John & Amanda Neal have run sail-training expeditions on their Hallberg-Rassy 46 Mahina Tiare for over 20 years. They’ve sailed 220,000 miles on the boat, taking her quite literally to the ends of the earth. We chatted in-person at the Hallberg-Rassy boatyard in Sweden about their recent summer in the Arctic.

In case you missed it, in last week’s newsletter Mia and I officially published our 2018 offshore passage calendar. Isbjorn is headed north! That’s right, we’re Arctic bound in summer 2018, with passages to Scotland, Norway, Spitsbergen & Iceland. Visit 59-north.com/arctic for details & to register. As a nod to our podcast fans, we’ve not ‘linked’ this page online yet - so you guys get first dibs before the big launch at the boat show. You can come visit us on Dock H at the Annapolis Sailboat Show to tour Isbjorn and talk about ocean sailing.

Previous episodes with John & Amanda Neal:

Episode # 138 with John & Amanda - LIVE from Toronto Boat Show
Episode # 49 with John & Amanda

Show Notes

Topics covered in the podcast including links

Andy met up with John & Amanda during the Hallberg-Rassy Oppna Varv Boat Show on the island of Orust, the west coast of Sweden.
What draw you guys to that part of the world? Amanda: The freedom for me, that you can just go on your boat wherever you want, there is some paperwork of course but after that you are free to explore. John: We are just most attracted to the bizarre out of the way. People say you can go to Jan Mayen, well lets see if we can do it!
The third trip They have done a round trip voyage between New Zealand and Svalbard.
A group of island just below 80 degrees north, the closest inhabitated islands close ot the north pole.
Jan Mayen , an island south of Svalbard
Longyearbyen, the main town on Svalbard, named after John Munro Longyear, whose Arctic Coal Company started coal mining operations in 1906
UNIS – The University Center in Svalbard
“You can't avoid the history in Svalbard”
The site of S. A. Andrée's Arctic balloon expedition of 1897 (S. A. Andrée's Arctic balloon expedition of 1897)
Fram museum in Oslo
Research and exploration exhibitions from Sweden, Norway and UK to Svalbard
The town of Stromness on the Orkney Islands was the departure points for most of the Canadian Arctic exploration,
C aptain Bartlett who accompanied Commander Robert Peary on his attempts to reach the North Pole
Irish monks who traveled between Shetland, Scotland, Faroe, Iceland, Greeanland and Canada long before the Vikings.
Brendon’s voyage
Mahinas trip to Antartica via Tahiti top of Patagonia, Cape Horn and then south.
“We don't go anywhere without students”
Queen Birthday storm, in the southern Ocean leaving New Zealand on their first trip together. “6 boats were lost around us, 3 people died”
The permit process to visit Svalbard takes 6-12 month ahead of time
Noonsite.com has links to Norwegian government office with all application forms
Need a certificate from you local police station that you are of good character in order to be able to rent a gun in Norway.
You also need search and rescue insurance, very specific and very expensive.
Have to provide a very specific itinerary of dates and places you intend to visit
First time they visited Iceland
Reykjavik – very shy and hard to get to know. But super generous and fantastic people! Very few cruising boats in Iceland.
Brokey Yacht Club in Reykjavik with a dock open to the public. http://brokey.is/?page_id=3207

Sailing places talked about in the podcast

Orkney, one of the British Isles
Shetland "Where Scotland meets Scandinavia and the North Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean"
Jan Mayen
Svalbard, towns like Longyerbyen and the many anchorages Mahina visited
Coocos Island
Clipperton Island
Hawaii
Iceland and Reykjavik