We’ve been in Svalbard since the day before yesterday and are currently in Longyearbyen, the administrative centre, where we had to check in, finalise permits to go elsewhere, and hire a rifle and ammunition as a precaution against polar bears. 

 

Before we departed from Bjornoya we had another attempt at fixing the outboard motor.  It was now Sat 14th Jul.  A long wrench managed to free the seizure which can have been nothing more than light rust, but we couldn’t get fuel into the combustion chamber despite trying all the normal tricks.  Running out of options, we opened up the crank case to find it full of rust and gunge.  Somehow either water or very damp air had got in.  With some careful cleaning and use of cable ties as ‘chimney brushes’ to poke through the fuel ducts we improved things significantly.  On re-assembly we warmed up the spark plug on the galley stove, stood the engine in a bucket of water in the cockpit, and you’d be hard pressed to imagine our joy when it started and continued to run.  This was a significant success, as without an outboard we would not be able to get ashore in Svalbard as bears can comfortably ‘out-swim’ a dinghy being rowed.  The outboard is now wrapped up in ‘an outboard cover-for-life’ courtesy of Tesco!

 

Elated, we had lunch and set sail for Svalbard; 120nm NNW to Sorkapp, its southern tip, and another 140nm on to Isfjorden, leading to Longyearbyen.  Most of the passage was in very poor visibility, with either drizzle or fog, but the wind came and went and we had good sailing interspersed by periods of motoring.  Most of the time we were below decks keeping as warm as we could, and dry.  At 1710 on Sun 15th we had a brief glimpse of snow and mountains below cloud 8nm on our starboard beam, but within minutes the fog closed in again and it was another couple of hours before we saw the shore again.  Then more fog and drizzle.  At 0430 the water shoaled significantly to around 25m and we saw high cliffs and jagged reefs on our starboard bow.  Our attempts to close the shore had been a little too enthusiastic and we headed NW again into deeper water, with the wind gradually building, but from dead ahead.  Soon we were sailing fast, beating up the coast, and as we tacked back to the north we suddenly burst into clear conditions, with strong sun and blue sky.  Closing the coast we faced the most magnificent panorama: to the north the dark mountains of Prins Karls Forland, to the NW the mountains and glaciers running north from Isfjorden, and to the SW a similar view running back down the coast we’d just sailed up.  Ahead of us was the broad opening of Isfjorden which runs deep into the west side of Spitsbergen, Svalbard’s largest island, and we sailed in at good speed, in awe of the view.  Wanting a closer look, we decided to divert into the first fjord on our left as we headed in towards Longyearbyen, an inlet about 4 nm long called Trygghamna with two glaciers at its head and impressive mountains either side.  By now it was late afternoon but we spent a couple of hours there, spotting our first Svalbard reindeer on the shore.  Then it was sails up again to head across to Longyearbyen, which looked close but the light is so clear that distances are deceptive and it took us until just after midnight (albeit still in bright sunlight) to get there in a brisk following breeze.  We worked out that we’d earlier been looking 40nm in each direction up and down the coast.  Many of the glaciers appear to be in retreat: a sad reminder in this arctic desert of the impact of global warming.

 

After a quick look at alongside mooring arrangements in Longyearbyen we decided to anchor off, and spent until 0200 sitting in the cockpit under relatively warm sunlight celebrating our arrival, amazed at how lucky we’d been with the weather for the past 12 hours: such a contrast to the preceding 4 days.  Yesterday we moved alongside, fuelled and watered, then ploughed through essential bureaucracy. It all went smoothly, but we were surprised to find that the reserved rifle wasn’t quite as reserved as we’d expected.  We took the last available weapon, a vintage Mauser 30-06 left behind after WW II, pondering on the potential nuisance if we’d left it another day, as local regulations mean we couldn’t have left Longyearbyen until one came available.  We enjoyed an excellent meal ashore last night at a sensible price: Svalbard is wholly duty free, which appears to more than compensate for the cost of transporting goods in.  Our diesel was the cheapest I’ve bought for 7 years, at an equivalent of £0.86/litre, but it’s a long way to come to top up: just over 2400nm since leaving the Solent. 

 

The weather has continued to hold and as I write this early on Wed 18th, we’ve now had over 36 hours of continuous bright sunshine, but with a biting wind.  Today we’ll do some more exploring of Longyearbyen, top up our fresh provisions and prepare to head on.  Our plan is to explore the NW coast as far as 80N, just 600nm from the North Pole.  This morning’s ice report shows the polar ice front 90nm further north than that and the coast completely free of sea ice.  We’ll still need to be wary of ice calved off glaciers in the fjords, but all’s looking good.

 

Attached photos show Kvallrossbukta and the cliffs on Bjornoya; our first glimpse of Svalbard; us heading into Isfjorden; Trygghamna and our passage into Isfjorden; early hours of the morning crew arrival photo at anchor off Longyearbyen (shades on in the midnight sun – yes, seriously required!), and a couple of views of Longyearbyen – out to sea and our moorings, where we’re the smallest yacht by some margin.

 

Fauna watch: ashore in Longyearbyen we discovered three huskies chained up, merrily howling away, one was a large Greenland husky and two were smaller Alaskans.  Despite the wolf like features they were extremely friendly.  The two Arctic Terns in town were not.  Walking back to the boat after our initial look around we were suddenly attacked with the birds diving and squawking at our heads.  They could easily have done some damage but six frantic arms waving in the air saw them off (or more likely we simply moved away from their nest site next to the road).  Most things around here are the most northerly in the world not least the two little black and white snow buntings we saw, one of only two species of land bird in Svalbard.

 

Iso and Hector  - Daddy here, it is very cold...  I am wearing my hat with furry ears, but keep getting the earflap buttons caught in the nets that hold the vegetables inside.  Then I need to be rescued a bit like a fish!