Sailing Zephyros (Ζέφυρος)

0900Z 13MAY24, arrival in Ålesund, Norway! We enjoyed a quick and easy passage from Lerwick, Shetland Islands, Scotland to Ålesund, Norway.

We arrived in the morning on a beautiful day. We completed all of our check-in business, walked around, talked to fellow sailors and ate a celebratory meal ashore.

Passage Summary:

258 nautical miles sailed

1 day 15 hours (38.7 hours)

6.7 knots average speed over ground

8 hours of engine time

We had hoped to explore the Shetland Islands for a few more days; however, watching the weather we decided we needed to get going to Norway. It seems we were not the only ones with this idea as the port of Ålesund had a large number of arrivals throughout Monday.

Leaving Scotland

We had a great, quick sail across. We left Lerwick on Saturday evening at 1815Z with the north going tide. It took 3 tries to move to sailing as the winds seemed to establish only to drop to less than 5 knots. By 1945Z, we were sailing a close reach on starboard tack in 15kts of breeze and clear of the land effects. By 2130Z we were seeing 20+kts and put 2 reefs in the main for the night.

2100Z, Saturday Sunset

The night passed smoothly, with the skies never getting completely dark. Unfortunately, there were no northern lights sighted by Zephyros even though the solar storm was still supposed to be strong.

2300Z Sky

0330Z Sky sun already rising

The morning saw the winds build a bit and we added a reef to the genoa. We were moving well with 25+/- kts and a starboard tack, beam reach. The waves built and we passed the numerous oil platforms and a big wind farm.

Oil Platform

Wind Farm

Fast sailing

By the afternoon, we were still on a beam reach and back to a full genoa with winds around 22kts. By evening, we were still on a beam reach and shaking out a reef in the main, with winds around 18kts.

Before sunset we could see land and had limited cell connectivity with around 70nm left to get to Ålesund. Overnight we shook out the last reef in the main and did our best to keep sailing. By 0200Z, the winds were down and didn’t seem to want to return so the engine came on.

Sunday Sunset 2330Z

2330Z view towards Norway with land in sight & cellphone service

The last 7 hours were all motoring and the seas flattened out to absolutely flat. We enjoyed the morning in sunshine and took in the Norwegian coast line as we motored along to our port of entry.

Motor sailing, morning light & Norway welcome (0415Z)

Svinøy Lighthouse

Mountains with snow!

Flat water and beautiful weather

At 0900Z we were tied up to a finger pier in downtown Ålesund. There is another Boreal here - a 47.2 named L’elephant with an Aussie and an American on board.