Pre-Departure

July 18, 2024 | Getting ready for a passage
Hjelmås, Bergen
We are in Bergen as we speak, or actually, to be more correct, in Hjelmås, about 45 minutes north of the city, rafted up to ISBJØRN at her summer berth. FALKEN arrived to Bergen from Galway on Saturday and I flew in with Andy. Last year when we looked at the schedule, we realized that both ISBJØRN and FALKEN would be in Bergen at the same time, for the first time. We had to do something special! We hosted an ‘Open House’ on Sunday in downtown Bergen, and on Monday we took both boats out sailing up the fjords and got some stunning photos of the two boats alongside each other.
Nikki, who is the skipper for this leg, arrived Monday and we have spent the last few days getting the boat ready and planning the passage south to Amsterdam, a new port for 59º North. Crew will come out to FALKEN today; this will be our third ‘All Female’ Crew, something we started back in 2022 when Emma, Nikki, and I sailed ICEBEAR from Marstrand, Sweden to Portsmouth, UK.
- Mia
Hjelmås, Bergen
We are in Bergen as we speak, or actually, to be more correct, in Hjelmås, about 45 minutes north of the city, rafted up to ISBJØRN at her summer berth. FALKEN arrived to Bergen from Galway on Saturday and I flew in with Andy. Last year when we looked at the schedule, we realized that both ISBJØRN and FALKEN would be in Bergen at the same time, for the first time. We had to do something special! We hosted an ‘Open House’ on Sunday in downtown Bergen, and on Monday we took both boats out sailing up the fjords and got some stunning photos of the two boats alongside each other.
Nikki, who is the skipper for this leg, arrived Monday and we have spent the last few days getting the boat ready and planning the passage south to Amsterdam, a new port for 59º North. Crew will come out to FALKEN today; this will be our third ‘All Female’ Crew, something we started back in 2022 when Emma, Nikki, and I sailed ICEBEAR from Marstrand, Sweden to Portsmouth, UK.
- Mia
mia@59-north.com
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Dolphin party!
Kate was about to yank the spinnaker’s sock down when I spotted a stampede of fins heading straight for us. ”Dolphins!”, I yelled back to the cockpit excitedly. Post dinner dish duty was halted down below for the show.


The pool is open!
We stopped the boat, got the ladder down and put out a line with a fender behind the boat. I love swimming in the middle of the ocean, and a bit scary when you realize its more than 4000+ m deep! Love it!


Big Pink Sail Day
I had a most fashionable pointed striped hat at dinner, and out of the depths of a cupboard a cake was created, after 14 days at sea. A group of people I had never met two weeks ago made me feel very special today.

