Expedition Report
Two experienced sailors, one a final year Medicine student at Imperial who intended to complete the practical part of her Ocean Navigation qualification, aimed to sail a 35-foot Hallberg-Rassy sailing yacht, across the North Sea from Hartlepool to Norway, up the West Coast of Norway to Tromso, and then across the Barent’s Sea to Svalbard. Along the way they were joined by several other participants over particular legs of the voyage. The journey was completed in two stages, with the first part, from the UK to Bodo in Norway, conducted over ten days in early April, with stops in Alesund, Kristiansund and Brekstad. This stage also involved crossing into the Arctic Circle.
The yacht was moored in Bodo until mid-June for the start of the second stage. The initial part from Bodo to Tromso via Reine, Nusfjord, and Kabelvag, included an encounter with a pod of killer whales, whilst during their moments on land, they had to dodge diving Arctic terns, birds which were particularly concerned with protecting their territory and young while nesting. The journey from Tromso to Longyearbyen on Svalbard was 676 miles over 6 days across the Barent’s Sea, and started by sailing straight into gale force winds. The yacht was turned back towards the shelter of islands and anchored overnight before recommencing this leg through the swells of the Barent’s Sea, accompanied by dolphins at one point. They anchored in Longyearbyen the night they arrived only to find in the morning that a large cruise ship had tied up to a nearby dock, blocking the yacht in with its lines.
The team made their way onto Spitzbergen and then to Prins Karls Forland island, seeing their first glaciers, Ymerbukta and Trygghamna, and then on to Blomstrandhalvoya Island. The following days saw a visit to Ny Alesund, one of the most northerly settlements in the world, a trip to Lloyds Hotel in Krossfjorden to sign the guestbook, before crossing 80 degrees latitude on 19 July, just 600 miles from the North Pole. There were many other sites visited and the team also had the opportunity to meet scientists who were stationed and working in the region, before returning to Longyearbyen. The yacht eventually returned to Tromso, four weeks after setting out.
In addition to funding provided by the Exploration Board this expedition was supported by the Andrew
Croft Memorial Fund, and the Gino Watkins Memorial Fund.
