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4 // ISBJØRN: Spitsbergen Adventure // 500-800 Miles // $8,000 // WAITLIST


$8,000 // 14 Days

Synopsis

Spitsbergen is the largest island of the Svalbard Archipelago and for us, an absolute Arctic playground. This ‘Spitsbergen Adventure’ will be the climax of taking ISBJØRN to Svalbard - be prepared to fight ice and to witness house-sized glaciers fall into the sea. Hang out with Walrus and spot Polar Bears (Note the name of your vessel!). The beauty of Svalbard awaits.

The Route

Itinerary

  • June 19: Join ISBJØRN in Longyearbyen at 1700. Dinner with the group either ashore or onboard.

  • June 20: All-day safety briefing & boat orientation

  • June 21: Departure!

  • June 21-July 2: High Arctic exploring in Spitsbergen!

  • July 3: Depart ISBJØRN in Longyearbyn by 12:00 (Noon)

Travel Logistics

  • Fly into Svalbard Airport (LYR) from either Tromsø (TOS) or Oslo (OSL).

  • Fly out of Svalbard Airport, Longyear (LYR), into either Tromsø (TOS) or Oslo (OSL).

How to Join

To register, complete the Offshore Passage Registration by clicking the 'Register Now' button above, or at the bottom of the page. You'll be asked to complete the  form - make sure you hit submit. Indicate '2022: Spitsbergen Adventure' as your preferred passage. 

Once we receive your registration, you'll be sent an invoice for 50% of the balance, due immediately. The final 50% of the balance will be due 60 days prior to the passage date. Terms and conditions are in the registration form, and you'll be asked to agree to them before submitting your deposit. Please read them carefully.

Featured
Travel Logistics
Travel Logistics

Click here to read in general about the best way to get to & from the boat. Specifics on each trip will be emailed to you in a series of newsletters once you register. It's ocean sailing - be flexible in your planning!

What's Included in the Crew Fee?
What's Included in the Crew Fee?

Click here to read about what you get - and what's not included - when you sign-up for this passage.

How to Book & What Happens Next
How to Book & What Happens Next

Click here to read more about how to register and join us offshore!

FAQs
FAQs

Click here to read some of our most frequently asked questions from crew who have sailed with us in the past.

What to Expect Onboard
What to Expect Onboard

Click here to read about what you can expect on an ocean passage onboard ISBJORN or FALKEN.

Related Blogs:

Featured
Escaping Spitsbergen // Svalbard-Iceland Part 1
Escaping Spitsbergen // Svalbard-Iceland Part 1

When we have wind, we’re making the miles. It’s 1100 on Wednesday July 18 as I write. Mia’s on watch. James just woke up and is in his bunk on the port (high) side, editing photos on his laptop. Jordan just woke up. Isbjorn is enveloped in thick fog. I’m at the nav station with one eye on the radar. We’re under full sail, the big genoa pulling in a ten-knot southeasterly and utterly flat calm sea.

With Delos in the Arctic // Part 3: North Spitsbergen
With Delos in the Arctic // Part 3: North Spitsbergen

There was ice towards the head of the fjord, lots of brilliant blue chunks broken off the twin glaciers at the eastern terminus of the water. They were bigger bergs than we’d seen thus far, bigger even than some of the ones we played with down in Hornsund, and bluer. The ice lent a big of color to an otherwise greyscale day. Of course, despite the hour, we opted to head deeper into the fjord to play with the ice rather than head to anchor and sleep.

"Polar Bear! POLAR Bear! POLAR BEAR!"
"Polar Bear! POLAR Bear! POLAR BEAR!"

There on the hill off the port beam, in the snow between two bare stretches of brown rock and dirt stood a big, white polar bear, meandering around in the snow only a few hundred yards from the water’s edge and our anchorage. I wasn’t really looking for anything in particular, walrus if anything were on my mind, and I think I was really just admiring the mountains. His fur, while white, was a tint yellower than the fresh snow he was tramping around in, and his movements made him very easy to spot in the otherwise frozen, still landscape. 

Omens & Offshore Sailing
Omens & Offshore Sailing

I’ve been terrified of this trip. Genuinely scared. It’s the unknown up here, it’s cold wet and foggy, and the Arctic’s reputation as being a gnarly place is obviously well-established. Crossing the Barents Sea represented the single biggest challenge Mia & I have ever set for ourselves. I’m not superstitious generally. I’m not a religious person in the slightest, and I tend towards rational, logical thought and try not to read too much meaning into situations.

To the North! Crossing 73º North Latitude
To the North! Crossing 73º North Latitude

Isbjörn JUST crossed the 200-mile mark since leaving our snug anchorage at Finnkroken, and in another three miles - by the time I finish typing - we’ll be across 73º north latitude. The weather is gorgeous outside. A low, dispersed ceiling of silver-blue clouds allows the sun to shine through now and then, blanketing the boat with warm (relatively) and dry air. Jordan and Patty have nearly fully recovered from their bout of mal-de-mer that beset them to their bunks fairly quickly once we got offshore proper and outside the protection of the fjords. The captain (yours truly) has slept nearly 24 of the 36 hours we’ve been at sea...

Departure & Into the High Arctic
Departure & Into the High Arctic

Like I’ve said on the podcast, this is it - the studying time has run out, and now it’s time to get some rest and take the test. This passage is the most challenging thing Mia & I have ever set out to accomplish. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous (terrified in a way), but we feel ready, as ready as we can be. I’m confident in the boat, confident in our skills, confident in the crew. I’ve already briefed the gang that we’ve got to be on high alert at all times - if the uncertain weather forecasts weren’t enough, we’ve got ice, tree trunks from Siberia and fog to content with. 

From here on out, we’ll be off the grid for a while, with no idea when we’ll get Internet back. The tracker will be on and pinging every few hours, but if you’re following at home, don’t panic if it misses a ping or two or fails entirely - don’t ready anything into it.

Earlier Event: June 8
7 // ICEBEAR: Azores – Bergen, Norway // 1,900 Miles & 13 Days // $6,800 // WAITLIST
Later Event: July 6
5 // ISBJØRN: Svalbard – Isafjordur, Iceland // 1,300 Miles & 16 Days // $8,000 // WAITLSIT