Millennium site Kya

Throughout the ages, there have been many so-called “storbårer” that have hit Kya. For Frøya Historielag’s yearbook in 1977, John Espnes Bergli wrote down what he knew about these bores. The text that follows comes from Bergli’s text. As far as we know, they have not been digitized anywhere else.  

There can be long intervals between each event, but there can also be major storms at short intervals. These storms mostly occur in February and March. A big bore does not always accompany a storm, even if the storm is severe.

As mentioned, there was a large bore in the early 1800s. In a conversation with Arne Tuvnes, son of Hans Tuvnes, in 1971, he said that this large bore was in 1808. It’s hard to say whether the three small fishing huts that stood on Vesterålen were taken by this big bore, but I don’t think so. It would certainly have been mentioned.

On a plank in the gishing hut called Råstua, which now stands at Bergli and is called Sommerro, a number of dates for large bores are carved. This was probably done by Hans Tuvnes. I am now going to write down what I know about these big bores. The bore on 05.03.1913 is described most extensively. I was there myself and saw what happened.

The first bore to be carved into the plank is the bore of 26.02.1869. At that time, the fishermen were sitting on the rooftops holding their boats, as mentioned above. In addition, it can be mentioned that the boat Lars Halvorsen was holding had a hole punched in it towards the edge of the roof. They repaired the hole so that they could make their way inland against the choppy weather after the sea had subsided. They repaired the hole before heading inland towards Espneset.

The next bore to be carved into the plank is the bore of 16.02.1898. Those who operated cod nets had moved out to the sea, as it was called, and several gillnet boats were wrecked in Kya at the time. These included Anton Leirvik’s boat, Petter Larsen Vågø’s boat, Iver Setra’s boat, and apparently others. Possibly Halvor Kynnøya. It can be noted that those who had the best moorings made it across. It was said that during the laying out, Iver Setra tore off the chain that formed the so-called skeia, i.e. the chain stretched between Kya and Kåvaskjeret. (From this chain, a rope went up to the boat, in which the boat was moored). Most people didn’t understand what was needed to hold the boat when it arrived at Kya.

The next major disaster was on 22.01.1901. Several cod fishing boats were wrecked in Humlingsværet. Among those who lost boats can be mentioned:

• Hans hansen Hammeren
• Severin Inntian
• Anton goose lake
• Kristafer Flatval
• Hans Riversen Hammervik
• Gunerius Kristensen Hammervik
• Ulrik Hammervold

Here, too, it can be said that the moorings were too poor and only intended for normal conditions. Due to the fact that the harbor conditions were better in the nearby Humlingsværet than on Kya, those who were stationed in the Humlingsværet had left early to start fishing for skrei. No boats had yet arrived at Kya by January 22th. It is worth mentioning that Petter Larsen Vågø was ready to sail to Kya. But then one of his shipmates fell ill and a doctor had to be fetched for him. Petter therefore stayed at home, but this meant that he saved his seahouse, a large jetty that he had put up in the fall – and it was too low. He had to break up the floor so that the sea could flow more freely. He then got Olav Gulla from Tvervågen to raise the pier so that it was higher. As far as we know, this is the only large boat that has been wrecked in Humlingsværet.

It was in the fall of 1900 that Arne Arnesen built a house on Kya, a lodging house and a large jetty. The jetty was furnished with living quarters and a kitchen for his servants and workers out there. They had already arrived when the big boat arrived on January 22th, 1901. They were the only ones out there. Their room was on the second floor, so they had plenty of opportunity to see the sea in all its glory. It was said that after this, Arne Arnesen worked hard to have a breakwater built on Kya. In this Arnesen building, solid iron bars were set from the raft and down into the mountain. It was said that without these iron bars, it was not certain how the house would have fared. Any large boat could have floated between the slavery and the Arnesen building. The reason why the jetty rocked was that there was a lot of salt in it. In the fall, a large vessel of the Norwegian vessel type called jakt had been there with salt and unloaded the entire load. Without this weight, the jetty would not have survived.

The fishing hut called Skygglappen, which stood a few meters west of Slaveriet, was pushed by the sea all the way to Slaveriet. My uncle Søren Espnes had a share in Skygglappen, and both he and my father, Otto Espnes, went out to move the rorbua back to its place.

The next big bore was on 05.03.1913. I was there myself. My father and I had bought the cod fishing boat “Livingstone” from my uncle Søren and put a seven-horsepower engine in it. This was in the middle of the cod season, so there were many fishermen on Kya. There was now a breakwater out there.

At around eight o’clock in the evening, a large sea crashed through the windows on the ground floor of the large new Arnesen building. Arnesen had built a larger house on the north side of the first Arnesen building. The new house had previously stood at Sveeggen on Averøya west of Kristiansund, where it was used as a fisherman’s residence during the time there was skrei fishing there. It was on the ground floor that the windows were opened. The people were just about to eat their evening meal when the sea rolled in, and the table and porridge dishes fell towards the door. The people were frightened and ran for the door, but it went in instead of out. There was almost panic. The lamp was also extinguished by the sea. The one who was most calm was the chef, Anna Krutvik (later married to Petter Reppe). She told them to take it easy, so they could get the door open. This was done, and the fishermen saw an opportunity to come over to the old fishermen’s huts. The book called Description of Hitra and Frøya – a contribution to the history of old Hitra parish, claims that “The sea then broke into the second floor of the manager’s house, an ordinary second-floor farmhouse, so that everything flooded onto the floors.”

A lighthouse ring attached to the northeast corner of the house was lifted so high that you could see the number of the boat on the second floor. At the same time, it was torn loose and disappeared.

At the west end of the same house, the window was also smashed in, and there was half a meter of sea on the floor. Here, too, people made their way to the old fishermen’s huts. But Gustav Sørdal Gurvikdal, who was the most composed, got hold of a drill and drilled a hole in the floor so that the water flowed down into the basement. A number of rowing boats that had been set up along Skygglappen and up to Slaveriet and tied up there floated every time the sea came roaring up towards the wheelhouses. Quite a few rowing boats were wrecked, as well as a number of so-called outriggers. These were boats that were used to row around the larger boats. Most of the rowing boats were on land and well moored, but they broke loose and were crushed, or they went east to other reefs and islets and were crushed there. A number of larger boats were also lost. These were his cod fishing boat Ole Jonsen Inntian and his cod fishing boat Halvor Kynnøya. These boats were moored west of Hunden, a reef at Burikeila. A smaller motorboat lying in the eastern wedge broke loose and fell onto Kåvaskjæret. It belonged to the brothers Ole, Johan and Jens Valen. Ole Gåsø, I and a third guy whose name I don’t remember went down in a six-pack, and with the help of people on land we managed to escape, got over to the boat and attached ropes to it, and the people on land got the rope and pulled it off the skerry when the sea lifted it into the air. However, the landscape was not such that you could get the boat on land, at the same time as the sea had great power with the boat. The boat was then carried over to Ringskjæret, where it was smashed to pieces. The engine was left on the skerry, and all the tools in the engine room were found in a ravine. It was nevertheless a great advantage for the owners that the boat came up to Ringskjæret and sank there, instead of on Kåvaskæret, where it would have sailed past and disappeared completely. As a mooring, they had a bolt in a large rock, with a rope up in the boat. It turned out that this was a reprehensible mooring. The chain was also too narrow and of poor quality, it was brittle after the galvanizing process.

On November 30th the same year, there was also a spring tide and a big stretcher. I’ve never seen the sea so high in Espnesvågen before or since. There was also a terrific storm. Paul and Karl Vågø’s boat, which was on Kya, was blown away. It was bolted to the rock, but it went anyway. Fortunately, there were no people on Kya at the time. It was the first Sunday of Advent that year.

I can tell you right away that Sweden’s largest cargo ship, “Malmberget”, sank on its way from Narvik to England. It disappeared without a trace. We here on Frøya assumed that it had come too close to some shoals far off Gjæsingen and Froan. After all, it was shallow in deep water that day. It is said by those who have experienced a large stretcher on Kya that it can run aground in up to 30 fathoms.

During the big shipwreck on November 30th, the sea took with it much of what the port authority had stored on the north side of Paul Vågø’s ship (the one that disappeared). Many people believe that this barge was one of the largest that has ever been on Kya. These large barges, which were in use while the breakwater work was in progress, meant that more breakwater and parapets were built than originally planned.

The last big boat to be recorded was on March 5th, 1938. The motorboat belonging to Karl Gåsø Klubbe sank. It too apparently tore itself loose. And Ludvik and Karl Veita Sørskag’s motorboat, an open boat, was filled with water and sank, but remained in its moorings. It was later recovered, and all was well with the boat, there was just some work to refurbish the engine.