Paradise 530

As planned, on the way back from Iceland we have sailed past the Seal Woman on the island of Kalsoy, and a couple of miles further south we turned east and tucked into the safe marina in Klaksvík to fulfill the obligation of border crossing. Although we have visited Klaksvík a couple of times before by road, the real deal is to visit places by boat, so sailing in made our affiliation with this town complete. In a very Faroese manner, the town of Klaksvík is located on hillsides overlooking a fjord. The port tucked right at the end of the fjord constitutes a very nice centerpiece of the settlement.

We quickly got reacquainted with our favorite archipelago and after two nights in Klaksvík headed to explore another port that wasn’t new to us but was to Altor – Leirvík. A late evening walk around the colorful town with very pretty houses made us a bit nostalgic as we observed kids playing around the town, fishing in the local brook, and running around without the aid of a smartphone or any screen-equipped device. I felt like transported back into my childhood, where the only worry we had was not how much battery or data we had left but fretted about being too late home or having wellies full of water after falling into the local pond.

The marina in Leirvík has awesome facilities for the residents and visitors – power and water on the wooden yacht-friendly jetty, a brand-new kitchen, toilets, and shower facilities. The surrounding panoramic views are truly beautiful and if it wasn’t that our next destination was very special to us, we would have stayed longer. Needless to say, a one-night stop-over just around the corner from our favorite town of Fuglafjørður was enough of a teaser, so the next afternoon we motored with the tide to the familiar floating pontoon near the fishing quay.

We have been told that Fuglafjørður, our favorite town in the Faroe Islands, has been nicknamed by the locals as “Paradise 530 ”, where the “530” is the local postcode. Indeed, it feels like that for us. We were welcomed by our friend, Eileen, who got alerted by her father who spotted us sailing down the fjord. We didn’t expect the welcome committee, so getting hugged on arrival made our return even more special. We quickly succumbed to the flow of socialising and relaxing in this friendly place.

Two weeks went by in a blink of an eye! We had such a good time, and I even learned how to make bread, thanks to Ronja, Eileen's daughter, who shared the recipe and provided the bread baking lesson. The recipe worked really well on the boat as we were able to bake the bread in our “on-the-gas-hob” kind of oven called Omnia.

As promised last year, the local artist Fjord created an art piece depicting Fuglafjørður and a mythological being that doesn’t like electricity! That added to my childhood nostalgia and our renewed resolution to become less dependent on the constant use of technology!

One morning we had a swim in the fjord! Well, I must admit, Mark swam, I only dipped my body in water but the cold water disabled my arms from moving! A second attempt a few days later in Runavik went much better, as I actually swam.

If I thought that leaving Fuglafjørður would be easier this time around, I was fooling myself! What is more, we were musing over the idea of wintering in the Faroe Islands, which made me sort of cheerful. Those roots started growing again! Reluctantly we pulled them out of the Faroese soil and moved to a town called Runavik on the other side of the island, a port new to both us and Altor. It wasn't easy to cut ties with Eileen and we met in Runavik for a lovely dinner in the local hotel before we left for Torshavn, our last stopover before heading back south.

Holiday homes in Leirvík marina, Faroe Islands

Leirvík, Faroe Islands

Leirvík, Faroe Islands

Leirvík, Faroe Islands

Altor moored in Leirvík marina, Faroe Islands

Leirvík, Faroe Islands

Leirvík, Faroe Islands

Faroe Islands

Meet Lucas - the guinea pig :)

Fuglafjørður, Faroe Island

In yarn shop - Noda Stova - Fuglafjørður, Faroe Island

Night view of Fuglafjørður, Faroe Island

Altor moored on the visitor's pontoon in Fuglafjørður, Faroe Island

Fuglafjørður, Faroe Island

Fuglafjørður, Faroe Island

Fuglafjørður, Faroe Island

Bread baking with Ronja - success!

Beach in Fuglafjørður, Faroe Island

Fuglafjørður, Faroe Island

Fuglafjørður, Faroe Island

Fuglafjørður, Faroe Island

Fuglafjørður, Faroe Island

Fuglafjørður, Faroe Island

Fuglafjørður, Faroe Island

Fuglafjørður, Faroe Island

Whales came to the fjord in Fuglafjørður, Faroe Island

Fuglafjørður, Faroe Island

Fuglafjørður, Faroe Island

Fuglafjørður, Faroe Island

Altor moored in Runavik, Faroe Island

Fuglafjørður, Faroe Island

Runavik, Faroe Islands

Runavik, Faroe Island

Runavik, Faroe Island

Runavik, Faroe Island

This beautiful 101-year-old boat is being restored by a team of volunteers in Runavik, Faroe Island. They have built a new wheel house and we were lucky to see when the guys fixed it on the boat and later that day sailed into the fishing harbour where we were moored. Well done!

Mark blending in with wall in his camo trousers.

Runavaik, Faroe Islands.

Runavik, Faroe Islands.

Runavik, Faroe Island