{"id":8294,"date":"2026-06-04T12:00:35","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T12:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.firstclasssailing.com\/blog\/?p=8294"},"modified":"2026-06-04T10:43:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T10:43:00","slug":"portsmouth-to-norway-sailing-diary-days-3-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.firstclasssailing.com\/blog\/portsmouth-to-norway-sailing-diary-days-3-4\/","title":{"rendered":"North Sea Sailing Diary: Gas Platforms, Porpoises and Pi the Pigeon"},"content":{"rendered":"

After two days of calm seas and clear skies, the crew of Challenger 3 finally found the wind they had been waiting for. As the yacht pushed north towards Norway, the passage became more lively, with oil and gas platforms to navigate around, stronger winds to sail in, and wildlife visitors both in the water and on deck. In this latest update, the Skipper shares the view from the chart table while crew member Anne describes life on board during Days 3 and 4 of the voyage.<\/p>\n

Day 3 \u2013 A brief update from the Skipper Tony M:<\/strong><\/p>\n

General Synopsis \u2013 The wind finally decided to make an meaningful appearance around 0600 this morning and we have been sailing close hauled, dodging oil\/gas platforms since then!<\/p>\n

The forecast suggests F4 winds from N or NW for the next 36 hours or so, which should see us most of the way into Stavanger before the high pressure pushes through and the winds fade away on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Position at 11:00 UTC 26\/05\/26: 56d 06.6\u201dN 003d 25.2\u201dE
\nSailing.
\nSail Plan: Full Main, Y1 & Staysail.
\n24 Av. CoG: 017d
\n24 Av. SoG: 6.6kts
\nDist to Run (GC): 182NM
\n16 PoB
\nFuel: 2 Full Tanks, 1 Empty, 1 in use.
\nWater: 2 Full Tanks, 1 empty 1 in use.
\nGas: 3 Full Propane, 1 Empty, 1 in use.
\nFood: Fresh fruit\/veg holding up well, French toast and scrambled eggs for breakfast, Chilli Tonight..
\nTea Bags: Less than 1000 left, depending on availability of PG in Norway, rationing is possible…<\/p>\n

Day 4 \u2013 Pigeon and Porpoises<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The last two days have been quite exciting. We have continued to enjoy great meals, with the port and starboard watches taking it in turns to cater. Dinners are our highlights, with a lovely chili tonight.<\/p>\n

We have made some good progress, with the wind picking up and lots of fun sailing. Lots of fun and acrobatics navigating the cabins with the boat heeled over, and absolutely beautiful up on deck. The waves got a bit choppy this afternoon, and the splash and spray are gorgeous out on deck.<\/p>\n

The weather has been sunny and clear, with a half-moon early in the night and on the later watches the stars are phenomenal.<\/p>\n

\"Dolphins

Dolphins at the bow<\/p><\/div>\n

Today a pigeon joined us for most of the day \u2013 we named him Pi. Eventually he did choose to take off for parts unknown but enjoyed a biscuit before going on his way. We also saw porpoises a few times over the past couple of days.<\/p>\n

\"Pigeon

Pi the Pigeon<\/p><\/div>\n

We are definitely using the safety straps on our bunks, with the angle and bounce of the ship, but they are snug and warm after our busy shifts. The sailing has been great, so much fun.<\/p>\n

Anne<\/p>\n

\n

With Stavanger now drawing closer, the crew are settling into life offshore and enjoying everything that makes a North Sea passage memorable: good sailing, good company and unexpected wildlife encounters. For those interested in experiencing a similar voyage, more information can be found on our Norway Sailing Adventures<\/strong><\/a> page, which explores the routes, destinations and opportunities to sail between the UK and the spectacular Norwegian Fjords.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The wind finally arrives as Challenger 3 heads north towards Norway. Days 3 and 4 bring lively sailing, porpoises, star-filled skies and an unexpected visitor named Pi the pigeon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8303,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[209,487,215],"tags":[211,751],"class_list":["post-8294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-norway","category-norway-challenger","category-sailing-holidays","tag-norwegian-fjords","tag-portsmouth-to-norway"],"views":1,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firstclasssailing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firstclasssailing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firstclasssailing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstclasssailing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstclasssailing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8294"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstclasssailing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8294\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8312,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstclasssailing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8294\/revisions\/8312"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstclasssailing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firstclasssailing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstclasssailing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstclasssailing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}