Havila 1-15 September 2024 11 September

During the night, our ship made a brief stop in Finnsnes before we reach Harstad early in the morning. Soon, we sail through the Risøysund.

Risøyhamn is a village on the island of Andøya. It is located at the Risøysund, where a bridge connects the islands of Andøya and Hinnøya. Nearby, there are several bird colonies to admire. One of these is the nesting site of at least 160,000 puffins. The area is rich in peat bogs, large swamps where cloudberries grow, and coal deposits (not economically viable). The mine in Ramså is known as the 'open geology book.' It features 300 km of thick deposits of coal-bearing sandstone as well as complete skeletons of ichthyosaurs, fish-like dinosaurs that roamed here 150 million years ago. The Norwegians arrived at this place much later. Burial mounds and remnants of earlier Iron Age settlements have been found near Risøyhamn.

Risøysundet is part of the strait that separates Andøya and Hinnøya in Nordland. Risøysundet connects Andfjorden (which is also a strait) and Sortlandsundet.

Need for Dredging Work

The strait is shallow, and to allow larger boats to pass through, a channel had to be dredged through the shallowest area. Richard With is said to have been the initiator of the dredging of the first channel.

Two Channels

These are two different channels: the old one, which was closer to Andøya than the present one – the one that was dredged from 1875 to 1881 and which Richard With discussed with Storting representative Andreas Stoltenberg in Lødingen in 1874. This channel was 1,800 meters long, 30 meters wide, and 3 meters deep.

The 'new' channel, opened in 1922, is almost 5 km long, currently 100 meters wide, and 6 meters deep (7 meters in one of the curves).

For this, Georg A. Ellingsen in Sortland took the initiative with his 'petition' to the county council in 1897.

It is this channel at which we celebrate the 100th anniversary on June 25, 2022. Richard With had no practical experience with it.

Both channels were dug in Risøysundet by 'Vikkjet'. The word 'Vikkjet' is ancient and describes a water stream, a brook. When the sea flows or recedes, there is current.

The first channel was completed in 1881, while the new Risøyrenna was opened on June 25 1922 and expanded and reopened in 2001. [ 1 ]

To the south, Risøysundet transitions into Sortlandssundet, with Gavlfjord to the northwest. To the north, the strait flows into Andfjorden at Kinneset.

Andøybrua crosses Risøysundet between Dragnes on Hinnøya and Risøyhamn on Andøya. The bridge was opened in 1974. Hurtigruta travels through the strait and calls at Risøyhamn between Sortland and Harstad.

The northwest part of Risøysundet is protected as a nature reserve.

Next, we go to Sortland, Stokmarknes, through the Raftsundet, with a detour into the Trollfjord to Svolvær.

The Raftsund is the waterway between Lofoten and Vesterålen. Along the strait, there are several houses and former trading posts that mostly lost their once central location and function after the road network was developed. Nevertheless, the nature along Raftsundet is a great experience. The Trollfjord is particularly impressive. The Raftsund is spanned to the north by the Raftsund Bridge, which is part of the mainland connection of the Lofoten Islands. The bridge was opened on November 6, 1998.

The ships of the Hurtigruten operate on their route between Svolvær and Stokmarknes through Raftsundet. In good weather, they make a detour into Trollfjord during the summer months.

On the night of September 22, 1954, the northbound Hurtigruten ship D/S Nordstjernen ran aground near Hanøy in the northern Raftsund and sank within 20 minutes, resulting in the loss of five lives.