NO. 16.] ORIGINAL ACCOUNTS. 25 



Collection of various accounts of dead-water in Scandinavia. 



No. 16. Mr. J. P. Posti, of Hammerfest, who has navigated the Arctic 

 Sea for 40 years with small sailing vessels of about 30 reg. tons, has favoured 

 me with the following information: 



"Dead-water occurs in the arctic regions in places where there is fresh water, off 

 river-mouths, or where the snow is thawing on land and ice. It may influence vessels in 

 a slight wind or calm weather. In the Kara Sea and Kara Bay I have been most ex- 

 posed to it. — In the Kara Bay it has happened that 8 men in two boats could not tow 

 the vessel loose, before we got help from the wind. 



"In the Alien Fjord I have also experienced it; inside Alten-ncesset it is very bad, 

 and it has happened that 4 men could not tow the vessel free, in calm weather." 



No. 17. Mr. J. Ellingsen, of Kristiania, informs me that dead-water occurs in Banen 

 Fjord, Vefsen Fjord, Vel Fjord, Namsen Fjord, North of Kristiansund, Romsdal Fjord, 

 on the north entrance to Bergen, and generally off the mouths of great rivers. It occurs 

 in the months of May, June, July, and August. 



No. 18. KommendOrkapten J. A. Ekelof, late of the Swedish navy has told me that 

 once, several years ago, he experienced dead-water in the Trondhjem Fjord, when sailing 

 in to Trondhjem with a corvette. 



No. 19. The narrative No. 2 (by Captain S. Scott-Hansen) had the 

 following supplement: 



"Our pilot told me that he had several times been exposed to dead-water; he spe- 

 cially mentioned one occasion on the Pudde Fjord at Bergen, when the ship — an 8 knot 

 cargo-steamer — according to the pilot's own phrase, hardly moved from the spot." 



No. 20. Mr. M. Leegaard, in addition to account No. 15, sends me the 

 following: 



"Since the year 1885, I have each summer navigated the coast between Fredrikstad 

 and Bergen with a cutter, 12 m. long and drawing 23 m. 



"During these cruisings the vessel has often got into dead-water and almost always 

 at the same spots, mainly at places where there is fresh water, such as off Larvik and 

 Arendal, off Kristiansand (near Odder Island) and in the port of Egersund. The dead- 

 water is especially felt when setting sail at such places. 



"I have heard, that off the town of Bergen dead-water is often met with between 

 Kvarven and Stangen (about 3 miles south-west of Kvarven); between Kvarven and Stan- 

 gen there is often strong current." 



No. 21. Mr. Bernt Larsson of Fede, navigation Instructor in Haugesund, 



has reported the following: 



"There is often very strong dead-water in the Fede Fjord, especially where the fjord 

 becomes narrow at Avaren. It receives water from two rivers, and this fresh water, ac- 

 cording to my measurements, forms a surface-layer of half a metre or a little more, in 

 thickness. 



