In September/October this year Stephen and I did a bucket list trip to Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Last newsletter I wrote about our Snorkelling adventure in Iceland. This time I am writing about an excursion we did from our Hurtigruten Expedition Cruise Northbound up the coast of Norway from Bergen to Kirkenes.
Out of the port of Bodo which is inside the Arctic Circle, we did the Rib excursion to the Saltstraumen. The Saltstraumen is a small strait with one of the strongest tidal currents in the world. The narrow channel connects the outer Saltifjorden to the large Skjerstad Fjord and the Salltstraumen Bridge spans this narrow strait.
In short, what occurs here is a LOT of water has to pass through a NARROW channel in a HURRY! This causes vortices known as maelstroms (in size up to 10 metres in diameter and 5 metres in depth) – you would not want to fall out of the boat as the maelstroms can suck you under the water.
I can assure you it was one exciting, fast ride and absolutely freezing. Luckily we were decked out in full dry suits from head to toe complete with goggles for the wind chill.
To Stephen’s dismay we were sitting front and centre of the Rib, so we had absolutely no shield from the wind!
If any of you have been lucky enough to visit the Horizontal Falls out of Broome WA, you will understand this natural phenomenon..
This article appeared in our February 2019 newsletter. Author: Chris Mason
