Upon leaving Hemnskjel Friday, we enjoyed an exhilarating beam reach up the Trondheimsliea in 30- to 35-knot winds about 70 percent reefed. (Well, it was exhilarating for some, perhaps terrifying for others.) We rounded Agdenes at the entrance to Trondeimfjord and sought refuge in Selva, a wide bay nearby. Yet another helpful Norwegian was leaving as we were pulling in. He offered us his private slip for the weekend. We stayed for two nights, hiking the local hills, doing laundry, and detailing the boat.

On Sunday, August 2nd, we left Selva for a 26-mile motorsailing trip to Trondheim, the Viking capital and the northernmost city on our Norwegian voyage. We knew we were getting close when we sailed by a viking ship. We arrived around 3 p.m. and took a slip in the Skansen guesthavn. Our exploration of the city began that afternoon with an excursion to a pub where we sampled Dahl's, the local brew.

On Monday, we used the dinghy as our water taxi, motoring through the Kanal Havn and River Nid to a dock close to the Nidaros Cathedral. We joined an English-speaking tour group and learned that the cathedral was built over the grave of St. Olav, Norway's patron saint. Construction started in 1070, but the oldest parts still in existence are from the middle of the 12th century. Ravaged by fire on several occasions, the church was rebuilt each time - mainly in the Gothic style, but the oldest parts around the transept reflect the Roman style. From around 1050 until the Reformation the cathedral was an important destination for pilgrims. This tradition was revived in 1997 and takes place the first weekend of August each year. We were told it was happening while we were here, though I didn't notice any obvious pilgrim-like activities.

We spent the remainder of the afternoon strolling around and shopping. The day concluded with a rainbow and a slow, colorful sunset.

Tuesday morning, John's girlfriend, Emma, joined us as our newest crew member. She took a plane from Geneva to Oslo, and then an overnight train to Trondheim, having concluded her summer internship at Talloires, France, Tufts' European center. We immediately departed to catch the tide out the Trondheimfjord, arriving at a pleasant anchorage on the island of Storfosn around 3 p.m. We climbed the island's highest hill, around 600 feet, before a brisk swim, happy hour, dinner, reading, and bed.

Wednesday dawned without a cloud in the sky, a rarity. We weighed anchor and set sail for Sula, a fishing village in an island archipelago 32 miles to the northwest. Our course takes us through a complex of "skerries," or islets and shallows, making navigation challenging.

(Blogger note: For those of you waiting for an entry from Jocelyn, please keep your requests coming. Apparently, she needs to overcome a bit of writer's block, and your appeals may nudge her in the right direction.)