An overnight stay in Florø was a nice break , with a floating pub [ Eek ! over a tenner for half litre of cooking lager ] and a surprisingly large shopping centre , where essentials were stocked , namely Haribo and Goldfish crackers . Entertainment was provided by one diver lowering their Inspiration rebreather off the side of the boat to find a bubbly leak , only to receive the comment “ you probably want to screw your mouthpiece on that ” followed by a very panicked diver hauling it out . It ’ s testament to the unit that the important expensive electric bits survived the dunking , but it was a bit touch and go there for a while .
Ferndale and Parat
Time to head back south , tying up on small piers where over the years Bob has made local friends usually with occasional gifts of a bottle of single malt to keep them on his side . The topside scenery is spectacular – Slartibartfast * has done a great job with Norway and its crinkly edges , the steep grey cliffs plummeting down to the sea . A short walk took us to a Second World War German bunker complex , overlooking one of the main routes north and south and all tunnelled into a hillside where they could watch the Allied Mosquitoes hunting shipping to sink .
The Ferndale and Parat are among these wrecks . The Ferndale hit a rock right in the middle of the fjord while sailing at night without lights , and the Parat was called to
PHOTO : DAVID BEWICK
Anti-aircraft gun nest , Welheim
Mahoosive anchor winch
Iron propeller , Macbeth
PHOTO : JUN HO KIM PHOTO : DAVID BEWICK PHOTO : JUN HO KIM
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