espeÆr, norway, our '97-'98 winter home

October 1997.  We finally got settled into our winter digs on the island of Espevær.  At the time, we had no idea just how wonderful this experience was going to be.  We ended up staying there from October 1997 to May 1998.  The above picture shows our little neighborhood.  The all-white house with the grey roof right on the water was our house.  Bijou was tucked in the corner tied at the dock behind the white power boat.  She was very safe and protected, even when the winter storms raged.  The first floor of the house was a small café, closed for the winter, but opened for special community events.  The second floor was our apartment.  It was wonderful.  We had two bedrooms, 1 bathroom, and laundry facilities inside the apartment.  We could watch Bijou right outside our window.  The red building with gray roof on the far right, was a boat house owned by our landlords.  We were able to completely unload Bijou and store everything in that boat house.  We washed Bijou inside and out in the Spring of '98 before we carried on with our journey. 

Carl and me on the dock between our house and Bijou. You can see her bow peeking out of the lower left-hand corner of the picture. What a setup. We were so fortunate to have this opportunity. Our landlord's boat is in front of Bijou, left of Carl.

Typical scene around the island.

This is the commercial hub of Espevær. There is a small store and the ferry dock that takes everyone to the mainland.