionally to watch the horizon to calm seasickness. It's not very comfortable at the front, it moves more than at the back. He takes a nap when he is finished and I see only his feet.
We nibble, as usual during our long voyage, but the menu is a little better this time: knekkebrød with kaviar, or cheese or fårepølse (sheep sausage). Jens is on watch between 9:00 pm to 1:00 am and I take over between 1:00 am to 5 am. Great time, it does not become dark, just dark grey, it does not move too much, it's nice. I sing to pass the time (Barbara, Maxime Le Forrestier ...) and then I put on the radio and I receive Radio France Internationale very clearly. It's funny, I listen to programs on Africa and here I am in the North Sea! Jens takes over at 5:00 am and I go to bed but I do not sleep very much. The second day is gray but still very little wind. The swell is less strong but still there. We thought we were going to see the Faroe Islands in the afternoon but the closer we come, the more it becomes foggy. They have high cliffs and we had hoped to see it from a distance but no, you have to have the nose on it to see them. It is quite foggy when we arrive but it is not dangerous, we see roughly one mile.Finally we see Suduroy and we enter the Port of Tvøroyri. Funny Names. It is 7:30 pm, it took us 36 hours and a half. This crossing was very pleasant, very comfortable and no seasickness
The harbour is full, especially big old beautiful sailboats, because there is an a regatta going on. We did not know it, it by chance that it happens when we are here. There is a small place along the pier between a Dutch and an American yacht, modern yachts, not the old ones. We just fit, but really we have only 50 cm at the front and 50 cm at the back. The Dutch women finds it funny but not the American woman. Jens goes on the pier and asks if she can back her boat a little, she has 2-3 m free back. She replies, not very friendly "if I must". There are three women on board, two white-haired and one younger. But she did it anyway because she is afraid that we can touch her boat.
The Faroe seem very different from the Shetland, more mountainous, more misty but on the other hand, the colorful houses are more cheerful than the gray stone houses of Shetland. It's just a first impression.
We take an ankerdram and we walk a little. We buy fish and ships for dinner. We dine out on the boat but in overall, it's only 11 degrees outside. We don’t feel very tired. We would like to read but the only newspapers we found are in the local language and we do not understand it enough to buy a newspaper.
Well, we arrived to the Faroe Islands, very happy.
The harbour is full, especially big old beautiful sailboats, because there is an a regatta going on. We did not know it, it by chance that it happens when we are here. There is a small place along the pier between a Dutch and an American yacht, modern yachts, not the old ones. We just fit, but really we have only 50 cm at the front and 50 cm at the back. The Dutch women finds it funny but not the American woman. Jens goes on the pier and asks if she can back her boat a little, she has 2-3 m free back. She replies, not very friendly "if I must". There are three women on board, two white-haired and one younger. But she did it anyway because she is afraid that we can touch her boat.
The Faroe seem very different from the Shetland, more mountainous, more misty but on the other hand, the colorful houses are more cheerful than the gray stone houses of Shetland. It's just a first impression.
We take an ankerdram and we walk a little. We buy fish and ships for dinner. We dine out on the boat but in overall, it's only 11 degrees outside. We don’t feel very tired. We would like to read but the only newspapers we found are in the local language and we do not understand it enough to buy a newspaper.
Well, we arrived to the Faroe Islands, very happy.
Jens avec son harnais
Jens with his harness
Jens devant
Jens on the front
Les pieds de Jens
Jens' feet
Les vagues
The waves
J'écoute RFI
I am listening to RFI
Drapeau de courtoisie des Iles Féroé
Courtesy flag, Faroe Islands
Terre!
Land!
Tvøroyri
Petite Maja entre deux grands
Little Maja between to big yachts
Motif de tricot, Shetland
Kniting pattern, Shetland
Ingen kommentarer:
Legg inn en kommentar