Fares, Faeroes, Ferries And Fairies (1)

Please note : Today's originally conceived blog has been split into TWO min-blogs to ease pressure on your old-man blogger. The "normal" revised pattern of blogs should return in all its mystic glory next week.

That means mini-blogs on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday with full content of Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Unless circumstances dictate otherwise!

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Intrigued?

The outer terminus of service 300 from Torshavn (often referred to simply as "Havn") is at the Effo fuel station where connections are available (sometimes!) with a ferry o the Island of Mykines.

On-line Wikipedia has an article about Effo but, sadly, it is in Faroese, the island's indigenous language akin to Icelandic rather than to Danish as you might expect. The Faeroes are an independent nation under the overall care of Denmark.

Effo hevur fyrr havt útlendska navnið Statoil, og áðrenn tað var navnið Esso. Tað vóru Trappubrøðurnir í Havn, sum byrjaðu virksemi við at innflyta og selja olju fyrst í 20. øld. Oljan varð innflutt í trætunnum. Fyrsta goymslan var í Kollafirði. Ein av brøðrunum, Harald Haraldsen, gjørdist í 1918 umboð fyri Det Danske Petroleum A/S - DDPA. 

2007 keyptu føroyingar ein part burturúr norska Statoil og fyritøkan skifti tá navn til Effo. Navnið sipar til bókstavirnir fo, sum er stytting av Føroya Orkufelag, og samstundis eru bókstavirnir eisini altjóða stytting fyri Føroyar og verður t.d. brúkt í endingunum á heimasíðu adressum.

Effo derives, not from a badly pronounced Esso as fbb thought, but from the letters FO which do not have a vulgar meaning (!) but are the initial letters of Faroese Oil (actually Foroya Orkufelag). In the same way Esso derives from Standard Oil.

The company specialises in fuelling the shipping industry of the Islands.

In today's blog we will be filling up at Sorvagor ... 

... and chugging off to Mykines as per the sign in the main street!

It is a 45 minute sail but not the most frequent timetable during winter months!

The daily summer schedule is more endearing!

fbb assumes that the boat does return from Mykines at 1800 otherwise there would be a lot of vessels clogging up the minimalist harbour on the Island. In Summer the service runs seven days a week.

The ferry has a capacity of about 60, but, were it to be full, some would be obliged to sit inside and some on top. Whichever would be advantageous would depend on the amount of rain! 

Inside looks quite comfortable ...

... outside, less so at times!

On board refreshments are available ...

... paid for via an "honesty box"

And didn't fbb say that the rover ticket was valid on the ferries as well?

But not this one! On-line info is a bit coy about what the fare actually is ...

... but you have to book on-line; which is why a man checks you off on a computer printout as you board.

There would appear to be other boats used for this run. In addition to the "service" vessel with the 60 seats ...

 ... smaller boats offer a"private hire" service for pre-booked groups. 

But whether the fare is 40 Krona (£4) or 60 Krona (£6) single, the scheduled ride is wonderful.

But there is a snag.

You are charged £50 to get off at the Island terminus! 

Really?

This is reduced to a modest £40 if you book at least a day in advance.

????

It turns out that the Island is privately owned and does not benefit from any state revenue from the Faroese administration. So, apart from a few sheep, the only income sustaining this glorious Island comes from visitors.

Is the price worth it? See for yourself!

The £50 does include guided walks.

fbb might find the hills difficult with plenty of huffin' and puffin.

GROAN!

More tomorrow.

 Next Fares Ferries & Fairies blog : Thurs 9 Jan