Norway installation trip

This time I have been on a long installation trip to Norway, installing Marfle systems in 9 Norwegian pilot boats. My trip started in Helsinki, loading our new van with all the needed tools and accessories for the forthcoming installations. First drive was to Turku where I took the boat over to Stockholm. Had the weekend off in Stockholm, so I took the opportunity to visit a good friend for some beer and food.


Trip continued to Gothenburg for a meeting with a potential customer. We actually closed a deal after the trip with this company. The trip continued to Fredrikstad where I took the night. First installation was done in a small village a bit outside of Fredrikstad. The road down to the village was filled with long bridges, and nice mountain and sea views (whole trip was filled with nice view).  After the first installation, my trip continued to Sandefjord.

Stopped to watch the fog appearing from sea.


The trip got off to a good start, but in the morning it took a turn for the worse. When leaving the hotel parking I backed straight into a pipe sticking out from the wall behind me. It was impossible to see in the dark and the rear window did unfortunately not have the power to stop it. Fortunately, the window was tinted, so it did not fall completely apart. I can tell you that I cursed the whole way to my next location Langesund.


Even though the morning got off to an awful start, the next installation went well and I continued to Kristiansand in the evening. In Kristiansand, I located a repair shop, but we came to the conclusion that the easiest is just to tape the window and repair it when I will be back in Finland. Did one installation in Kristiansand and continued my trip with a nicely taped rear window. Drove all the way to Bergen doing more installations on the way there. Stopped in Egersund, Rekefjord, Vestre Bokn and Stavanger.  Had one installation in a small village called Viksøy outside of Bergen too.

A beautiful view from Viksoy


After the installation in Viksøy, there was a small break from installations and a long drive to Florø to meet a potential customer. One of the reasons why I took the car for this trip and not plane/rental car was that we could organize meetings with companies that we have talked with before, but never met.


Florø was the furthest North destination for this trip and after the meeting I drove back to Stavanger for even more meetings. Our easy to use user interface got many commendations in every meeting. After the last meeting, I headed back to Rekefjord to finalize one installation that needed a new more advanced data logger shipped from Finland. In this vessel, I also installed our motion monitoring system so that the customer can see bow movements and impacts.

Viksoy from pilot boat


My next and last installation location was Oslo. Weekend ahead so instead of a very long drive, I cut up the trip in two parts and stayed one night in Sandefjord. In the morning, I headed to a small peaceful harbor in Lysaker for my last installation. After the installation, I drove to Örebro for the night. The next day, I drove to Stockholm and took the evening ferry back to Turku. In the morning, I drove back to the office. I had one week to calm down before I went on my next trip to the Northern part of Norway.