Update from Arktika! (Patreon)

Hey, we've both made it safely to Arktika and are now sailing her towards Faroes and Iceland. The last 3 weeks have been veeery busy, basically like moving between houses except for us it seems to be boats now... Sohvi rented out her apartment in Helsinki so we had to empty that as well. We are a little bit under time pressure now too, since we want to make it to Iceland before the autumn weather hits, so there's not really that much time left.

Arktika had been on hard for couple of years with no visitors, so we've had a lot of basic cleaning and maintenance to do! And lots of work just getting to know the boat, as she's far bigger and somewhat more complex than what we're used to 😉

This is just a collection of random photos so far. Some stats about the boat, because I know a lot of you have been wondering:

Arktika is a Meta Voyageur 47, built at the Meta yard in France in 1984.

Aluminum hull, paint has been removed. The focus here is on functionality, not aesthetics ;) The construction is done with Meta's special "Strongal" method, meaning that there's almost no stringers or similar support structure, but the plates are very thick (10-15 mm aluminum all around). Still not an icebreaker, but supposed to be quite good for "recreational" bashing into ice?

Double rudders and double engines. Engines are Nanni 5280, 60 hp. The rudders are ice protected and the added protection was done by the previous owner, we might need to modify again to make the steering better. In any case a lot of new boat handling stuff to learn, the twin propellers can do some fun things in close quarters... at least when we learn to use them effectively! 😆

The bottom is flat and allows for beaching / drying out. No real keel except for the "false keel" at the stern section. Relatively small sails and mast, two foresails on furlers. Yep, she's more of a motorsailor really. 6000 liters of diesel capacity allows for a year or even more of self-sufficient cruising. There's no ballast except for the diesel (and water + batteries).

Inside there's a big wheelhouse, a separate galley with a sitting area. Up front two bunk beds in the hallway, a sleeping cabin with a double bed and a bow sleeping area with a 1,5 person bed. Up towards the bow also two heads, only one currently really in use. Under the wheelhouse in the stern is the engine room and a lot of storage.

Arktika has already sailed around the north pole (Northwest & Northeast passages) so she's a proven boat. Will be a great boat for our plans for Iceland & Greenland!

The first video will be out soon, thanks a lot for all your support!

The tracking map has been updated at the below link, find the green line and placemarkers for our current track:
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1lmdEhYcHj51MrimMEZXhMTW5TVTNdOTp&usp=sharing