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2 // ISBJØRN: Shetland, Scotland – Tromsø, Norway // 950 Miles & 16 Days // $8,000 // WAITLIST


$8,000 // 16 Days

Synopsis

THIS IS IT! After re-living our first Arctic adventure through the book we published and the video series the Delos Project produced (80º North), we just couldn’t resist returning! Starting in spring 2021, we’ll head north again, bound for the High Arctic and re-tracing the route we sailed in 2018. It’ll be a combination of returning to the places we loved so much last time around - Dahlbrebukta, Virgohamna, Barentsburg - and exploring to see what new adventures we can find!

This is the first leg of an all-out Arctic adventure, re-created from our 2018 itinerary. Join us on ISBJØRN for over two weeks of epic Scandinavian sailing, ending above the Arctic Circle in Tromsø, Norway. JOIN US AND SAIL INTO THE ARCTIC!

The Route

Itinerary

  • May 12: Meet in Scotland at 17:00. Enjoy dinner aboard or at shore with the crew.

  • May 13: All day safety & weather briefing

  • May 14: Departure from Scotland (weather dependent)

  • May 28: Crew departs in Tromsø, Norway at 12:00 (noon)

Travel Logistics

  • Fly into Scotland (most likely Kirkwall in Orkney, but TBD).

  • Fly out of Tromsø Airport, Langnes (TOS), an international airport with destinations all over Europe (to connect to the U.S.)

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: Scotland - Tromsø ' 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
Isbjorn Inland // Relaxing Exploration in Arctic Norway’s Inner Fjords
Isbjorn Inland // Relaxing Exploration in Arctic Norway’s Inner Fjords

After our stressful night in Reine, the wind had eased off enough to let us get off the dock around 0900 the next morning. I had only gotten about 4 very fitful hours of sleep, but knew I could relax and nap once in open water. The gusts in the valleys were still touching 35 knots, but the lulls between them were longer and came more often. We removed all the extra dock lines we’d added prior, then made our escape. For a few seconds it was touch and go, as Isbjorn’s stern pulled to port and towards the fixed pier ahead of Rubicon3’s Oriole.

Arctic Weather in Reine, Lofoten
Arctic Weather in Reine, Lofoten

I’ll say I’m pretty relaxed being at sea again after the other night, which was a reminder that we are indeed in the Arctic and that shit can - and will - happen. There’s a saying that goes something like ‘the Arctic kills the unprepared,’ and last night was a freaking wake-up call for me on that front.

Isbjorn's First Days in the Arctic // Exploring Lofoten
Isbjorn's First Days in the Arctic // Exploring Lofoten

In the 18 hours in Bodø, we met Ola, a fan of the podcast and fellow Swede who popped by the boat to say hi. Ola used to work as a boatbuilder in Sweden for Linjett. He and his wife built their own Linjett during his tenure there, then sailed it across the Caribbean and back, including stops in Iceland and Greenland. They wound up settling in Bodø by a series of coincidences, and set up a woodworking and boatbuilding shop there over the last couple of years. Ola offered to do some work for Isbjorn if we needed anything - I wasn’t in the right frame of mind, as we were preparing to leave the dock again that afternoon, but asked about some ice poles for Svalbard, and where we might get them. “I’ll make them for you!” Ola said proudly. Nevermind we were leaving in two hours - he’d do it.

Landfall in Bodø
Landfall in Bodø

We used as much diesel on this passage as we have on any passage really, running on fumes off our big tank as we motored the last few miles into the harbor. The trade-off was the spectacularly calm ocean. The silvery light from an overcast sky made the sea one giant oil painting as far as you could see in the west, and providing the foreground for the snow-capped mountains to the east, off our starboard beam. Nobody cared that we weren’t actually sailing.

Two Days Offshore from Shetland towards Norway
Two Days Offshore from Shetland towards Norway

We’re at sea now two and half days, having departed Lerwick, Shetland on Sunday May 20 after a 15-hour respite from what looked like some gnarly southerly winds off the tip of Norway. In hindsight we should have continued nonstop from Fair Isle. But Mia had a bad gut feeling that morning we woke up in North Haven to get ready to go offshore, and we’ve done well to follow her gut feelings. So after a 40-mile, sun-filled downwind sail into Lerwick and a dinner ashore, we had one last night’s rest before setting out for the Arctic.

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