Posted by We head towards Sortland which is the biggest city around Vesterålen and the commercial center – it doesn’t look all that interesting so we give it a miss and decide to drive the scenic road to the tiny town of Nyksund. The weather is actually pretty bad today – but the drive is still worth to do.
Small village along the road 
Fishing boats in a harbor
The area is close to the sea and it has been a source for food for millennia and apparently there has been people living along this coastal area for about 5,000 years. Today most people have left and there are only a few settlements along the coast still making a living based on what the sea can provide.
The sea hasn’t always been friendly – this is the north Atlantic so storms are frequent and violent at times. This has meant trouble for sailors for centuries when they have gotten caught out in bad weather.
At one stage the people in this area decided something had to be done and they established volunteer rescue service before the central government finally decided to provide these. One of the famous volunteers who rescued many troubled sailors was Torstein Reinholdtsen. His effort must of lead him gain local fame – so much so they have erected a small memorial for his service as a volunteer sea rescue person.
FrejaTravels 