Howdy from Norway !

[CavalierToo]

Hi, all! I signed up to the forums as hubby (user ID 'cavalier') kept reading me such good posts I decided to hop on here myself! I'm originally from Texas but live now in Norway by way of a stint in Scotland. Hubs and I and our 7 month old son and two Cavalier King Charles Spaniels sail mostly local here in Norway and have chartered a lot in the Med. We just ordered a new Bavaria 36 Cruiser which will arrive in Feb and are thrilled about it.

In the medium term we are considering taking 1-2 years on a reduced workload (I am a professor and teach university courses face to face and online-hoping to transition to more online) and sailing the Med. Hubs would like to do the ARC but I need to build up a little more confidence and experience before I agree to that!

Look forward to learning from everyone and sharing info when I can.

Jenny

[hummingway]

Welcome Jenny. Nice to have you aboard.

[Gypsy Dancer]

Hi, Jenny- We just joined the site too. My husband is also a college professor and teaches most of his classes online. Last summer he was able to do it as we explored the French canals and in October he did it from Athens, where we stayed for a month while he was lecturing at the Univ. of Athens Med. School. (He teaches neuroscience)

We are planning to buy a liveaboard in the next couple of years. At the moment we sail on a local lake (here in Nashville) in our Beneteau 235.

I crossed the Atlantic in 2004 on a Beneteau 437 that was skippered by a New Zealander who now lives with his wife and child in Norway. Small world full of coincidences!

Good luck! -deana

[Cavalier]

Your husband is obviously a lucky man! I wouldn't be too worried about joining the ARC as part of a longer cruise - it's a very convenient way of relocating boat and crew to the Caribbean. My wife is currently nervous about the idea of doing just the same thing - I have to respect her concerns about comfort and personal experience so we intend to spend the year prior to the crossing cruising full-time and making North-Sea and Biscay type crossings to build confidence en route to the med. Maybe you could suggest this to your husband ;-)

[anglooff]

Welcome onboard,

It would seem from the starting point of Texas via Scotland to Norway a reasoned guess would be oil related. In any event it took you to two extremely beautiful locations. I am prejudiced to the former but Stavanger/Jorpeland area is stunning and I envy you the opportunities for some excellent and challenging sailing.

Best Regards

Alan

[Kalinka1]

welcome aboard from Toronto. Will be crossing from here to Norway July this year making Landfall Tanager or Stavanger will look for a Cavalier when I get there. have done two crossings 1 in a transarc lots of other boats= lots of help if and moral support you need it. 1st third aprehensive about the long way to go, middle 3rd laid back and enjoying the journey, last 3rd can't wait to get in. 2days after arrival wishing back at sea. Really a pretty easy trip barring bad weather.

[CavalierToo]

Thanks to all for the welcome! I really appreciate all the firsthand accounts of people that did a trans-At crossing! If I'm on the water but can see land in the distance, I'm cool. But the thought of no land in sight makes me revert to the landlocked kid from West Texas who was scared of water! Irrational, I know. :-) I'm working on it.

Alan, indeed it was more or less oil that brought me from Houston to Aberdeen to Stavanger. I came for the oil but stayed for a man-lol.

Kalinka, we live about 1/2 mile from the main Stavanger harbors so shoot us a message if you'd like company for a drink when you arrive!

Jenny

[careka]

Hey Cavalier, you came to a good place, just dont sail to close to the mountains in the fjords there can be wind falls down the hills.
use more time sailing out to Kvitsøy, to do your training.
or up to Karmøy,
Join the local sailclubs and be a crew member, you will learn a lot then.

Careka
is 1 hr drive south from you.
Egersund

[SaucySailoress]

Hello everybody - it's great to see so many cool people from cool places on board!

[CavalierToo]

Hei, Careka! Takk for hilsenen - hyggelig! Nice to 'meet' someone from nearby! Although I sound like a complete landlubber, I actually have both my Day and Coastal Skipper certifications - hubby and I did our initial training about 4 years ago through a school here in Stavanger and loved it! We have sailed more in the Med than here in Norway thus far, so I appreciate the insight on Norway conditions! We have made it to Kvitsoy and thought it was quite charming but my fave place so far was Utsira - beautiful sail! Our boat slip is at Rennesoy so we plan on getting to know that area first - so excited!!

Jenny

[careka]

If you also speak/read, Norwegian then go to this forum,
Åpent forum - baatplassen.no

there is a lot of lokals around svg.

[CavalierToo]

Careka, takk for anbefalingen! Jeg vil se på disse fora. Min norsk er ikke fantastisk, men jeg prøver!

I am much better in reading/writing Norwegian than speaking it - for some reason the Texas drawl I seem to have mostly lost in English comes out again in Norwegian, when it really makes a different to distinguish between long and short vowels. Texans only have looooong vowels! ;-)

[Talbot]

There are also other people on here who live in Stavanger. Unfortunately my boat is in UK, and to my shame I have no norwegian language capability.

[CavalierToo]

Talbot, I think I perhaps recognize your name from a Stavanger expats forum (if that's your last name). Small world! And no shame in not snakkering the Norsk. It took me a long, long time (years) to even become passable - nd some days I am not even that!

[Talbot]

Originally Posted by CavalierToo

Talbot, I think I perhaps recognize your name from a Stavanger expats forum (if that's your last name). Small world! And no shame in not snakkering the Norsk. It took me a long, long time (years) to even become passable - nd some days I am not even that!

I have not been on any of the ex-pat forums, but I have had a long presence on this and www.ybw.com as well as a multihull forum. Talbot is not my last name, (or any of my forenames either), just one I have used for many years.

Very difficult to learn a foreign language when you work all day in english, and after work, it seems everyone is only too happy to practise their english.