SVALBARDSEILAS  2017

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The sail northwards went without any major challenges. The wind was steady at 15 knots from the south-west. We sailed at a good 7-8 knots until we were well north of Bjørnøya, which we passed almost 100 nm west of.

It was quite exciting when we were called up by an Orion that was in the area, and "Saint 7-1" met "Saint 1-0" (the skipper) in the open sea.

There was a bit of drama when we came into close contact with a huge net that was floating around. It got caught in the keel and the towing water generator, and for a while there was a risk that the latter would be torn off (picture obove). The boat was sailing at full speed, and the net was huge and very heavy. It must have been in the sea for a long time because there was a lot of growth on it. After some frantic work, we managed to cut it free from the towing generator, and once our speed had dropped to zero, it released its grip on the keel and we were able to continue without damage.

After about three and a half days, we arrived in Hornsund. The weather was as expected, sour and cold ☺ but with the oil stove heating us up, it was pure cosiness and joy on board.

Otherwise, nature is as overwhelming as ever. Rain and fog also create atmosphere. We had a fantastic 10-hour sail from Fleur de Lys harbour in Bellsund to Isfjorden yesterday. Perfect wind conditions with patches of thick fog made the sailing a pleasure and a challenge, where both we and the navigation electronics were put to the test.

After a quiet night in Trygghamna, we were visited by a couple of field inspectors from the Governor of Svalbard. They were pleasant fellows who, among other things, informed us that there were happily many eider ducks with ducklings in the area. Polar bears have started to prey on bird nests in the absence of other edible food, so eider ducks have suffered greatly in recent years.

We eventually head for Longyearbyen, where we pick up Johanne, who only has 10 days at her disposal. She arrived on the evening flight, so it was late by the time we got to bed. The next day, we have to leave early in the morning because a huge cruise ship is due to dock, and the mooring lines will block the guest harbour for the next 24 hours.

With Johanne safely on board, we sailed via Svenskhuset and Skansebukta to Pyramiden.

It always feels strange to be in the house where 17 young men lost their lives due to lead poisoning in 1873. Due to a lack of food, they had evacuated the trawlers they were on board, which had become icebound on the north side. They rowed all the way down the west coast to this house, which Nordenskiöld had built for his exploration of the area. They knew that there was plenty of food stored here, and they planned to stay there throughout the winter. However, they made the grave mistake of heating the food in tin cans sealed with lead, which evaporated during heating and contaminated the food, leading to lead poisoning. Despite the abundance of food, they died one by one throughout the winter. A tragic story.

Skansbukta, with the mighty bird cliff Skansen, is located at the beginning of Billefjorden. Here you can find remnants of earlier attempts at mining and gypsum extraction dating back to 1918.

Skansbukta in fine weather is a place to lift your spirits...

The abandoned Russian ghost town of Pyramiden, which was not so abandoned after all, made an impression. We strolled through deserted streets and let our imaginations run wild in an attempt to get an impression of what life must have been like here before the place was abandoned in 1998.

According to the Russians, this was a good place to be. Well developed for families with a nursery, school, hospital, swimming pool and large sports hall. They had greenhouses and kept cows, pigs and chickens to be as self-sufficient as possible. Food was free and wages were good.

There was some activity at the site. We met a handful of workers who were collecting scrap metal, and a couple of friendly young people who ran the local hotel and bar ☺

The hotel has been refurbished a little inside, with a dining room and bar where we could buy some simple refreshments. The cinnamon rolls and Russian beer tasted excellent.

The trip out of Billefjorden went via the front of the Nordenskiöld Glacier. Nordenskiöld is one of the great explorers of the Arctic, but little appreciated by us Norwegians. The explanation probably lies in the fact that he is Swedish, and that his successful expeditions (including the North-East Passage) took place at a time when Norway had just been liberated from the Swedes and wanted to promote our own independent state through heroes such as Amundsen. A number of places (Svenskhuset) and an area of approximately 5,000 square kilometres have been named after Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld in Svalbard.

The weather forecast threatens westerly gales and rain over the next few days, so we set course out of Isfjorden, rounded Daudmannsodden and turned north into Forlandsundet. We had to stop at Poolepynten to see the walrus that usually lies there. It's always exciting to get close to these large animals.

We set course for Ny-Ålesund after anchoring overnight in Selvågen. Once again, there was fog and poor visibility as we passed Forlandsrevet, but once we were inside Kongsfjorden, it cleared up and we were able to moor at the safe floating jetty inside the harbour. Here, we took advantage of the shower facilities provided by the harbour master.

While we were having dinner on board, we suddenly heard a couple of loud bangs, and being curious, we had to check out what it was. When we went outside, we could see the tufts of hair on the head of a polar bear swimming away from the jetties. It had been walking along the beach towards the buildings, so some of the station employees had used firecrackers to scare it away.

We spent the first part of the day looking around the settlement, then strolled up to Estergruva, where the Kings Bay accident occurred. It is impressive to be in a place where as many as 84 men have lost their lives in the mines over the years.

It is also special to see the tower where the airships "Norge" and "Italia" were moored. In other words, the whole place oozes history, but there are also clear traces of today's modern research station.

Lilliehøkbreen and Signehamna were a new and positive acquaintance. A very beautiful area, and we had mostly lovely weather, so it was a wonderful evening and night both ashore and on board.

The fjord can become full of glacier ice when the large glacier calves, but this rarely causes problems, even for a plastic boat, as long as you take it slowly and carefully. The Gyda is built of aluminium, so it has no problems.

The old express boat "Polarstjernen" had arrived during the morning and was about to disembark passengers when we left.

Good holding ground, so we would have been safe here if the wind had picked up as forecast. Handy to have a deck wash when the anchor is full of mud.

We had arranged with "Guideservice" to transport Johanne from Ny-Ålesund back to Longyearbyen, so we just had to set course south to be there on time.

"Guide service" on the way back to Longyearbyen with Johanne, while we continue north and hope that ice conditions will allow us to go around and take the route south via Hinlopen and Edgeøya. The ice charts did not look very good, but a lot can change over the next 10-12 days.

As usual, we have a long trip north along Sjubrebanken on our way to Magdalenefjorden. Trinityhamna at Gravneset has good anchoring conditions, and the next day the sun is shining, so we sail into the fjord to Wagoonwaybreen. There we get to experience a real calving, and a powerful reminder of how fast things happen.

This is the glacier front, which does not look so violent in the photo, but we estimate it to be about 40 metres high. We hear creaking and cracking from the glacier, but no more than we have heard elsewhere, without anything happening. We are at a safe distance of about 300 metres away when suddenly there is a loud crash.

Of course, everything on the camera is in completely different places than it should be, but we managed to capture a little bit of the fountain. We turned the boat with the bow facing the incoming wave and, with a safe distance to everything, there was never any danger for us.

Later in the day, we continue north through the strait and into Smeerenburgfjorden.

At the innermost part of Bjørnfjorden, a magnificent glacier flows into the fjord, and a Polish research vessel is anchored there, but the wind is steadily increasing from the north-east and gradually whipping up the sea, so we anchor in Marbukta on the eastern side of the fjord. The wind is brisk, but there are no waves here. During the night, the wind dies down completely and we wake up to a whole new world...

Calm, flat sea and thick fog. With radar and chart plotter, it is relatively easy to navigate northwards in Smeerenburgfjorden. We soon encounter drift ice that has been pushed into the fjord by the wind since yesterday evening and night. It is flat like huge ice floes and not easy to see on the radar due to its flat shape.

As we approach Amsterdamøya, both the ice and the fog become thicker and thicker. Even with radar, it is a challenge to find an open path in the ice because it is so flat and therefore does not give any clear reflection. We assume that the ice has been pushed towards land by the wind the day before, and that it may therefore be possible to get around it on the west side, so we head north-west in the hope of reaching open water north of Amsterdamøya. We bump around in the ice a bit before we find a passable route up towards Nordvestøyane and finally Indre Norskøya, where the ice disappears and the fog lifts a little.

As we move away from the ice, the fog lifts and visibility improves. There is no wind, so we have to motor along Reinsdyrflya, into Woodfjorden and on to Mushamna, which is our destination for the day. At the entrance to the lagoon, we meet the reigning boss of the area. She (we have since learned that only females have claws) was lying asleep at the edge of the stand, and for a moment we wondered whether this was a bear or what it could be.

As we got closer, we could see that it was a bear. It barely opened its eyes when we got close and sniffed the air. Maybe food floating in the tin can?

We anchored just outside the opening to the lagoon and just watched. We were about 40-50 metres away. After a while, it wandered off a little, and we were able to enter the lagoon. We lay there for a good while right by the opening and watched the bear as it wandered around sniffing us, before settling down to sleep again.

We found a nice spot a little north of the lagoon and anchored for the night. Eventually, the bear swam across the opening in the lagoon and strolled calmly north along the shore and disappeared in the direction of Mattilasodden and the trapper's hut.

We met two of the field inspectors from Syselmannen the following day, and they had also been visited by him at the hunting cabin at Mattillasodden, where they were staying. They assess all the bears they see based on how well they appear to be doing, and our bear was assessed to be a 3 on a scale of 5.

Mushamna is a very safe and good harbour, regardless of the weather and wind, and we really enjoy it here. We spend our days hiking around the area, fishing for char and otherwise just relaxing.

The abandoned whaling station at Mattillasodden is a popular destination for most people travelling in the area, and while we were there, Hurtigruten's expedition ship "Fram" passed by and anchored outside the lagoon. At the turn of the year, we were aboard the same ship on our way to Antarctica, so many memories came flooding back as we lay in the hills above the lagoon and watched as they disembarked people who were going to the whaling station.

The Antigua entered the lagoon a little later in the day, and they were planning to continue south in Hinlopen the next day, so we contacted them after a couple of days and received a report that there was so much drift ice in the northern part of Storfjorden that it was impassable.

We then decided to take the same route home as we had taken to get there.

It was a long trip from Mushamna via Magdalenefjorden to Ny-London in Kongsfjorden. As usual, we didn't make it ashore this time either. When we arrived and dropped anchor in the evening, we were hungry and tired, and the next morning the place was filled with tourists from a cruise ship that had anchored just outside during the night. We moved away and eventually had a brisk sail out of Kongsfjorden. The wind from the south became quite strong, and we didn't feel like battling it all the way through Forlandsundet, so we decided it was the perfect opportunity to check out Engelskbukta.

Here we found a very good anchorage that provided shelter from the south wind. We went ashore and decided to check out what appeared to be a dam in front of the Comfortless Glacier.

It turned out to be a river that eventually became quite fast-flowing and was home to lots of seals. We took the dinghy as far as we could and came to a proper lunar landscape, which had been created after the ice had receded. Fresh bear tracks made us retreat to the ship.

There are many beautiful places in Bellsund, and we particularly like the area around Fleur de Lys harbour in Van Keulenfjorden, so we went straight there from Engelskbukta.

We came across a lone fox cub. Its mother and siblings were nowhere to be seen. It looked bedraggled, so it probably has little chance of survival.

Bamsebu is located at Bourbonhamna, not far away, and is a great destination when anchored at Fleur de Lyshamna. Near the cabin, there are old bone remains and boats from beluga whaling, which was practised in the area almost 100 years ago.

The weather was perfect, and according to the meteorological forecast, there is a chance of fair winds on the way home. We therefore head south to Hornsund to prepare for the voyage home. Rigging the boat, preparing food for the trip and, not least, eating and sleeping well are important before such a long leg. There are only two of us, so it is important to start the voyage well rested.

We never sail long distances at sea with the dinghy lashed to the deck. We don't want to risk problems with anything coming loose on deck in heavy weather. This dinghy is collapsible, and it is both quick and easy to remove the oars and stow them in the bow compartment, while the hull is lashed along the stern rail, where it is well out of the way if the sea washes over the deck.

The trip started in beautiful weather with increasing winds that gave us hope for good sailing. That lasted for the first two days, but then the wind died down and fog set in. Before that, we were visited again by Orion, which swept past, and after the sea calmed down, we were entertained by Springere (dolphins) that darted around the ship in one set. Otherwise, it was a matter of rolling the watches, eating well, sleeping in shifts and otherwise just enjoying ourselves.

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The last part of the trip was a test of patience, with flat seas and thick fog. The diesel engine worked steadily, but it was impossible to make any headway. We turned towards the coast west of Ringvassøya in the hope of seeing some beautiful mountains, but we didn't see a trace of land until we were right up against the rocks, and then only the nearest islets. So after two days of engine noise and fog, we were finally able to drop anchor at Sandvær on the outer side of Ringvassøya.

After about four days at sea, it was wonderful when the anchor finally settled and the diesel engine could be turned off. We sat in the cockpit and smelled the grass-covered islets, without seeing anything but faint outlines. Then it was time for a proper anchor drink. The whisky we had brought with us from our trip to South Georgia, Antarctica last winter, combined with Nordlandspils beer, tasted indescribably good. When a bag of Cheesedoodles was dug out, our sense of well-being knew no bounds.

We slept like logs and didn't wake up until well into the morning of the next day to find a total transformation, with the sun beating down.

Then came the day with everything a sailor could wish for, plenty of tailwind and the sun shining down. The balloon sail (Parasilor'n) came into its own, and our last stop before crossing the Andfjord was Sommarøy.

TIL TOPPEN