Today was our first sightseeing day and it was a great day. Most guests are hoping for sunny weather during their cruise but that is one thing you do not want to have when sailing through the fjords. The sun creates glare that makes it more difficult to see the sights, also you cannot see very much at the “sunny side of the ship” and if the sun lasts for a few days you get that hazy stuff called fog and then you do not see anything at all. Overcast is perfect even if it means the occasional shower. You can also watch the scenery from the bar, preferably with a glass of wine in hand. At least that is what my wife and I do when we are cruising in our spare time. Lysefjord is not that far away from Oslo so we trundled up the coast in a nice and sedate way, to be at the pilot station at the Brochure time of 11 am. The pilot had obviously not read that brochure as he came racing out early and was onboard just past 10.30am. Not that I minded we could just do a bit more sightseeing this way.

On the program it said: scenic cruising through Lysefjord and having a look at the Pulpit Rock. On the way there you sail past Stavanger at a distance. However the pilot wondered if I was in the mood for a spin in the harbour. Well ask a duck if he likes water. The harbour master in Stavanger was all for promoting his port and so we sailed into the basin. At that time the sun decided to come out and was bathing all the multi colored houses of Stavanger in a golden light, as if it was staged especially for our arrival. In port, for a regular call, were the Oceana of P&O and the Saga Rose of Saga Cruises. The latter is on her last season. By 2010 she will be retired as she will not be able to comply with the new safety rules of Solas 2010. A pity as it is a nice ship built in 1964 and still a real throw back to the North Atlantic days. My wife and I made a cruise on it two years ago to see her before it would be too late. It was a very pleasant experience with big spacious cabins, similar as we have here on the Prinsendam. The only one who was totally flabbergasted was the captain of the ship, who could not get his head around the fact that there would a fellow captain out there who would take busman’s holidays. So although we remonstrated against it (two captains at the captains table is not proper protocol) we ended up at his table as it was for him the only way to find out what sort of “peculiar specimen” I was. Sailing the Norwegian fjords is so time consuming for captains, that having me at the table was the only way he could make time free to talk to me without being in rush. So now I can really tell the world that I have been dining at a Captains table…………….

Stavanger harbour is wide and deep, and a spin in the middle is not a big deal. We were in and out within 20 minutes and then continued to Lysefjord, which is about 20 miles away from Stavanger, so guests on the cruise ships docked at the port can make an excursion there. I think the option with the ship itself is much better as the ride with the catamarans into the fjord is not always comfortable. The pilot was quite proud in pointing out that at the entrance of the fjord they had built a retirement home (in the village of Forsand on the east bank) and when we sailed by it was indeed something to proud about. A very nice complex up to the standards that I am used to in Holland. It cannot be a bad thing to grow old gracefully with such breath taking scenery around you. All the way in we had our travel guide running a narration, in which he was helped by one of our enrichment lecturers. This time we have a specialist in geology onboard and that tied in beautifully of course, if you can point out glacier scrapes and scratches in real life instead of on a slide.

pulpit rock A picture from the internet. Pulpit rock is called so because this little top bit looks like…….. a pulpit ???

By 2 pm. We were swinging around under Pulpit rock which rises 610 meters out of the water. During the swing I had another 340 meters under the keel, so if it would be possible to drain the fjord, then the cliff would be shearing a 1000 meter straight up. As a result the distances become impossible to judge. With such a height towering above you, it looks like as if you can almost touch the rock wall from the bow. Then you look at the radar and you see that you are still 1000 feet away.

After this highlight of the day, we sailed back the same way out as we came in, and delivered the pilot back to his pilot boat at 1800 hrs. From there it was a straight course up the coast to the town of Bergen. It calls itself by many names, but one is the “largest cruise port of Norway”. Tomorrow they might be right about that as there will be 5 cruise ships in port altogether. As Lysefjord is not that far away from the entrance to Bergen, I do not have to sail very fast and can still be early. So I will be the first ship entering the port. We will be docking in down town which is very nice as well. The weather forecast is even promising a dry day.