Somewhere on the water between Kilboghamn and Jektvik, the ferry on the Coastal Route crosses the Arctic Circle, and a small globe-shaped marker on a rocky islet tells you so. This part of Rødøy municipality is where Helgeland stops being gentle: the mountains close in, the fjords grow steep and dark, and the coast breaks into hundreds of islands with steep sides. Vågaholmen, the main settlement, is a small village with a harbour, a shop and a few houses, about ten kilometres north of here on the road toward the next ferry.
The geography is the story. Rødøy is a scattered municipality of islands and narrow strips of land along the mainland, and most of the people live in small communities along the shore. The island of Rødøy itself has a famous mountain called Rødøyløva, the Rødøy lion, which from the sea looks like a crouching lion. The area has an old church on Rødøy and remains of settlement going back thousands of years, and fishing was always the basis of life here.
The riding on this stretch is short and sweet. The road between the ferries is narrow and twisting, with tight bends, short climbs and a surface that varies. Traffic depends on the ferry timetables: you get a small group of cars after each boat, then nothing for an hour. The views are spectacular, with steep peaks across the fjords, and on a clear day you start to see the ice of Svartisen, Norway's second-largest glacier, further north. Weather changes fast, and the wind on the ferries can be cold even in summer.
This is a section where planning matters. The ferries follow timetables, and missing one can mean waiting an hour or more, so check before you leave. Services are sparse: small shops in the villages, but fuel only in a few places, and the nearest larger towns are Ørnes to the north and Mo i Rana inland. The ferries usually have a cafe on board, which is a good place for a waffle and a coffee. In midsummer the sun stays up all night here, just north of the circle, and the light on the islands is unforgettable.