Two weeks ago we went on a “sail and hike” trip out of Bergen with friends. This weekend we wanted to stay in a port we did not know so well from before, and do a new and different hike.
As we headed out of Bergen the temperature said 29,5 degrees Celsius, and the wind only a mild breeze. It was perfect for comfortable weekend sailing!
We raised the sails and headed south out of Fanafjorden. We got about 5 knots in the Korsfjorden. Korsfjorden is the fjord where several seas meet and there is uauslly a lot of wind. This Friday evening we could wear shorts and t-shirts all the way, even in the most windy part. That is pretty unusual for sailing in Norway.
We discussed where to head to, and the port of Våge with the mountain Tysnessåto was one alternative, Osøyro with Møsnuken another. It was also tempting to head even further to get more variation in the terrain. We decided to head towards Kvinnherad with Rosendal, Dimmelsvik, Uskedalen and Husnes as port alternatives.
Sailing south in the Bjørnafjorden, we sail south of Osøyro and Fusa, pass Tysnes with the port of Våge. We continued into the narrow and picturesce Lokksundet, sailing past the mountain Hovlandsnuten.
Passing through Lokksundet and into the Kvinnheradsfjord we made a decision to go into Uskedalen and see if we would get a suitable space in the port. Alternatives were Onarheim in Tysnes or further into the fjord to beautiful Rosendal. Neither of us had stayed in the port in Uskedalen before, so it was a great idea to try it out.
However, the port of Rosendal also offers a good harbour and great hiking. You can read about one of the hikes to do in Rosendal here.
As we headed south in between the Onarheimsfjord and the Kvinnheradsfjords we could see the high mountains ahead.
We entered through to Uskedalen via Vågen from the west, passing south of the small island Skorpo (part of Snilstveitsøy) with its characteristic cliffs. It is possible to go into Uskedalen from the the east if you come from Rosendal.
To our surprise there were not many other boats in Uskedalen harbour this evening, despite it being the last weekend of June and amazing summer weather.
Arriving quite late in the evening there was no time to explore the place immediately. We discussed which of the inviting high mountains to hike the next day.
The little place of Uskedalen is really beautiful, amazing combination of sea and mountains, and with the old traditional boat houses, and farm community. This is not the place to stay, though, if you want to party or visit a pub. There is a small beach however it requires some maintenance to be used. However, swimming was still possible from the small key.
There are several real mountains up to 1200 m.a.s.l to choose from: Manen, Englafjell, Tverrfjell, Såta, Nipen, Geitadalstind, Ulvanosa, or Storhaug and Solfjell, to name a few. The landscape is impressive, and the mountains higher than they look from the harbour.
Saturday morning started with a refreshing morning bath in the nice harbour. The water appread clean and the temperature slight higher than further out in the fjords. The sea temperature said 20,5 degrees this morning.
The hike went to Storhaug and Mannsvatnet towards Sofjellet – a medium hike with wonderful views towards the higher mountains Englafjell and Geitadalstind, and the Kvinnheradsfjord. Here we got the view towards Englafjell and Ulvanosa. The hike is described in a seperate post here. See also our Instagram.
The facilities at Øyro Marina & Camping is available for guest in the harbour, the price is from 250,- NOK per day. The toilet and shower facilities there were very good and keps a high standard.
200 metres from the harbour there is a large SPAR supermarket, which also had a toilet available during its opening hours. There is electricity and water available.
We had two lovely nights here and the place was quiet. There were also a BBQ place available and plenty of space onshore in the harbour. As always with sailling the sunsets and closeness to the water is a nice combo.
Heading back home on the Sunday we started out in rain. Often it rains by the mountains and as one heads out closer to the ocean we tend to experience less rain. Exactly this happened this day also. In fact the sail heading north to Bergen again was great, strong wind from the south we had a maximum speed of 9 knots with only the main sail.
And as if that was not enough luck we even finished off the last 2 hours in sunshine! All in all a great combo of sailing and hiking this weekend! We will definately return to Uskedalen for more adventures later this summer!
Do get in touch for comments or questions.
