Arctic blast..

Day 48: Tuesday 16th June, 2026

Trondheim to Storfosna Island

Duration: 7 hours

From a welcome bloom of summer to an Arctic blast...10 degrees and an eyewateringly cold wind today...thermals and wooly hats back on, and time to head north again...

A late departure to catch the tide, so time to refill the water tanks and fuel up... and then off we went...

...back along the Trondheimsfjord and then northeast along Trondheimsleia watching lots of military jets doing acrobatic maneuvers from their base at Orland Main Air Force Station, which is a major base for the Royal Norwegian Air Force and NATO. After a bit more investigation, we discovered that what we had been watching was 'Exercise Ramstein Flag 2026'. NATO's largest ever air exercise which runs over 10 days. The maneuvers involved roughly 150 sorties each day and featured a mix of 5th generation stealth fighters and 4th generation support aircraft, which simulate anti access/area denial scenarios, including aerial refueling. Five Nations were participating - Britain wasn't one of them! - Norway, Italy, Denmark, Turkiye and Belgium were.

And then the passage became a bit more peaceful...

...and we happily entered the narrow opening into Storfosna island's lovely big and sheltered bay...There were a couple of boats already in, but plenty of space for us to anchor too ...

...so we dug out the outboard for the first time in Norway, and sped ashore to explore the picturesque island of Storfosna, which had an amazingly lush agricultural landscape for its size...

...and a very pretty little church...

After reaching the causeway to Krakvag Island we turned about and happily went back to the boat...

..for a cosy night aboard.