Category: Trondheim

On November 1^st, 2024, the Donaghadee Chunky Dunkers (DCD) Winter Challenge 2024/25 began: To swim alone, or as a team, a total of 35 km in open water, without a wetsuit or other aids by March 31^st, 2025. We never doubted that we could do this!

It turned out to be a challenge, indeed. The first week there was a storm, and we only swam 50 (!) meters at a time. When the weather calmed down, we swam a little longer, but when we swam 435 m in 7 degree celsius water on the 8^th of November, it was really nail-biting, and Idun turned somewhat hesitant about whether this was a joyful hobby in the long run.

Research has confirmed that the human body adapts to the stresses of repeated cold swimming, including by converting some fat into so-called brown fat, which can easily be converted into heat when needed. After 3 months of effort, we began to feel that we tolerated the cold better, and now we swim nearly 600 meters without much trouble. But we get shaky! It’s not easy to talk after these swims!

We did it! It turned out to become a rather tough run-in. Knut was unwell for a week, and Idun was in Mumbai the week after (yes, she swam at Yuhu Beach, but fully clothed like they do it there, and DCD runs channel rules: Skin Only, i.e. only a swimming cap, swimsuit/pants and swimming goggles). In a couple of weeks we expect 2 badges to arrive by mail. The entry fee was 10 pounds per person, and we are happy to pay. The profit goes, as mentioned in a previous post, to charity. In total, there were 140 people registered from all over the world for this challenge. Maybe we drew a shorter straw than those who swam in Australia during the same period, but still.

Overall a great challenge, even though we almost gave up along the way. It took a lot of time to fulfill! But we haven’t regretted it, maybe with the exception of that one worst nail-biting swim. And now that we did it – no no, no regrets at all!

Either you get it, or you don’t! Thanks to “Siegfried & Joy”!

About 10 km from the center of Trondheim lies Lian (from the Old Norse ‘hlið‘ = sloping hill or mountain side), as part of Bymarka. There was little activity here until the idea of ​​a tram line emerged, probably inspired by the ‘Holmenkollbanen‘ in Kristiania (Oslo). Construction work started in 1922, but the rails did not reach Lian until 1933. And then things started to happen. The place quickly was taken into the heart of Trondheim’s residents. In the summer, this is a splendid area for swimming, fishing and camping. However, the fishing has been poor for a number of years, after rotenone treatment to remove fish parasites in 2017, but now (2024) it’s said to be good again (trout). What about winter activities, one might ask. Is there anything going on during winter time?

In the 1930’s, it wasn’t just skiing or ice skating on Lianvatnet (Lake Lian), there were also motorcycle and horse races on the ice. However, we haven’t heard any stories about ice bathing from ancient times. Has anyone heard about that? We want to know!

On a wet and grey December day in 2024, there was little else going on at Lianvatnet other than bathing in our bathing friend Taru’s swimming hole. Taru posts a video clip from her bathtub every day in Advent, like a ‘bath-vent‘ calendar. Tobatheornottobathe really wanted to be a part of that!

Parts of Lianvannet are very shallow. Both Idun and Knut have partied and bathed in/by Helgelandshytta, and there it’s almost too shallow to swim. For Taru, who often bathes alone in her bathing hole, it is good to be in contact with the bottom, to be sure to get safely up again (good HSSE). That way, no bathing ladder is needed either.

But as in Finnish television theaters on Norwegian TV in the 1970’s, the bathing couldn’t be all peaceful. One could hear both ‘fu*@‘ and ‘per&%#%‘, and in the end the axe was brought forward.

To reassure worried readers: Everyone came home safely!

Sjøbadet (The Sea Bathing House) in Trondheim is one of the oldest associations in the city, founded in 1858 with a formal/physical opening on May 1^st 1860. The bath was initially a joint-stock company called ‘Søbadedindretningen i Trondhjem’. The first bath was placed in the inner canal (by Ravnkloa).

Due to unhealthy water, the bath was moved to St. Olav’s pier in 1880, thanks to the bath’s patron, City Engineer Dahl.

At the start, Sjøbadet was for men only. Eventually, the ladies were given access a few hours a day, but it was not until 1927 that a separate women’s department was added. The annual report from 1879 says that the ladies stopped going into the sea because they were disturbed by the dock workers.

Tone Hoff became the bath master in 1968, and noticed men standing for a loooong time in the diving tower, staring down into the ladies’ sunbathing area. So she shouted to them: ‘Stop glancing!‘, whereupon some jumped into the water and others climbed ashamed back down the gully.

Rasmus Rohde has made a nice song about this: ‘Sjøbadet‘. Check it out on YouTube! (However, with a somewhat exaggerated description of the bathing temperature. As you might know, the Trondheimsfjord is very deep, and the water never really gets warm).

In 2011, the Sjøbadet was moved 1 (!) meter to make room for ‘Nordre Avlastningsvei’, and the bath was rebuilt. For many years, members dreamed of building a sauna. More and more people took into ice bathing in winter, and it was quite certain that a sauna would increase both the use of the bath and the number of members dramatically. Still, there was a lot back and forth, the uncertainty of the finances of the sauna project was big, and the years went by. But finally, on 9/8-2018, after many hours of voluntary work, sauna manager Taru could say ‘Tervetuloa‘ to the first sauna experience at Sjøbadet. The number of members exploded, and for a period a waiting list existed, to get onto the waiting list for membership.

Tobatheornottobathe highly appreciate both Sjøbadet and its sauna. A better location is hard to find! Various sauna rituals with and without ethereal oils, aufguss, Finnish traditions etc. are carried out here. All members are sent a sauna program every week, so it is easy to choose what suits you the best. If you do not have a membership, it is still possible to visit the Sjøbadet in summertime, for a reasonable amount of money. In summer, there’s a paid lifeguard, who also serves coffee, waffles and sausages between 12 am and 6 pm (2024). When the ‘Trønder summer’ occasionally strikes with wet and cold weather, sometimes the sauna is heated in summer as well. Check FB if ​​this is tempting! In winter, a monthly ‘Folkebadstue‘ (People’s Baths) is organized (2024), where non-members can try both the sauna and ice bathing. Hereby strongly recommended!

In addition to bathing and sauna rituals, there are also other happenings at Sjøbadet, both in terms of performances and concerts. On Midsummer’s Eve 2017, you could dance norwegian folk dances all the way into the dressing rooms, to music by Gammel-Snaustrinda/The Dirty Old Band.

Why do you have to take a several-day safety course to work offshore? Where does that idea come from? Most people probably don’t think much about this, but when it’s your turn to join a course, that’s when you start wondering.

When drilling off the coast of Norway started in the 1960’s, it was with completely blank sheets. We had many mines in Norway, and we were big in shipping, but no expertise in drilling and producing oil and gas at sea. It was necessary to lean on American companies, which had both expertise and capital. The first drilling on the Norwegian shelf was done by Esso in 1966, they had experience from offshore fields, including in the Gulf of Mexico. In the 1950’s, the personnel were transported out to the rigs by boat – a method that had its drawbacks. One thing was the use of time. The most important argument against was seasickness. There was a risk that the workers were ill and in bad shape when they started work offshore. The very first helicopter to be certified for civil aviation was the Bell 47B in 1946. Throughout the 1950’s, helicopter types with room for more passengers appeared, and it was decided from the beginning to use helicopters for all passenger transport to and from the Norwegian continental shelf. The authorities wanted a Norwegian supplier to handle the helicopter traffic, and the contract went to Helikopter Service A/S. Two Sikorsky S-61 machines were purchased, they made four trips per week. With this activity, the income was far from sufficient, and Esso sponsored Helikopter Service A/S with approximately 60,000 dollars per month at the beginning. It was Phillips who found the first viable (huge) oil discovery ‘Ekofisk‘ on Christmas Eve 1969. The first decades were characterized by a certain ‘Cowboy mentality’. The focus was on efficiency and production, unions were banned, and safety was often so-so. Rescue suits, for example, were not used.

It soon proved impossible for the authorities to have control over everything that happened in the petroleum industry. The development sometimes went so quickly that the regulations were constantly lagging behind, and control offshore was difficult and time-consuming in terms of logistics. The development of safety systems was pushed forward by accidents. If you look at Ekofisk, this development alone resulted in 45 deaths, of which 1/3 were linked to helicopter accidents. The head of the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate’s security department, Arne Flikke, resigned in the summer of 1974 due to a lack of resources to exercise control. The solution was internal control. The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate was supposed to check that the systems were in order, but they were not supposed to go into detailed checks on each individual installation. The companies that did not put in place a functioning internal control risked being ‘punished’ at the next license award. In 1978 there was an investigation (the Leiro committee) which recommended a 3-week safety course for offshore employees. However, this had not been implemented when Aleksander Kielland tipped on the 27^th of March 1980. In this disaster, 123 people died. Of the 212 on board, only 76 persons had undergone safety training. The safety courses are therefore a consequence of the Aleksander Kielland accident. Rescue suits were not required by the offshore contractor companies, and almost everyone who died in the Kielland accident were employed by contractors. Therefore, the Norwegian Maritime Directorate decided in the autumn of 1980 that all offshore employees should be equipped with rescue suits.

The most important functions of the suit are insulation (retaining heat) and buoyancy. When evacuating in water, the use of a rescue suit will increase the probability of survival considerably.

An offshore security course (2024) consists of a 4-day basic course, which must be refreshed with a 2-day repetition course every 4 years. One of the main elements is training in the use of rescue suits including breathing lung and helicopter underwater evacuation (HUET). The breathing lung is a waterproof bag that is mounted in the collar of the suit. A hose, valve and a nozzle are fitted to the bag. In an emergency situation, air is blown into the bag and the valve is closed before coming into contact with water. Then you have some air to breathe in until you get up to the water surface. The rescue suit has a lot of buoyancy, so when you first get out of the helicopter, you don’t need to swim to reach the surface. Having said that, this course, or a rescue suit for that matter, will not help the slightest if the gearbox breaks (as in the Turøy 2016 accident).

Before you get as far as the helicopter, you have to go through a number of introductory exercises to get used to the breathing lung. Idun was so out of practice that she breathed into the hose without closing the valve first (while we were still on land checking the equipment). It was 3 years since the last offshore trip and 4 years since the last course. Repetition is indeed necessary! The exercises in water went better. First, we had to lay face down in the water and breath into the lungs for 20-50 seconds. Then pull ourself along the edge of the pool by a rope, lying face down. The last exercise before the helicopter was to hang upside down on the edge of the pool, with your foot around the pool ladder and your head down. Not at all complicated for someone who likes to swim. If you are unfamiliar with water, the situation is of course completely different.

The heart rate rises considerably entering the helicopter. During the helicopter exercises, everyone has an instructor who only looks after you. Fastening the seat belt (4-point) properly is practiced, which is the first thing to do if you hear the pilot say: ‘Brace, brace‘. There are various stories about things that have gone wrong on the courses, and a classic failure is turning the seat belt knot inwards. The opening mechanism is easy to trigger, but a colleague of Idun had once turned it so that it faced his stomach, with consequent stress, he lost his grip on his reference point (the window), and ended up on the roof (floor) of the helicopter when it turned upside down under water. Then it’s ok to have instructor help!

The instructor’s inquisitive look at Idun turned to laughter when she realized that ‘Wow, you actually like this!‘ After 4 evacuations from helicopter under water, the conclusion is that it’s quite fun when ‘Toworkornottowork‘ turns into ‘Tobatheornottobathe‘!

Ref:
https://www.aftenbladet.no/
https://www.norskolje.museum.no/
Tore Jørgen Hanisch og Gunnar Nerheim: Norsk Oljehistorie, ISBN 82-7443-018-2
Store Norske Leksikon
Wikipedia

A brand new bathing beach in Trondheim, imagine that!

After 12 years of construction, Grilstad Marina is approaching completion (2024). The entire project consists of approximately 800 apartments, 110,000 m² of commercial space, a marina and recreational areas, all made possible by the stone masses from the road tunnels between Stjørdal and Trondheim. There are swimming opportunities here! So much so, that the residents for a long time have complained about happy, load, youths jumping from piers and bridges, ref our bath ‘Grilstad Marina‘. But this time, the new Fullriggerøya (The Sailship’s Island) was to be visited.

The cross-rigged sailing ships must be considered to be the summit of the sailing ship era. These were large, beautiful ships with square sails on all masts, which required a large crew. They did best on long-distance sailing, where speed was crucial, and in the navy. Competition in the merchant fleet was fierce, those who arrived first were paid better for the goods. Tobatheornottobathe has not found the name of any fully square rigged ships built in Trøndelag, but we would like to attach a drawing of one of H.J. Sommer’s beautiful ships, cleared from Trondhjem in 1915.

It is actually a good idea to call the new, artificial, island Fullriggerøya. Why not, when the whole project is built at sea? Apart from the canals, however, there is not much of a maritime feeling in the new buildings at Grilstad. These are apartment buildings, with sometimes large terraces, but they do not resemble piers. And the titles? Bryggetun, what is it? And pier villas? A villa is a house with a garden for one or a few families, inspired by the country estates that the Roman upper class built 2000 years ago, for example by Lake Albano (ref our bath ‘Lago di Albano‘). The villas at Grilstad do not have gardens, and there are 10-15 apartments in each apartment building. A completely wrong use of words! We understand that some estate agents want to ’embellish’ the concepts, but with the architects’ acceptance? We simply do not understand it.

Interestingly enough, a forest has also been developed on the island, by the name Fullriggerskogen (forest). And yes, 20-30 trees have been planted between the houses, in between childrens playgrounds, paths and lawns. Why not call it all a park? Isn’t a parc good enough?

What we really like about this project is of course the swimming facilities! From the first floor you can throw yourself into the water, but there will be some climbing back up. For us, a dream scenario for retirement, apart from the fact that most of the apartments with direct bathing actually have no view of the fjord other than the canal. But the beach is nice!

The Grilstad Beach is the first beach in Trondheim that faces south. Trondheim struggles with having its back facing the sun. 75 lorry loads of fine white sand have been brought here from Denmark, and the beach is relatively steep so that you don’t have to wade very long to swim. However, we were a little surprised by the stone embankment 10 meters from the water’s edge, where it was very shallow, before entering the fjord. We do assume that the stones are supposed to hold the sand in place, and that is fine, just a little surprising during this first bath.

The new beach gets top score from Tobatheornottobathe! A special plus for the sauna (we hope to visit it sometime), along with benches and children’s playground. So now we hope that the beach will reduce the jumping from the canal bridges, so that the poor, irritated residents can have peace on their terraces.

Thank you for the beach!

Summer in Trøndelag! After weeks of single-digit temperatures (Celsius, in June!) the heat was on, and we needed to cool down. Knut’s cousin Gry arrived in Trøndelag with her bathing suit in her luggage, ready to join a ‘ToBatheOrNotToBathe Adventure‘. What could possibly be a better choice than the river Nævra on a short detour between Værnes Airport and Trondheim?

We had tried to have a bath in Nævra before, but ended up swimming in Humla, so this time we started a little further upstream. This is a really nice area! ‘Næverhølet‘ was a tantalizing name on the map that we absolutely had to try. Well yes, there was kind of a hole in the river as it meandered quietly and beautifully. But to go bathing there? No, it just seemed too boring.

So we went back to the car, and oh yes, that was the right choice. Further downstream there were waterfalls! You can jump, and you can swim in Nævra!

We first tested something that might have been ‘No 1‘. (ref post ‘Winter Waterfall Wonderland‘).

‘No 2‘ was more like a jacuzzi, but fun, Gry thought.

‘No 3‘, on the other hand – it was impossible. Despite a good height, there was no free fall, and no pool to swim in either.

When we arrived, there were 3 boys jumping into ‘No 1‘. Fortunately, they stepped back when we arrived, so we didn’t get them in the head. However, we didn’t dive this time. Knut did not want to risk a recurrence of his back problem, and the ladies, unfortunately, just weren’t brave enough.

But as a bathing place! Bathing or jumping in Nævra is just right!

Hurray! Finally Christmas! The children were home again and Christmas holidays had almost started. THEN corona revision 2 struck, and Idun fell to the ground, voiceless. Or, no, it’s not called ‘the ground’ but ‘the sofa’.

Christmas Bath 2022 became a split session, where the corona patient and the French delegation dropped any cold baths. U1 and Knut, on the other hand, went to Sjøbadet to swim at the great facilities there.

But no sauna, we missed that because of the tradition of Cinderella movie watching. And the 24th of December was a fabulous day to take a walk in Trondheim.

Once at home, Knut just had to get bathing again. CovIdun also wanted a Christmas bath!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Tobatheornottobathe!

East of central Trondheim, between Nedre Charlottenlund and Ranheim, is Grilstad. Originally this was only a farm belonging to the Archbishop of Nidaros, named after an old river name: Grýtla. The name comes from ‘gruvla’ which means to dig or mess up. A sausage factory, Grilstad factories, was built on the farm in 1957, which is still in full operation. Below Grilstad farm there was a fine shore which has been planned to be developed since the 1960’s. However, the plans were put on hold due to high costs and a lack of filling material.

The construction finally started in 2005, with filling material from the Strindheim tunnel project. Grilstad Park is planned with 1,000 residential units, 110,000 m2 commercial buildings, and in addition Grilstad Marina, a harbor/pier with 800 boat berths.

This must be like paradise, you are probably thinking, with a beautiful and peaceful sea panorama. A quay has been built close to the filled-in islands. On the land side there is a sand volleyball court, barbecue grills, benches, lawn and plantings. Great!

Oh no, it’s not that simple. The bathing area has become too popular. Young people come there to have a bath. They make noise. They jump into the water from the bridge. Ugh! That’s not how we like it!

We visited Grilstad in July, and there were no young people there. None! Had they all gone on vacation? Or did it really work to mount a 100 meter long fence along the quayside to prevent bathing in the canal? The matter has, following complaints from the residents, been up for debate in the City Council repeatedly. The argument for a bathing ban has been the safety of bathers. Of course, you have to bring up safety, you can’t argue against that. Or can you? The debate concerns 100-150 meters where there could be a conflict between boats and bathers. There are about 20 boats that have their parking place there. What speed do you need to drive your yacht this distance?

We took a test bath. There was no fuzz, but we didn’t make much noise either. The water was nice and crystal clear, but it was low tide, we couldn’t see the bottom, and we didn’t jump. A great bath!

Swimming in Grilstad Marina is perfect, even though the ladder down from the quay was a little wobbly at the bottom.

After a bath, food is always right. We ate at Flipper Kafe, on Fullriggerøya (Sailboat island). The sandwiches aren’t the cheapest, but that’s no wonder, because the portions are huge. And after the meal, to play shuffle board might be just right. That can be quite fun, at least for some of us.

Nyhavna (the new harbour) in Trondheim has for a long time been ready for urban renewal. The industry is retreating, and the municipality wants to make Nyhavna a brand new district. Here, a mixture of offices, apartments, culture and artistic arenas is planned. One of the most positive things that has happened so far in this transformation is ‘Havet’ (The Sea). Just a short cycle ride from the center you have a varied offer for sauna bathing and swimming in the Trondheimsfjord.

The location is such that you have a varied view:

Alternatively, you can of course be the view yourself:

At Havet, you can book single hours or whole saunas for 2 hours. Try it! This is splendid! The furnishings (benches) are spread out in different levels and odd angles, you don’t have to sit in a row if you don’t want to.

Cold baths are carried out in the openings between the saunas.

Some of us where missing some steps up to the roof, to be able to jump from there, as we have seen on other floating saunas.

A couple of hundred meters away, the municipality has built a diving tower in collaboration with Havet. There you can jump and swim for free. But it is just a little too far from the saunas to function as a common facility.

During ‘Kulturnatt Trondheim’ (Cultural Evening Trondheim) in 2017, there was a competition ‘What is your dream for Nyhavna?’ Our bathing friend Taru won, with the answer: Sauna. But she won by a lottery draw, the idea in itself was considered undoable both by the municipality and the consult bureau arranging the contest. But now they are here, a lot of saunas!

Thank you so much, Taru, for an absolutely brilliant idea! For once, it happened in Trondheim that all this came into place quite suddenly, without a long-term localization debate and a lot of back and forth.

Our sauna had a ceiling partly made of glass. Imagine sitting here and enjoying the stars in the sky and maybe the aurora borealis in winter time?

In not too long time, the sauna concert concept at Havet will probably start up again, and then you can experience a sauna and a concert – at the same time! However, we had do to the concert part another place and ended the evening at Ladekaia, watching Vømmøl.