Håøya to Sætre (Norway), May 6, 2026, ca 1 nautical mile
As a safeguard to potential problems and stress during the first week of sailing, we decided to make stops along the Oslofjord. Stops conveniently located close to family. That way, we could ask family members for help getting stuff and fixing things onboard. Also, we thought this would make the day of departure easier, as we knew we would meet our immediate family again in a just a few days.
Leaving Håøya, we motored the incredibly short way to Sætre. Sætre is the town where I grew up, and is located between my parents and Erik’s fathers place. In other words, an ideal stop for some last minute help. Erik’s father and brother came to look at the ‘leeway we have in our rudder. My parents came with a newly repaired sail and our sowing machine, and helped us install our solar panels. In addition, our sailmaker Øyvind at North Sails also kindly met us there with some new mainsail track cars. My sister arrived with an organizational hanging pockets thingy, which she had sown herself and which we were very impressed by. That day, as the day before, we crossed of an incredible amount of things on our still quite long to-do list.
What we did not factor in by stopping in Sætre was that it would be very convenient for anyone to visit. A lot of acquaintances, as well as strangers, stopped by to wish us good luck on our voyage. It was very nice, but at the end of the day, we were (again), overwhelmed, socially drained and exhausted from saying goodbye and squeezing too much in one day. We could perhaps have foreseen that.
Late at night, we abruptly threw out my father and sister, just minutes before we collapsed in bed. In hindsight, this was the last time we saw my family before we sailed out of Norway. I wished I’d had both more energy and time for a proper goodbye.
