An Arctic cruise is on many a bucket list. But how possible is
it for the average sailor? Brian Black shares his knowledge
The Arctic
Experience
I
sometimes learn from my mistakes,
the painful ones at least, so thinking
about how to plan an Arctic voyage
is a mix of considering what might
have happened and preparing to
reduce the risks that await for the next time
in a hostile but compellingly beautiful
environment. So why go there in the first
place when there are so many wonderful
sailing areas closer to home?
For me, the answer lies somewhere
between challenge and reward. The
challenging bit is about testing oneself both
physically and mentally. After all there is little
obvious appeal in spending long hours on a
cold deck dodging icebergs and the
occasional Atlantic gale and even when you
get near to where you’re going, an ice
strewn shore might prevent you getting
close. Perhaps the answer lies in the reward,
which in my case is about gazing on alandscape that few, if any, have seen before,
a sense of achievement at sailing a small
boat from the green gentle coasts of Ireland
into a wilderness of awesome spectacle and
when you get home, sharing a pint or two
with those who have been with you, changed
forever by the experience of the high north.
That’s why I’ve now had nine Arctic
seasons ranging from Svalbard in the east
across to Greenland and, for those who may
be like-minded, I can now offer my thoughts
on where to go and the essential elements
that need to be considered.SETTING OUT AND ROUTES
Plenty of skippers over-winter their boats in
Norway or Iceland to extend the following
year’s cruising. However, if you’re starting in
UK waters and want to get there and back in
the same season, that restricts the cruising
area to somewhere between the Norwegian
Arctic and east
Greenland.
Svalbard lies
about six hundred
miles north of
Norway with
rewarding
opportunities on the
way such as the
Lofoten Islands, the
North Cape and
Bear Island at the
halfway point.
Svalbard is in reality
a group of islands,
the main one being
Spitzbergen.Typically you would make landfall
somewhere near Hornsund at the south-
west corner but the fjord can be tricky,
especially if the wind is pushing ice out to
sea from the glaciers at the top end. On my
first voyage there we had to retreat and then
clear the coast by several miles to avoid
shallows on the way to Longyearbyen, the
main town. From there you can head on up,
either close to the outside of Prins Karls
Forland or through the Sundet into Ny
Alesund and then on round to the
unbelievably beautiful Magdalenefjord.
Depending on ice conditions, a
circumnavigation of Sptizbergen is possible
by returning south through Hinlopen and
then on to Norway’s North Cape.
Iceland abounds with great cruising,
fascinating scenery and is an adventure inIce leaving a fjord
on a falling tideEXPERT
ON BOARD
Brian has survived
nine Arctic
seasons since the
mid 1990s, using
his expert
seamanship and
hands-on skills.