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NEWS FROM NORTHERN LIGHT CHARTERS :: OCTOBER - DECEMBER 2006

Sun 1 Oct | Beautiful Bodo  A couple of photos from John aboard Hans Hansson. On the left, a glacier about 40 miles south of Bodø, photographed early this morning. On the right, taken today, near Bodø, a picture of the cruel Arctic sea they are navigating! Photos: John Maughan

Hans Hansson arrived in Bodø this afternoon having cruised northwards through the fjords, anchoring almost every night in preference to berthing alongside – more peaceful, more scenic and better craic! Last Tuesday was an exception though when the boat tied up in Ǻlesund. The scenery has been stunning all the way up the coast and the weather has been kind; bright and sunny apart from occasional fog and rain. Guests did stay inside during the worst of it but spirits are high and some serious poker has been played! It appears that Jill is quite an accomplished gambler…  

The most notable wildlife sighting so far has been a pair of elk on the shore no more than 600 yards from the vessel plus of course white-tailed sea eagles which are common round Bodø. 

Tue 3 Oct | Lovely Lofoten  Yesterday Hans Hansson cruised the Vestfjords looking for cetaceans…it seems to be a bit early for good sightings. In the evening the vessel quietly drifted for half an hour to allow guests to fish before anchoring for the night. This morning they crossed the Vestfjords (in a brisk Force 6) to berth in Svolvær at the lovely Lofoten Islands. Tomorrow Gordon plans to visit Trollfjord – hoping for shoals of herring and pods of orca – and will berth in the final port of Lodingen on Thursday evening ready for guests’ departure on Friday. 

Thu 5 Oct | Sea eagle at sea  Great action shot of a sea eagle having just caught a fish (right) from John aboard Hans Hansson. Seen this morning in the Trollfjord area, above. Photos: (right) John Maughan (above) Gordon Fitton

Sat 7 Oct | Farvel folks!  Farvel is Norwegian for "goodbye" and this morning the crew of Hans Hansson said goodbye in Lodingen to the last two guests who had stayed on board for one extra night due to travel arrangements. Today marks the end of our first ever Norwegian coastal charter and guest Jill, who joined Hans Hansson from the USA, sent us a small selection of her great photos, below. Photos: Jill Bullington

Bergen harbour	lighthouse near Smola
Norwegian fishing boat	sea eagle following boat

we've crossed the Arctic Circle	sunset at Bodø
sunset at Svolvær, Lofoten Islands	moon rise at Trollfjord

Wed 11 Oct | Lay up in Lofoten  Hans Hansson is awaiting future guests and is berthed in Svolvær (at the Lofoten islands) rather than Lodingen which is an open bay exposed to most winds. The crew are busy refuelling and stocking up whilst finding time for a little R&R after the epic Norwegian coastal voyage. 

This photo shows Hans Hansson berthed in Svolvær astern of the NNSR rescue cruiser "Kaptein Skaugen" that is stationed in the town. Photo: Gordon Fitton

Tue 17 Oct | Whale meat is bad  ...and not just from the point of view of the poor whale. A recent article in the Marine Pollution Bulletin discusses whale meat and human health. The authors, ECM Parsons et al, describe the issue of Brucella-contaminated minke whale meat and the fact that high levels of mercury and organochlorine pollutants are found in cetacean meat products being sold for human consumption particularly in Japan. Parsons concludes by addressing the Japanese Government's promotion of cetacean products, especially in relation to school lunches. More information and a link to the article can be found here. 

Sat 21 Oct | Berthed at Banavie  Chris moved Chalice up the lock flight at Neptune's Staircase today to her usual winter berth. He has been ably assisted over the last few days by a couple of feathered friends. Chris reports he was sitting in the forward saloon, reading a paper in between jobs, when he looked up to see a rock pipit looking back at him from its perch on a cushion! A few days later picture a similar scene...except this time the small spectator was a weeny wren. Both visitors seemed unfazed by their mini adventure and flew off quite happily when Chris released them on deck. 

Tue 24 Oct | Last killer whale  Not on the planet of course but our last trip this year. Hans Hansson finished the last cruise of the season today...Killer Whales, Eagles and the Northern Lights in northern Norway. Photo: Gordon Fitton

We still have a couple of dive charters to deliver between now and Christmas but that's it for cruises...our longest ever season starting with our first Easter cruise in April. Next year we are starting again at Easter as this cruise proved popular and again plan to run until October. There have been a lot of highlights this year but just a few include:

§         basking sharks seen on almost every Hebridean cruise this year

§         regular encounters with between 50 and 200 common dolphins in the Sound of Barra on the way to St Kilda

§         a rare black-browed albatross on Sula Sgeir; also spotting a bridled tern near the Shiant Islands on the way out and seeing bow-riding common dolphins on the return journey

§         four types of skua seen on one cruise – Great ("Bonxie"), Arctic, long tailed and Pomarine

§         close encounters with orca (killer whales) off Orkney and several times off Iceland

§  fin whales seen off Iceland and beyond St Kilda; humpback whales seen at Iceland

§   several sunfish sightings in Hebridean waters

§         an excellent number of "bog standard" sightings of golden and white-tailed sea eagles, puffins, gannets, otters, common and bottle-nosed dolphins etc.

We hope you were onboard to enjoy one of these experiences but if not please come and give it a try next year. If you like wildlife and nature and sharing the company of a small number of like-minded people in a relaxed and friendly environment then we have a holiday for you. 

Wed 25 Oct | Fabulous finale  News from Gordon about our last cruise of the season which ended yesterday when guests departed Hans Hansson after breakfast. Whilst Gordon and the crew were waiting for their arrival last Friday who should turn up but Laurel and Hardy?! Better known as Micky and Martin, these two have been on several of our trips in the UK. They were in Lodingen with a Dutch boat called, wait for it, "Noordlicht" or "Northern Light"!!!

Our guests turned up a little later in perfect weather, clear and cold with a light north easterly breeze. After dinner that first night all aboard were treated to a wonderful display of the Northern Lights in person so to speak. A very good start. On Saturday Hans Hansson cruised around the Tysfjordur and Vestfjordur areas in glorious clear weather looking for whales. They saw a pod of pilot whales in Vestfjordur (photo below) and whilst in their company a pair of white tailed sea eagles flew over, right on cue! The vessel anchored for the night in a  beautiful little bay and after dinner the day was rounded off by another display of the aurora.

Sunday was a day of mixed weather; bright sunshine alternating with snow showers and zero visibility. The boat went into Trollfjord, which was looking beautiful with a dusting of snow on the mountains (photos below), and then patrolled the Vestfjords looking for whales, orca in particular. Gordon spoke with three other local whale watching boats and none of them had seen orca either. General consensus is that the herring are still about 60 miles away so everyone, from fisherman to whale watcher, is waiting. The boat anchored in another delightful little cove and the reward was a third consecutive spectacular display of the northern lights. Photos: Gordon Fitton

Trollfjord	Trollfjord

Monday was another beautiful day with bright clear skies, sunshine and biting cold. Guests caught some fish in the morning and tried to tempt the white tailed sea eagles off the rocks with them. They gave up at about 10.30am and the boat got ready to depart when, lo and behold, an eagle swooped down onto the fish as the boat was pulling away! Another lovely day but no luck with the orca. The sun was setting low in the west as Hans Hansson ran into Lodingen and created a superb sunset to finish the day - below. A most convivial evening onboard with one of Jan's three course dinners of course, good wine, some fine single malt and excellent company. A most enjoyable end to a most enjoyable cruise. Sadly no killer whales but eagles, northern lights, fantastic weather, spectacular scenery and an unexpected bonus in the pilot whales. Photos: (left) Jan Hesketh (right) Gordon Fitton

pilot whales	sunset en route to Lodingen

Mon 30 Oct | Micky's piccies  Micky, who saw Hans Hansson in Norway last weekend, sent us some pictures of the boat taken from the sailing vessel he was aboard. Two of them are below. Thanks Micky...we look forward to seeing you and Martin again soon! Photos: Michael Bowles

Tue 31 Oct | Donations made  Some of you will know that several years ago Hannah and Mark decided to make a £5 donation to one of two local charities for every cruise guest who booked on any of the three (now four) boats. Our guests are also given the option of doubling this by paying an additional £5. We thought we did well last year with donations totalling £1360 but this year we did even better! We are delighted today to have sent £770 to Argyll Animal Aid and £1275 to Oban Mountain Rescue Team. Of the £2045 total £420 came from our very generous passengers this year who opted to pay an extra £5 per head to the charities. Big thanks go to...

Thu 9 Nov | Stuck in Stavanger  After completing his final charter at the end of last month Gordon and the crew took Hans Hansson for a leisurely cruise south through the Norwegian fjords, anchoring each night. They arrived in Bergen, a week ago, on 2 Nov but the weather has been pretty iffy so they continued to Stavanger where they are now berthed. The long range forecast promises gales over the whole of the North Sea for the forseeable future and since the vessel has a two day run to Terschelling they are staying put for now. Lou, this season's deckhand/galley-slave, has a long standing commitment to get to Goa so she will be jumping ship in the next day or two. Lucky Lou! 

Sun 19 Nov | End of sale gale  Elizabeth G was out with divers this weekend and was due to return to Oban tomorrow. However forecasts predicting Storm Force 11 and Hurricane 12 left Rob with little choice but to drop the group off today instead. Now you might think storms and hurricanes in November in Scotland are nothing new but one of the divers said it was the first time in 10 years they'd experienced these conditions during an off-season weekend. 

Tue 21 Nov | HH crew flew  Continuing bad weather kept Hans Hansson and her crew stuck in Stavanger for a week and long range forecasts promised gales or storm force winds for the time being. After Lou flew to Goa. Gordon, Jan and Charlie decided to call it day and flew back to the UK as each had some urgent commitments back home. Gordon may return to take the vessel to St Malo or he may get a professional crew to deliver the boat on his behalf. 

Thu 7 Dec | Coast with the most  If you watched "Coast" on BBC1 this evening you'll have seen the Outer Hebrides in all its glory. We can take you to see all the destinations visited during this program - although perhaps not all in one go!!! The BBC has a webpage about this program so click here to read about the places that were featured - Mingulay, Vatersay, Eriskay, Askernish on South Uist, Balranald on North Uist, Harris, Lewis, the Shiant Islands and, of course, St Kilda.

Fri 8 Dec | Ssshhhh...  Chris has also been hard at work on Chalice. The three toilets have been replaced with lovely new near-silent one-button wonders which may or may not provide hours of endless amusement for all aboard. Seriously, the toilets on the boats (or "heads" to use the correct terminology) do seem to be a grave cause of concern for some enquirers...mainly guests worrying that they will disturb others if they use them during the night. Well no more! Chalice joins Hjalmar Bjorge and Elizabeth G in the realm of the stealth toilet...

Chris spent a week aboard Chalice with Bob the Joiner intending to replace some exterior woodwork but, surprise surprise, the weather had other ideas. Not wanting to waste time they got stuck in at the fo’cstle and finished up in cabin seven, the result being posh new bunks in every cabin. The bunks have been lowered and modified to make getting in and out of the top bunk easier and improve guest comfort. Four bunks have been "turned around" and all 12 berths now have a small shelf and will be fitted with new reading lights. Both bathrooms have shiny new ceilings and the galley and servery have had some attention too. Next job is the central heating...

Sat 9 Dec | 70 mph repairs  Sadly that isn't how fast the team aboard Elizabeth G were working...it was the wind speeds they had to contend with last weekend!

Rob and crew took the boat down to the MRC at Barcaldine on 27 November to get a variety of jobs done on her. The first job was to repair the exhaust stacks which had holes in them inside the funnel...or so they thought. Having had a look at them it was found that both exhaust stacks needed renewing from the front end of the engines down in the engine room all the way up and out of the funnel. This was done using stainless steel 5½" piping. Getting the old rusted piping out was a dirty job - to say the least - and fitting new ones was not easy due to the lack of room. So a two day job turned into a six day job with a further  day needed to clean down the whole of the engine room. That's boats for you!

The weather was terrible for much of their time at the MRC, with a Force 10 blowing on Sunday night, and gusts of up to 70mph. Despite the adverse conditions Rob also replaced the HIAB which, when fully plumbed in, will make the job of launching and recovering the inflatable easier and much quicker. Elizabeth G also has a new 10 man inflatable. Rob had intended, at this time, to upgrade the crews quarters, fit a bench at the stern and safety rails at the bow and install 24 volt lighting in the saloon. Jobs were started but weather made completion impossible so Bob the Builder (Joiner) and his boys will return at the end of January to help finish all this off.

Mon 25 Dec | Merry Christmas  We'd like to wish all our customers, past and future, a Merry Christmas and a Happy & Healthy New Year. Thank you to everyone who has sent us Christmas cards; they are all appreciated. We went for a 12km walk today, from Ballachulish to Duror, through the glen, which was lovely if a little on the chilly side. Best sighting was a "V" of geese heading south west, most likely aiming for Cuil Bay. Here's Mark, taking a break from ongoing maintenance work on Hjalmar Bjorge, relaxing with Seven after the walk. Aah... Photo: Hannah Thompson

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"Many thanks to

you and your great

team for an

excellent week!!!" 

JQ, London

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Northern Light Charters, Achnacraig, Achindarroch, Duror of Appin, Argyll PA38 4BS | Tel: +44 (0)1631 740595

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