What we'll be on soon... 😮 (Patreon)

Here we go, very excited to share this with you. This is Arktika, a boat with a lot of character and also a lot of history! We've made an arrangement with the principal owners of Arktika (who happen to be present here on Patreon as well!), and this is what we'll be sailing during the foreseeable future! This is a serious piece of kit, 47 feet, made/modified for Arctic cruising, hull out of thick aluminum, two engines, 6000 liter diesel tanks, 1000 liters of water, lots of solar, two wind generators etc. Should be perfect for long autonomous periods in Iceland and Greenland.

How it all came to be is actually a long story, but basically I saw Arktika up on the hard in Tromso 1,5 years ago when I was fixing the damage that s/y Sylvia sustained in a winter storm.. I shovelled some snow off the deck to help out.. and the rest is history!

Now the other exciting part, because of COVID Arktika has unfortunately been on the hard the last two years and the current owners haven't been able to get to her at all. And before COVID it had somewhat recently just arrived from previous owners' failed expedition (after which it was sold). So because of this unexpected time on the hard and the fact that the current owners haven't really got to use the boat properly, I'm sure there's some work to do to prepare Arktika especially for Greenland. I myself have only stood on the deck and have never been inside. (No-one's been inside for two years).

Arktika is in Tromso, Norway, and now that we're finally able to enter Norway again I'll be going there at the end of June. Sohvi will be following in July. We're currently in Finland and preparing to leave, it's hectic at the moment as we're getting all the needed items for the boat and also emptying Sohvi's apartment so that she can rent it out... has been way too expensive having an unoccupied apartment and doing mortgage payments!

Anyway, I'll report again as soon as I get to Arktika :) In the meanwhile here's what the previous owner was up to with her... interesting stories for sure
https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/arctic/2016/10/aimed-north-pole-ended-longyearbyen
http://icepeople.net/2017/02/26/quest-for-the-top-denied-chance-to-seek-the-north-pole-french-explorer-is-going-after-norways-government-for-stopping-him/