Yearly Archives: 2019

You can’t always see the beauty each country has to offer by staying close to shore. Sometimes the best things are just a little further inland.

While the boat sits in a marina in Ã…lesund, Norway, we rent a car for the day to explore the mountains, waterfalls, and an epic winding road.

While we only had the one planned stop of Trollstiger Road, which winds down a mountain with 11 hairpin turns and a waterfall rushing through it…we also came across a lot of unexpected beauty. And no shortage of waterfalls!!

Cheers from Norway!!
Jessica, Matt & Georgie

Thank you SO MUCH to our Patrons. These amazing supporters help keep us on the boat, our camera equipment up to date, and the videos coming. Without our patrons, these videos would not be possible.

To join the Patreon ranks, please visit http://www.patreon.com/mjsailing

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Buy us a beer through PayPal!
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Thank you!,
Matt & Jessica

There is one spot in Norway infamous for bad weather…heavy winds and seas. Our next step was to get around it.

Not being familiar with the area or knowing what to expect, we’d heard from enough people to take caution here that we wanted to listen. Waiting for a day when both winds and seas were low, we woke up at dawn to motor ourselves around this headland.

Waiting for us on the other side was the cutest town ever, Alesund. With its colorful Art Nouveau buildings lining the canals, and spectacular overlooks…it was yet another bucket list destination checked off for me.

We had that pesky little problem that we sailed into Norway without being able to visit a customs agent, so in this week’s episode we make another day passage up to the town of Florø. Here we make a visit to the police station to clear in, which means we’re finally legal in the country and can get off the boat to go exploring.

Even though we’re in an industrial harbor, the town is incredibly cute, and just outside of it we find nice hiking trails which lead us to a lake full of ducks, WWII barracks, and amazing overlooks of the surrounding fjords. That is…when the fog isn’t rolling through. Make sure you learn the best duck calls for beginners to have a great time at the lake.

It feels great to finally be sharing our Norwegian adventures with you…we hope you enjoy them!

Five years ago we had a dream to sail to Norway….and it has now (FINALLY) happened!! It was a long road to get here, and the sailing part only takes up about 18 months of that time. First we had to find the right boat…and then spend nearly 3 years getting her ready.

If you’re not familiar with our story, we were sitting in the Azores in 2014 with plans to sail to the Mediterranean…until we talked to many sailors making their way down from Scandinavian countries. “Hey, why don’t we do that instead?”, we thought.

After a few weeks of searching online, we found an aluminum boat back in Florida…in our price range…but in need of much love. Instead of continuing east at this point, we pointed our bow south and spent the next 6 months working our way back to Florida.

What we found waiting for us needed a lot more love than we thought…but now the dream of sailing Norway was so strong that we couldn’t let it go. A 9 month refit turned into 30 months, and in December 2017 we shoved off.

Now, after sailing her down to the Caribbean, crossing the Atlantic in 2018 and spending a winter in the Azores, we have finally made our miles north and sailed into the fjords of Norway. We’re very excited to spend the next few months here, and the feeling of accomplishment is pretty surreal!

Thank you so much for following along on our adventure!
Cheers from Norway,
Jessica, Matt & Georgie

We’re so happy to bring this episode to you because now are are getting to the really exciting cruising footage of NORWAY!!

Before we can enjoy the country and all it has to offer though, we need to make it across the North Sea. We’d heard these can be troubled waters, and although things started out fairly smooth, although with some surrounding showers, we quickly found the motion of the ocean out here wasn’t agreeing with us.

We spent about 40 hours of this 50 hour passage flat on our back and barley able to move….but it was all worth it when we arrived to Norway and the sun started shining brightly.

Cheers from the North Sea!!
Jessica, Matt & Georgie

Thank you SO MUCH to our Patrons. These amazing supporters help keep us on the boat, our camera equipment up to date, and the videos coming. Without our patrons, these videos would not be possible.

To join the Patreon ranks, please visit http://www.patreon.com/mjsailing

or

Buy us a beer through PayPal!
https://www.paypal.me/MJSailing

Thank you!,
Matt & Jessica

We’re on the move again and shoving off from mainland Scotland. We don’t have too far to go, just a day hop from Wick up to an anchorage in the Orkney Islands.

We’ve heard these waters are supposed to be full of Orca whales, and we’re keeping a close eye out on the water as we travel. We can tell you that we do find hundreds of birds along the way…especially favoring a spot in front of Copensay Island.

Landing in the Orkneys the weather keeps us from getting off the boat to do exploring….but it does give us time to prep for our next passage to Norway!

Waiting for us in Inverness after we finished the canal, was our Chinese Diesel Heater, which we were very excited to have a place to sit for a few days and get it installed.

Here Matt goes over all the options of heating we have on our boat, which version we chose, and why.

There’s also a little segment of where Georgie goes boat shopping, preferring sitting on a neighbor’s boat to ours. (FF to 16:06 if that’s what you came to see).

This one is a little long and a little technical, but we hope you enjoy it nonetheless!

Cheers from Scotland!
Jessica, Matt & Georgie

We finish the Caledonian Canal by going through the last two locks, and begin our overnight journey to the town of Wick. We have beautiful sunny and calm conditions as we depart, but through the night, storms begin to develop off to our side.

As we continue to get even further north, 58 degrees here, the sun is up bright and early at 4:30 am. Plenty of time for us to make it into Wick in the light!

We also can’t pass through Wick without taking a tour of their famous Pulteney Whisky Distillery. There is a lot of history is this little town!

Much love from Scotland!
Jessica, Matt & Georgie

Thank you SO MUCH to our Patrons. These amazing supporters help keep us on the boat, our camera equipment up to date, and the videos coming. Without our patrons, these videos would not be possible.

To join the Patreon ranks, please visit http://www.patreon.com/mjsailing

or

Buy us a beer through PayPal!
https://www.paypal.me/MJSailing

Thank you!,
Matt & Jessica

Join us this week as we do some of our best touring of the Caledonian Canal. Traveling only 6 miles from our last anchorage in Loch Oich, we land in Ft. Augustus, which has to be one of the most charming towns we’ve ever seen.

There is a flight of 5 locks to pass through here, and although many tourist come to see that…this town is also an entry point to Loch Ness!!

Early in the morning we make our decent into this famous lake, anchor ourselves next to an impressive castle, and enjoy a couple of hometown brews to celebrate Matt’s birthday.

Much love from Scotland!
Jessica, Matt & Georgie

Thank you SO MUCH to our Patrons. These amazing supporters help keep us on the boat, our camera equipment up to date, and the videos coming. Without our patrons, these videos would not be possible.

To join the Patreon ranks, please visit http://www.patreon.com/mjsailing

or

Buy us a beer through PayPal!
https://www.paypal.me/MJSailing

Thank you!,
Matt & Jessica

We’re really excited to bring you this week’s episode where we start our journey through the Caledonian Canal, and get to do more traveling through the Scottish Highlands.

We think our morning is going to begin by jumping right into the Lion’s Den of Neptune’s Staircase (an 8 lock staircase), but luckily there is a set of two just past Corpatch to get us familiar with the system. But..then we are thrown into the lion’s den where I have quite a rough go of keeping our boat in place as we sit right in front of the flooding gate.

But…we’re soon rewarded with a beautiful sail through Loch Lochy and picturesque green hills completely surrounding us. We hope you enjoy watching our trip through the canal as much as we enjoyed taking it!

Much love from Scotland!
Jessica, Matt & Georgie

Thank you SO MUCH to our Patrons. These amazing supporters help keep us on the boat, our camera equipment up to date, and the videos coming. Without our patrons, these videos would not be possible.

To join the Patreon ranks, please visit http://www.patreon.com/mjsailing

or

Buy us a beer through PayPal!
https://www.paypal.me/MJSailing

Thank you!,
Matt & Jessica
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