Suddenly, an opportunity opens up! During the coming days, I
will be sailing The Arctic on a 39-footer. It will be along the very same coast
where I have been last summer (Murmansk, Kirkenes, past Submarine cemetery waters and The city of flying dogs, and a bit in White Sea but not revisiting Solovki this time).
Happy that I was not sailing the area during the past 2
weeks, during the Russian military exercises in Barents Sea. Tankers, fishing boats
and cargo ships had to standby and wait during the drills. Current Russian navy
exercises are expected to end by now, so with proper lookout there could be
some boat spotting. No further navigational warnings are given, hope to be
unaffected by such things during the passage. Most of the crew know Russian, so
proper radio contact is assured day and night. The football cup is still
ongoing too, so I guess the authorities will be somewhat friendly to tourists.
After this leg, I will decide whether to go further on, and join several legs
in the Arctic, or return home for other projects.
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| Fishing boats in Teriberka. Only well-equipped long-sailing boats can make the vast distances of NE passage |
The sailing boat I am joining is en route for a circumnavigation of Northern
Europe. As long as the customs are cleared, an offshore passage along Kola
peninsula is possible between Kirkenes and White Sea. However, Kara gate would
still pose a permit problem, so the Northeast passage is off limits until
further notice. The only way to complete the NE passage right now seems to be
finding a Russian boat willing and able to stand to the challenge. There are
not many such boats. And those that exist, may have trouble getting permit to enter
port in Alaska.
In addition to this trip, I have recently been contacted by a skipper looking for crew
for the Northwest passage, so I will be exploring that possibility further. If
I cannot do the full Arctic circumnavigation because of sailing permits, then I
will break the trip up in parts and complete them one by one! That means I’m
always open for Arctic expeditions and other extreme adventures, so it’s just a
matter of contacting me and agreeing on the conditions. I am also constantly
looking for possibilities to sail in Asia and Indian Ocean, hoping to do a
passage to and around Cape of Good Hope any time soon. And naturally, I have
made myself available for offshore racing boats – both as competing member and
for deliveries. Who knows – maybe the encounters and discussions at Volvo Ocean
Race will bear fruit and I’ll join the teams for delivery after the last leg.
Fingers crossed!
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| An iceberg in the Barents Sea |
Last year, my trip was supported by Polar Cape. I’m still
very grateful for that, and while I am revisiting the area I am thinking about this
company and the great people that I’ve met during my collaboration and the Eureka
lecture. This year, Polar Cape got the European trophy for being the #1 Best Place to Work in Europe,
not only in Sweden. Now that’s excellently done. Not
many companies can deliver this level of effort, responsibility and care for the employees.
Hope that others, both within IT and otherwise, will continue to
follow their lead.