05-Jun-2005 -- Imram is a high-performance expedition sailing vessel: an Integral 12.50. In 2003 she explored the East coast of Greenland, leaving from Northern France. In 2004 she sailed from Iceland via Scoreby Sund and Jan Mayen to the Svalbard Islands successfully crossing 80N and logging the so far northernmost confluence visits of DCP: 80N16E and 80N14E.

Late Spring and early Summer 2005 will see her migrating South to Europe: From Tromsø, Norway to St.Malo, France, where her adventures started three years ago. The first leg of this trip, along the coast of Norway is an excellent opportunity to visit some confluences, and after the succesfull visits to scenic 69°N 17°E and 68°N 14°E, we set our course to cross 69°N 7°E. As all confluences we visited, this is located at sea, and a sailboat is the perfect tool to pay it an ecological visit. The plan was to leave Kristiansund, a pleasent and historical harbour where we had stopped for refuelling and replenishing our food supplies to continue our journey toward the South, sail through the confluence and eventually stopping in some inspiring place where destiny would bring us: The freedom of sailing!

A rainy and windy weather at the exit of Kristiansund indicated a bumpy ride, and a wonderful rainbow seemed to call us back into the harbour (Photo #2), but many miles to cover are in front of us, and time suddenly can run short, while at sea, so we went on with our plans and aimed at the confluence. The ride was indeed bumpy and it took quite some navigational accurancy to find the best course to the confluence, avoiding the dangers of the many underwater rocks and dangerous shoals which fill the nautical charts of this part of the Norwegian coast (Photo #3).

Eventually, between a squall and another, we crossed the confluence, as our trustworth board GPS told us (Photo #4). Astongishly, we were not the only sailboat around, that day, since the ritual photo to the North (Photo #5) showed another boat fighting in the heavy weather, against the background of the emptiness of the North Atlantic Ocean. To the East (Photo #6), some bluish coastline was visible below a gray sky and an also gray sea: after all, it was about half past eleven in the evening local time, so not much light to be expected in these conditions.

The view to the South (Photo#1) showed the classical landscape of this part of Norway, sharp peaks hiding the entrance of majestous fiords: the scars the primeval forces which shaped our planet left on this land. To the West (Photo #7), nothing else to be seen than the next squall we had to endure, that night, again with the background of the Atlantic Ocean... a sight to behold all the way to Greenland.

The rain, eventually, stopped (doesn't it always?) and an unforgettable sunrise welcomed our arrival in the tiny village of Bjørnsund (Photo #8), a set of small islands where a fisherman community have lived most likely since the Viking times.