Spirit of Discovery blog

With our later arrival into Bergen the guests had an excellent sail in through the fjords as we weaved our way through the myriad of Islands and then finally passed under the Askøy road before making our approach to the berth. With an 0900 pilot and 1200 arrival it gave our guests a lie in and a chance to take in the clean and healthy fjord air.

We were berthed in the old part of town and with 9 different shore excursions there was something for everyone, from biking, walking, seaplane trips to the less energetic “Sights and Sounds of Grieg”. For those going ashore independently Saga laid on a shuttle service even though it was only a 20 min walk into town.

I had a busy morning of meetings and inspections but did manage to head off on my bike at 1645 with my cycle buddy Rico. We had a great ride of 30km with a number of hills including a climb of about 350m, and I was determined to hit the 30km figure before we could return to the ship. Attached is a photo of us at a very scenic spot enroute. It was a 1 hr 25m ride and so great to get some Norwegian fresh air.

With everyone on board by 1930 we slipped our moorings and Staff Captain Simon took the ship to sea. With the pilot away at 2200 we headed up the coast towards Alesund. We were expecting 3-4 metre head seas and swell so it will be interesting to see how she behaves in these conditions as this will be the first time over 3 metres. I’ll let you know tomorrow.

Captain Julian Burgess