Sat
2 Nov
2019

We spend the mor­ning in Kabel­våg, the for­mer “capi­tal” of Lofo­ten, a powerful place for cen­tu­ries until it lost its importance in recent histo­ry. But it is still a love­ly place with an inte­res­t­ing salt­wa­ter aqua­ri­um and an equal­ly inte­res­t­ing histo­ry muse­um. The rich­ness and the power of the mer­chants next to the pover­ty of the fisher­men. A strong con­trast.

Gal­lery – Kabel­våg, Svol­vær & Lauk­vik

Click on thumb­nail to open an enlar­ged ver­si­on of the spe­ci­fic pho­to.

The hike to Svol­vær was both love­ly (regar­ding sce­n­ery) and wet (regar­ding ter­rain). Tho­se who stay­ed on board of SV Anti­gua for the short pas­sa­ge to Svol­vær had some more time to explo­re the modern-day capi­tal of Lofo­ten befo­re we visi­ted the nor­t­hern light cent­re in Lauk­vik in the evening.

Fri
1 Nov
2019

Troll­fjord is one of the most famous places in Lofo­ten. It is so easi­ly acce­es­si­ble by ship and the land­scape is stun­ning.

And it still is even if you don’t see all of it. The moun­tain peaks were hid­den in clouds. But we saw actual­ly more of Troll­fjor­den than we had expec­ted … and then, we could even set some sails!

Gal­lery – Troll­fjord – Skro­va

Click on thumb­nail to open an enlar­ged ver­si­on of the spe­ci­fic pho­to.

Later we ente­red the litt­le har­bour of Skro­va, a small island far north in Ves­t­fjord that belongs to Lofo­ten. Love­ly har­bour. Love­ly sce­n­ery. Love­ly walks. Love­ly hiking. Love­ly BBQ by Sascha and his team. Wea­ther – less love­ly, most­ly. But we even got some nor­t­hern lights later that evening. Love­ly.

Thu
31 Oct
2019

We are a good bit fur­ther south and now we are in the Lofo­ten area. Not yet Lofo­ten pro­per, but we could see them from here if it was clear. “Here” is Tysfjord, a lar­ge, beau­tiful fjord that is cut­ting into Nor­way oppo­si­te of the nor­t­hern Lofo­ten islands.

You can make love­ly hikes in this area. We opt for Skar­ber­get. Wea­ther-wise, it took a bit of moti­va­ti­on, but then … it is gre­at as soon as you are out the­re, with snow and fresh wind! The views are not quite as ama­zing as they might be on a clear day, though.

Gal­lery – Skar­ber­get & Tranøy

Click on thumb­nail to open an enlar­ged ver­si­on of the spe­ci­fic pho­to.

Later we move over to Tranøy. Again some ama­zing maneou­vring by Mario to get along­side in this tiny littl port. The art park of Tranøy is wai­ting for us! Who cares about cold, dark­ness and rain if you can go out and see various pie­ces of art!

Yes, the wea­ther. Could be bet­ter.

Wed
30 Oct
2019

We arri­ve at Skrol­s­vik on the sou­thwes­tern point of Sen­ja at break­fast time. Sun and snow are bathing the land­scape in ever-chan­ging win­ter light.

You can do ever­y­thing from short walks to moun­tain clim­bing here. We are hap­py with a good walk up a moun­tain slo­pe or an easy walk fol­lo­wing a path to the coast. The­re are also some for­ti­fi­ca­ti­ons here which the Ger­mans built during the war.

The owners of the old store („Gam­mel­bu­tik­ken“) are so kind to open espe­ci­al­ly for us. The love­ly woo­den buil­ding was built in 1870 and it ser­ved as the local store for all kinds of dai­ly use stuff from 1925 to 1992. Now it is kept as kind of a muse­um. And you can still buy all sorts of love­ly things here.

Gal­lery – Skrol­s­vik and Har­stad

Click on thumb­nail to open an enlar­ged ver­si­on of the spe­ci­fic pho­to.

Then we con­ti­nue to Har­stad on the island of Hin­nøya which belongs to Ves­terå­len. The Ger­mans (again …) put up some cra­zy guns and for­ti­fi­ca­ti­ons here during the war. The his­to­ri­cal muse­um and the medieval church are unfort­u­na­te­ly clo­sed today.

Tue
29 Oct
2019

We depar­ted late night from Finn­kro­ken and set cour­se to the nor­the­ast, to Skjer­vøy, with high hopes to find orca that had been seen the­re recent­ly. But the wea­ther had dif­fe­rent ide­as. It did not make much sen­se to try to find wha­les in force 6-7 winds, so we just tur­ned and set sail, which was love­ly in the snow …

Gal­lery – Trom­sø – Finn­kro­ken

Click on thumb­nail to open an enlar­ged ver­si­on of the spe­ci­fic pho­to.

… and a cou­ple of hour­se later we were in Nord-Len­an­gen, a calm litt­le place in a silent fjord – love­ly win­ter sce­n­ery and atmo­sphe­re!

Later, back on board, we got into the nor­t­hern light mode and made pre­pa­ra­ti­ons for fur­ther sightin­gs by having a look at the pho­to­gra­phy side of it (if you are inte­res­ted, then have a look at Rolf’s nor­t­hern light page for a refres­her). Then we set cour­se to the south, pas­sing Trom­sø, and then hea­ding for Sen­ja.

Tue
29 Oct
2019

A love­ly ear­ly win­ter day in Trom­sø, on 70 degrees north – cold and clear, calm and sun­ny.

Ever­y­bo­dy is coming on board SV Anti­gua in the late after­noon. It feels like late evening, but it is real­ly just the late after­noon – sun­set just after 15.00 hours and it is kind of get­ting dark an hour later.

But the lights up the­re are tur­ned on again. First class nor­t­hern lights! We enjoy the magic in the har­bour, with the lights abo­ve the long bridge and the famous cathe­dral, and during the first miles of our voya­ge.

We go along­side after two hours sai­ling in Finn­kro­ken on the island of Reinøya. A tiny litt­le pier and the chan­ce for an evening walk and to put the tri­pod up on solid ground – the nor­t­hern light show is still going on.

Gal­lery – Trom­sø – Finn­kro­ken

Click on thumb­nail to open an enlar­ged ver­si­on of the spe­ci­fic pho­to.

We get a very warm wel­co­me. What a plea­sant sur­pri­se! The­re are inde­ed peo­p­le here who do not mind to see tou­rists! Jo Mar­tin is one of a dozen peo­p­le who are living here (is it real­ly that many?). He is the owner of an old tra­ding post next to the pier. It was foun­ded in 1802 and it is real­ly a bit of a time cap­su­le! At the same time, the­re is a path into the wood which is mark­ed by tor­ches, so we can easi­ly find the way to a lav­vo (lar­ge tent) which is hea­ted by a fire insi­de – while the nor­t­hern lights are dancing on the sky! How good is that!? Incre­di­ble! What a gre­at start into the voya­ge!

Mon
28 Oct
2019

The polar night is about to start – the last sun­set and sun­ri­se in Lon­gye­ar­by­en are today. In Trom­sø, we are about to start again, explo­ring the north under sail with SV Anti­gua. The light of the north, nor­t­hern lights, beau­tiful land­scapes and places with a tas­te of win­ter, orcas – that is a sub­stan­ti­al part of our wish­list for the next week.

But now, the­re is still time to get a few things done here in Trom­sø. New Spits­ber­gen drift­wood pic­tu­re frames and kit­chen slats need to get on their way (I thought I may just men­ti­on that 🙂 ), I want to meet some fri­ends and in the evening, the­re are some impres­si­ve fire­works on the night sky!

Gal­lery – Trom­sø – 26th Octo­ber 2019

Click on thumb­nail to open an enlar­ged ver­si­on of the spe­ci­fic pho­to.

Sat
28 Sep
2019

Bil­lefjord is one of Spitsbergen’s most beau­tiful fjords, if you ask me. Here, we had the oppor­tu­ni­ty to go for a hike and to crui­se along Nor­dens­ki­öld­breen. Also hoping to find a polar bear that might be a bit clo­ser than the one in Lief­defjord a few days ago. This did not hap­pen, but belugas show­ed up, and the stun­ning sce­n­ery … a per­fect­ly fine mor­ning!

Gal­lery – Bil­lefjord – 28th Sep­tem­ber 2019

Click on thumb­nail to open an enlar­ged ver­si­on of the spe­ci­fic pho­to.

The last landing was on Gips­huks­let­ta, on the cor­ner bet­ween Bil­lefjord and Sassenfjord/Tempelfjord. Stun­ning arc­tic win­ter land­scape in the light that you only have a few weeks befo­re the onset of the polar night. A silent good­bye to Spitsbergen’s natu­re – for this time.

Fri
27 Sep
2019

Some­ti­mes it is bet­ter to adjust plans to rea­li­ty, which is: the wea­ther: this litt­le autumn storm had not been in yesterday’s fore­cast, but it was cle­ar­ly blo­wing through Isfjord today. We rea­ched the har­bour of Barents­burg in time and that was the per­fect place to be on such a day with a lot of wind and poor visi­bi­li­ty. The lat­ter increased during the after­noon, so tho­se who were keen on some hiking could actual­ly take off in the after­noon. The foxes came out and play­ed, the sau­na was hot, while snow was drif­ting out­side …

Gal­lery – Barents­burg – 27th Sep­tem­ber 2019

Click on thumb­nail to open an enlar­ged ver­si­on of the spe­ci­fic pho­to.

Thu
26 Sep
2019

Again a calm night, in a small bay in nor­thwest Spits­ber­gen. The day starts with a gla­cier view and mir­ror images on the water.

Sal­ly­ham­na is not a big place – not a lot of space for easy wal­king, that is – but beau­tiful. Sce­n­ery, Wal­de­mar Kræmer’s old hut, blub­ber ovens and gra­ves from the wha­ling years.

Later we get stun­ned by the lar­ge and pret­ty acti­ve Svitjod­breen in Fuglefjord. And by a beard­ed seal that is res­t­ing on a bit of ice.

Gal­lery – Sal­ly­ham­na – Fuglefjord – 26th Sep­tem­ber 2019

Click on thumb­nail to open an enlar­ged ver­si­on of the spe­ci­fic pho­to.

Then it is time to lea­ve the fjords in the north behind. We have more than 120 miles to cover to Isfjord. By now it is any­way grey and wet out­side, but good sai­ling wea­ther, with light nor­t­her­ly winds.

Wed
25 Sep
2019

Ves­le („litt­le“) Raud­fjord ist east of the „real“ Raud­fjord. A beau­tiful lagoon land­scape whe­re you can hike in various direc­tions as far as you want to. Also here: pla­s­tic on the bea­ches. Now, at least, seve­ral bags less than befo­re.

The world dis­ap­pears in fog bags while we sail around Bis­ka­yar­hu­ken, but it cle­ars up again as soon as we enter Raud­fjord. Liquid gold comes through holes in the clouds and covers some of the sharp peaks and gla­ciers.

Gal­lery – (Ves­le) Raud­fjord – 25th Sep­tem­ber 2019

Click on thumb­nail to open an enlar­ged ver­si­on of the spe­ci­fic pho­to.

Carrf­jel­let is only 154 met­res high, but the view is stun­ning.

Tue
24 Sep
2019

Mona­co­b­reen is curr­ent­ly advan­cing, the wes­tern part of its front has pushed for­ward at least a kilo­met­re. The gla­cier is accor­din­gly very pro­duc­ti­ve. At times inner Lief­defjord was com­ple­te­ly fil­led up with gla­cier ice, almost or actual­ly impas­sa­ble. Also today the­re was a lot of gla­cier ice floa­ting in the water. Very impres­si­ve, even on a grey mor­ning.

Andøya­ne offer a gre­at scenic con­trast. Love­ly sce­n­ery, colourful lichens, beau­tiful­ly cur­ved coast­li­nes. And, sad­ly, a lot of pla­s­tic lit­ter on the bea­ches. For bags less now, after our visit.

Gal­lery – Lief­defjord – 24th Sep­tem­ber 2019

Click on thumb­nail to open an enlar­ged ver­si­on of the spe­ci­fic pho­to.

Later we saw a polar bear that cap­tain Robert had seen on Reins­dyr­flya. Quite distant. A rather skin­ny bear. It was temp­ting to lea­ve a pile of but­ter on the beach. But no, we don’t do that. It is not allo­wed. But it is allo­wed to feel empa­thy.

Mon
23 Sep
2019

Ancho­ring in Mus­ham­na tur­ned out to be an inte­res­t­ing pro­ject last night. The lagoon was alre­a­dy fro­zen solid, so we pre­fer­red to stay out­side. Beau­tiful evening- and moon­light!
 

Gal­lery – Wood­fjord – 23rd Sep­tem­ber 2019

Click on thumb­nail to open an enlar­ged ver­si­on of the spe­ci­fic pho­to.

Next mor­ning we went and explo­red the beau­tiful win­ter land­scape at Mus­ham­na. Snow and sun! Inner Wood­fjord, later, was in con­trast to that quite win­dy, so we rather went into Bock­fjord for an after­noon walk in the sno­wy tun­dra. It was clou­dy now, a com­ple­te­ly dif­fe­rent mood. A land­scape like car­ved in stone. Well, that’s what it is.

Sun
22 Sep
2019

Wea­ther-wise, today is our chan­ce to sail up to the north coast. So we start ear­ly from Ny-Åle­sund and spend the mor­ning moving north along the west coast. It is clea­ring up in Smee­ren­burg­fjord, get­ting real­ly beau­tiful, so we dive deep into polar histo­ry in Vir­go­ham­na. Har­bour seals are lying on stones, and a quite lar­ge herd of wal­ru­ses is enjoy­ing life in the snow in Smee­ren­burg. It is quite cold, and the­re is a smell of win­ter in the air.

Gal­lery – Nor­thwest Spits­ber­gen – 22nd Sep­tem­ber 2019

Click on thumb­nail to open an enlar­ged ver­si­on of the spe­ci­fic pho­to.

Sat
21 Sep
2019

It is a gre­at start into the day, waking up with the noi­se of a thun­de­ring gla­cier. We are ancho­red near Blom­strand­breen.

Blom­strand­hal­vøya is the the­me of the day. The choice is eit­her a walk clo­ser to sea level or a crossing of the island inclu­ding the hig­hest „peaks“ rea­ching 385 met­res abo­ve sea level. Not Mount Ever­est, but abso­lut­e­ly enough for some stun­ning views of Kongsfjord. Back to the ship along the old mining place Marb­le Island / Ny Lon­don. We are a bit late, but it is worth spen­ding every minu­te out­side on such a gol­den Sep­tem­ber day.

The small islands of Lové­nøya­ne are bird reser­ves, it is not allo­wed to visit them during the sum­mer. But all bree­ding birds are gone now and we can visit legal­ly. The­se small islands are tre­asu­re chests of arc­tic natu­re. Thou­sands of years of inten­se fer­ti­li­sing have crea­ted a thick car­pet of moss tun­dra. Ice on the bea­ches and har­bour seals near­by, two reinde­er, many lar­ge erra­tic bould­ers, beau­tiful sce­n­ery ever­y­whe­re around us. Silence.

Gal­lery – Kongsfjord – 21st Sep­tem­ber 2019

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In Ny-Åle­sund they kind­ly open Kongsfjord­bu­tik­ken for us Satur­day evening. I think it was worth the effort for all invol­ved. Our town walk and the litt­le walk to Amund­sen’s air­ship mast tur­ned out to be late evening excur­si­ons. The sun went down at 19:39.