Do you carry any fishing kit?
We are asked this question on a regular basis. The truth is although we do carry a rod and some hand lines together with a box of assorted fishing tackle neither Richard nor I have much of a clue of how to use it! We simply point people in the direction of the gear and suggest they have a go. We are quite happy to take advice from would be fishermen and over the past two years the contents of the box have grown. Many people have tried fishing here in the Lofoten Islands, but in all honesty without much expectation of catching anything large – what would we do with it if we did?
Luckily this week we had Lynn with us to help out when with shouts of delight David pulled in a large cod big enough to eat. Not quite big enough for 8 so we needed another. The next two were deemed by Lynn to be too small to catch and were returned to the sea, but the fourth fish out of the water was simply massive. So much so that we had to get a bucket underneath it to pull it out of the sea.
From the sea to the table in 2 hours – you cant have fresher cod than that and it was delicious.
Yet again the Lofoten Islands did not disappoint. We sailed 335 miles during this 10 days and made it to the northern side of the islands. Wild and isolated but surprisingly more green. We spent three nights alone in anchorages before heading south again to the pretty and busy town of Henningsvaer. It felt strange to see other people!
Yet again we managed to visit many new places, each with their own particular feel. We were lucky enough to see pilot whales on three occasions, and added to that we also saw a fantastic basking shark who swam under the boat, an otter and many birds and eagles.
The weather was kind, and encouraged swimming on many occasions – we even managed a BBQ on the deck one evening.
We are now preparing for our last 11 night sail around the Lofoten Islands, which is again fully booked and looking forward to returning here next year. Our 2010 programme will be on line shortly