Into the Arctic Circle....

Day 53: Saturday 20th June, 2026

Nesna to Bolga Island

Duration 6hrs 10mins

A leisurely get up and departure around 11am, as the high winds of the night before began to ease....so back into the inner lead of Rodoyfjord...

...and through the dramatic Troll-like scenery of the inshore mainland and the outer fringe of islands and skerries...

...and then after a while we excitedly spied the Polar Circle Globe sparkling atop Vikingen Island, which marks the Arctic Circle...

...so with sails adjusted we sped towards the invisible line at 60°.32N...

...then whooped and jumped as we officially passed into the Arctic Circle - the land of the Midnight Sun...

...from there we continued northward passing the high mountains behind Skarsfjord, where Svartisen Black Ice Glacier merged into the cloudy sky- its 370km2 expanse is the second largest glacier in mainland Europe - second only to Jostedal that we had seen in the Songefjord...

...then west of Amoya and east of the Svinvaer islands, we came upon the distinctive small steep island of Bolga, and headed into its small harbour...

...Safely tied up at Bolga Brygge...

...we donned our walking boots and went for what was described as a 'moderate' hike to Bolgtinden summit ...at first skirting the coast and some sandy bays...

...then up through a wood with the start of a rockier climb...

...with beautiful views all around...

...and the precipitous steep ravine at Bolgborra Cave ...

... where the 'moderate' hike really began...with ladders and ropes!...

...and skiddery scrambles...until the final 50m which entailed a steep narrow ridgecrest of rock that dropped away both sides, which with the gusty wind seemed a scramble just too far...so back we went ...the way we had come...

...more rope gripping scrambles...

...and ladder stepping drops...

...till finally we made it back to the harbour....

and back to the boat for a well deserved dinner aboard... and to hunker in for the severe gale force winds that were coming in tonight...