Farsund Redux

Conditions improved marginally, enough for us to decide to shove off this morning from Eigersund. We wondered about our sanity as we motored south out of the Vagen into 20-knot headwinds and pea soup atmosphere. The good news -- the swell was down to two meters. It's gotten to the point that even the locals are telling us the weather is miserable.

Undaunted, we made the most of it as the winds shifted to the southwest, giving us a close hauled point of sail for the 25 mile course southeast toward Lista, another difficult point to round. We watched the radar carefully for ships lurking just beyond our view, which was limited to about a mile. Eventually, we turned the corner, loosened the sheets, and ended up on a wing-on-wing run, engine silent, into Farsund. The guest dock was wide open, quite a difference from earlier this season when we stopped here briefly to find boats rafted three deep. (The photo below is from that visit. A photo today would only show fog and mist.) We're here at least until Wednesday, waiting for better conditions before rounding Lindesnes, the final hurdle before the more benign East Coast.

We made good use of our time in Eigersund. Jocelyn put her newly found whipping skills to the test. She borrowed a procedure from Knots by Grog and banged out some very good results on our preventer line. No rest for the weary -- almost all our lines need whipping. While she labored, I busied myself detailing the deck and topsides, fitting chafe protection for the dock lines (bicycle inner tubes work very well), and rearming our PFDs. (Thanks, Car, for providing the rearming kits.) Work done, we rewarded ourselves with an "Amerikansk Hamburger" and chips (french fries) and a trip to Eigersund's KINO (movie house), catching Public Enemies with Johnny Depp, in English with Norwegian subtitles.

A few observations are warranted at this point. First, Norwegian attempts to reproduce the American hamburger are passable, but they miss out on a couple of important ingredients. First, they don't add pickles. Every Big Mac or Whopper I've ever had always has a pickle or two. And dill pickles of course. But in this country, dill pickles are hard to come by. Only sweet pickles are found in Norwegian grocery stores. Never dill. Plus, the burger had no onions on it. How can they get away with showing it as an "Amerikansk Hamburger" on the menu without these ingredients? I almost went back to the restaurant and gave the cook feedback on this issue (we took the food "to go"), but thought better of it.

Observation #2: The movie theater was refreshingly non-commercial. Not only was there no big production trying to sell refreshments at exorbitant prices, but the preview period was delightfully brief. As in, there were no previews. We watched a few minutes of amateurish ads for local establishments (the only exception was a well done, hilarious skit by a couple of sound effects jokers admonishing the audience to turn off cell phones and be quiet), and then, promptly at 8:30 p.m., the movie started. Now, I realize we weren't in the biggest town in Norway -- this was obvious when the lady in the box office, after selling us reserved seating tickets, told us we could sit anywhere because there was hardly anyone there on a Saturday night -- but I presume this is the way it is in Norwegian movie theaters, and a very good way indeed. Like so much else, Norwegians have got it right.

Observation #3: One spot where perhaps they don't have it right, however, is the curious presence of country music in public places. I first noticed this when we were at a bar on Sula. It seemed out of place, given my impression of Norway as a hip place with progressive people. I always associate country music with rural, redneck America. Both of which, Norway seems not to be. I noticed country music playing again as MUZAK on the tour bus to Preikestolen. I chalked this up as an anamoly given that the tour bus is for tourists, not Norwegians. Perhaps that's what the "management" thinks tourists want to hear. But then I heard it again at the Eigersund hamburger stand, and at enough other places along the way to keep me wondering. On second thought, most of Norway is rural, and perhaps they're more conservative than I assumed. (After all, they were conservative enough to bank their petrodollars, helping them avoid current and future global recessions.) So maybe Norwegians have a bit of a rural, redneck streak in them, or maybe they simply have a hankering for rural, redneck America. Or maybe they just like the sound of country music. Dolly Parton would be proud. Go figure.

Jocelyn is now resting up after our mini-crossing from Eigersund. She has a hard job, now that she's first mate, chief petty officer, helmswoman, bosun, and all other duty assignments imaginable. Actually, she's the entire crew, so no wonder she's exhausted. I'd wake her up to tell her she needs to write you a blog entry, but I don't think she would appreciate it. So you'll have to wait a while longer for another BLOGDATE missive.

That's it for now. Watch this channel....