Southbound

We set out from Hornbækpollen in a beautiful weather, heading via Liefdefjorden to Woodfjorden and then on to the north side of Reinsdyrflya.

The ship and its captain quite literally ate their way..

In the nice weather the skipper was busy with home production. We spent the whole day doing various chores.

The wind died down, so we motored sluggishly towards Norskøyane in calm sea.

It was a surreal setting – we were considerably closer to the North Pole than we were to Bardufoss at home, yet we bobbed around as if we were in Solbergfjorden on the inside of Senja. (Our local playground) 

It is important to regularly inspect everything on board to avoid technical problems. In this case, the engine and gearbox are given a thorough check-up.

So, we passed another milestone: 80 degrees north! The skipper received a varm hug in recognition of a job well done, while the captain was given a pair of new, warm sea gloves.

Late in the evening, we pass north of Ytre Norskøyan and decided to continue on to Virgohamna, which is a couple of hours' sail further south. The atmosphere on board is almost magical — it's an experience not to be missed. At midnight, the weather forecast threatens increasing wind and rain, but this trip has taught us to enjoy the moments we have and make the most of them. We turn south in the Barents Strait and eventually re-enter the Smeerenburgfjorden.

From 1636 to around 1660, Virgohamna was a Dutch whaling station known as Harlinger kokerij. However, not many years later, whales had almost disappeared from the fjords and coastal areas near Svalbard. In order to catch whales, it became necessary to venture far out to sea, rendering the land station obsolete.

In 1896 and 1897, Swedish engineer Salomon August Andrée attempted to reach the North Pole in a hydrogen balloon, using Virgohamna as his base. The place was named after Andrée's cargo ship, the Virgo. Virgohamna was also the base for American explorer Walter Wellman's attempt to reach the North Pole in an airship.

Gyda anchored in Virgohamna.

Old graves dating back to the whaling era of the 1600s lie alongside the remains of André's and Wellman's balloon expeditions. A few years ago the area was closed to tourists so we had to apply to the Syselmannen for permission to land here.

An eccentric Englishman named Arnold Pike was fascinated by the northern regions, and in 1888 he built a house in which to spend the winter. By that day´s standards, the house was enormous, containing four rooms and a kitchen. It is said to be the first house built for 'pleasure' in Svalbard.

Fuel tank from Wellmann's balloon in the foreground

Memorial to the Andrè expedition erected by the crew of HMS Alvsnabben in 1958

Phew... that's a lot of history at once, so we need a rest. We eventually set off for the land on the other side of the sound, but have to give in to the gusty winds and a sea that is only getting rougher.

We swing by Æøya, which is close to where we are anchored, and take a stroll ashore. There we found the Torsbu emergency shelter and a group of lazy Steinkobber (seals) enjoying their Sunday rest on the rocks in the bay, and of course a couple of red-billed terns.

We suddenly found ourselves stuck in Virgohamna. The wind came howling over the mountains from the south and created some terrible gusts that swung Gyda around like a ballerina from the Bolshoi Theatre, and then it starting blow very hard. We knew we had anchored properly when we anchored the night before, but with gusts like that, you can never be sure. It was a restless night, but the anchor held.

The next morning, the wind died down, and just as we were about to leave, the Stockholm came in and dropped anchor. This is the sister ship of the Origo, which we met on our way north. We heard on the radio that they had gone north of Hindlopen before coming here, and that they had seen blue whales there.

We weighed anchor and sat course southwards. Now we had several days of fog, rain and wind from the north-east. Even out here on the west coast, there was a fresh easterly wind. We were definitely glad not to be in Hindlopen now. We quickly stopped by Trinityhamna for one night, then sailed across Sjubreflaket and spent one night in Ebeltofthamna before once again passing Kvadehuken by Ny-Ålesund and Forlandsundet in thick fog. What is it with that place?

We spent a night in Selvågen just north of Poolepynten, before, tired of the fog and rain, took it easy and slided over to Eidembukta on the east side of Forlandsundet.

It looked like the weather was improving, but no. We had to pass Isfjorden and all the way down to Bellsund before the fog lifted. We turned in past Calypsobyen and moored in Vestervågen, at the very end of Recherchefjorden.

In Eidem Bay, we could occasionally glimpse land.

The skipper clearly thought that there was enough fog and grey weather.

It was not until we had passed Josephbukta in Recherchefjorden that the fog lifted enough to see anything on land. We anchored in Vestervågen and set out on a voyage of discovery in the area. Here we were well sheltered from easterly wind, and eventually the sun came out too.

For almost two hundred years, from the early 1600s to the late 1700s, the fjord was one of the largest gathering places for the whaling fleet in Svalbard. There are several cultural heritage sites on the west side of Recherchefjorden. On Snatcherpynten stands Camp Smith or Giæverhuset, which was built by Consul Johs. Giæver from Tromsø, presumably as a private summer house. In the same place are the remains of a whaling station and a small burial ground.

On the beach, there is mining equipment from Northern Exploration Company Ltd's operations. NEC annexed the site in 1911, for reasons unknown, as there are no mineral deposits to extract here.

It was lush in here, and if there was anywhere we could get close to reindeer, it had to be here. We had seen reindeer throughout our trip, but only from a distance. It soon turned out that we were right. In the afternoon of the second day, we spotted three animals down by the shore, so we took the dinghy and swung onto the beach. Not long after, we made contact.

Unfortunately, time was running out for us. We monitored the weather reports because now we had to think about how we would make the crossing back to Norway.

The reports predicted a fresh easterly breeze in the coming days, which suited us fine. That would give us a good tailwind heading south. We had a few days to go, so if it suited us we could stop by Bjørnøya again as well.

Early on Sunday morning, we weighed anchor and sailed out of Bellsund, setting course for the south. We were sheltered by the mountains, so it wasn't until late in the day, when we passed Hornsund and approached Sørkapp, that the wind picked up, and then it came fast. We raced south and Gyda sailed like a dream.

However, the wind turned more towards the south, and as a result we ended up far out to sea west of Bjørnøya. We try to avoid sailing close haled if we can. More spacious courses give the boat better speed and dynamics, so we don't mind doing a couple of extra tacks.

However, the weather reports from Bjørnøya Meteo indicated that it would eventually turn more towards the south-west. This proved to be correct, and we were soon able to change course directly towards the coast of Troms.

The midnight sun glows in the sea. We are unable to take photos that can convey the magical atmosphere. The light and colours are completely indescribable.

Now we had the wind just as we wanted it, 15-20 knots from the south-west, and we sailed at 8-9 knots. After three days at sea, we had to stop for a while when a poor weld on a shaft in the wind vane broke.

We salvaged the equipment and were eventually able to continue, but now we had to steer manually. We could have used the Simen Simrad electric autopilot if we wanted to, but it draws so much power that we chose not to. The boat sailed like a dream anyway, so it was easy to stay on course.

As we approached the coast, the wind died down and we motored for the last 10-12 hours. Then Simen Simrad was put in charge of steering.

The trip took almost exactly four days from when we left Vestervågen in Bellsund until we passed Fugløykalven in Troms. After we got inside the coast, we encountered some heavy showers, but even in such weather there are beautiful moments, like here where the rainbow lights up the sky.

In Skjervøy, we spent a couple of quiet, lazy days catching up on some sleep before sailing south past Tromsø to our home port in Djupvågen.

The accident with the wind vane was the only thing that broke and could not be repaired during the entire trip. We sailed a total of just under 2500 nautical miles.

What a trip we had... lots of sea, wind, rain, fog, sun, ice, mountains, nature, whales, seals, walruses, polar bears, birds, good food, good sailing, and lots of nice people :-)