Explore North

Last year I became a runner-up for the Brian Black Memorial Award with my story about Gate to the Arctic environmental trip to Bear Island, a remote Arctic Island situated between mainland Norway and Svalbard.  And I was very happy and proud about that. But just like environmental work: You can't give up. Never. So this year I sent...

Sailing on Svalbard is always challenging and rewarding. When I was there this summer, sailing as skipper on ISBJØRN in the 59North-fleet we sat down with August Sandberg, owner of ISBJØRN, Emma Garschagen, a very experienced sailor in 59North and host for this edition of the podcast, Øyvind Nilsen owner of Duen Experience, running charters in Arctic Norway, and me, Jon...

Marthe Bentzon Skei (30) og Jarle Lycke Austbø (29) fant fort ut at de skulle på seiltur etter at de traff hverandre. De kjøpte en Hallberg Rassy 42E og kastet loss i midten av 2021. Litt over ett år senere kom de tilbake. Da hadde de seilt den tradisjonelle rundturen i Atlanterhavet, men suget etter vilmarken hadde trukket dem helt...

Det er vel ingen hemmelighet at denne podcastverten liker best å seile i kalde farvann og engasjementet for havet er stort. Så da Jon Amtrup vant Brian Black Memorial Award for environmental journalism for en reportasje om klimaendringene på Svalbard, ble det Catharina Frostad, tech-grunder, havaktivist, seiler og ikke minst en viktig del av Gate to the Arctic, som tok mikrofonen for...

Danny Drahos has a real passion for sailing. That has led him from running a successful sailing school, Go West Sailing, in Scotland to sailing to both ends of the world with the 20-meter expedition ship Global Surveyor. We had to talk to him about his experiences in the high latitudes, which turned into a really inspiring talk. Follow them...

Magne Klann og Morten Christensen har hatt en seilsommer utenom det vanlige. De seilte en 15 fots foilende katamaran 500 nautiske mil fra Bergen til Bodø. Jolleseilerne kan melde om en intens opplevelse av seil- og naturglede oppover vår vakre kyst. Tidligere podcaster: Magne Klann har seilt Nordkapp-Lindesnes i en liten enmannsjolle. Morten Christensen har seilt både Nordvestpassasjen og Med jolle over...

The Norwegian solo sailor Erik Aanderaa is a YouTube-hit, and it may be because he is so persistent. We met him in Grundarfjordur on the west coast of Iceland before his third-time attempt to reach Greenland. We spoke about his voyage to Iceland, his stay in the hospital in the Faroes, the women, and the upcoming Greenland sail -...

Mike Henderson and Helen Gould are patiently waiting for the ice to clear on the Greenland east coast and the low-pressure systems to ease off in the Denmark Strait. They are, as I, well tied up in beautiful Isafjordur, Iceland. We found the time to talk about Greenland, sailing off the beaten track, their work on "Cruising guide to...

James Austrums, the house photographer in 59' North Sailing joined us from Tromsø to Longyearbyen on ISBJØRN, a Swan 48. We managed to stop on Bear Island.  We talked about sailing in the high latitudes, Svalbard, and exploring. Follow James on Instagram. If you need information about sailing in the high latitudes check out the book I wrote with Bob Shepton: High Latitude Sailing – Self-sufficient...

Bjørn Børresen har kastet loss i pensjonisttilværelse og lagt kursen nordover i sin Lupi, en Hallberg-Rassy 43. Han seiler med fjellstøvlene på og tar noen lange etapper til Tromsø - der skal han snu og seile veldig sakte tilbake sammen med sin kone og venner. Vi tok en prat med ham i Svolvær. Hvis du er interessert i å holde sjekk...