Farthest North: Magdalenefjord, Svalbard - 79°33' 26" N 10°57 09" E

Quite a bit of time and thought go into planning where to go and what to see.  There is no 'follow the leader' here - we are on our own.

With Ed and Jo safely aboard, we set off to explore north of Longyearbyen.

Time to leave the safety of port and head for truly wild country.

It didn't take long to start sailing past glaciers that stretched a toe into the sea.

Myrca's log, date 3 July 2026. Our position, Trygghamna 78° 16.154'N 13° 42.992' E

Myrca covered the 27nm across the Isfjorden under engine due to adverse winds.  A beautiful anchorage surrounded by three glaciers. Walked ashore under the protection of Ed and his rifle. Swooped by arctic terns nesting close by.  A startling lack of vegetation yet there be reindeer. 

The Svalbard reindeer are a sub-species endemic to Svalbard where they has lived for 5000 years.  They have become well adapted to the harsh conditions. Compared to other reindeer, they are short-legged and have a smaller, rounder head.  Their coats are lighter in colour and thicker during winter. 

Passage distance: 27nm

Jo and Sean prepare to drop anchor in the fjord.

Not a bad view while you are working in the galley.

Myrca safely anchored and we took the dinghy into shore.

Barren rockscape - rubble left by the now-retreating glacier

Arctic Avens - similar to the mountain avens we are accustomed to in the Rocky Mountain alpine regions. A fragile bit of life that appears in the very short summer.

Exploring ... but still vigilant for polar bears.  Ed has the rifle.

Sean found what we think is a fossil!

An otherworldly landscape

Protective seabirds swoop us as we head back to the dinghy.

We pass lots of bits of floating glacier ice (some big, some small like this) on our way back to Myrca

Myrca does not have a freezer on board.  We had to improvise to cool the drinks.

Myrca's log, date 4 July 2026. Our position, Eidempynten 78° 22.161'N 12° 46.503' E

Motored out of Isfjord and north into Forlandsundet.  Pebbly shores, high overcast clouds and plenty of glacier action.  Minke whales spotted as well as Svalbard reindeer, Atlantic puffins, black guillemots, northern fulmars, glaucous gulls, arctic terns and harbour seals. 

Anchorage on a lovely beach surrounded by glaciers.  A large group of about one hundred eider and king eider ducks swimming in bay. Eider ducks congregate in large, tight groups called rafts while they moult as they are unable to fly.  This provides both protection and warmth.

At 21:28 Jo spotted a polar bear ashore. He ambled along the beach then took a leisurely swim out to the rocks.   

Passage distance: 54nm

Rafts of eider ducks.  Ever wonder where eider down comes from?

Polar bear onshore in the evening light - much closer than they look (about 200 metres away by our estimate)

Myrca's log, date 5 July 2026. Our position, Fersvassbukta 78° 47.901'N 10° 57.893' E

No need for TV or Netflix, there is so much to watch and enjoy.  An early morning plunge certainly woke us up.  Water temperature 8°C, yikes.  Excursion ashore cancelled due to polar bear activity.

Up early. Swimsuits on.  
"Are we really going to do this?"

No turning back now.

Proof that the arctic plunge had been done. Wonder how long they will stay in when there is a hot water shower waiting on the transom?

North across Forlandsundet to the walrus haul out at Poolepynten. Us and a cruise ship, a small one but still disgorged 100 tourists, associated guides and guards.  One big advantage was we could give Ed a pass from his gun-welding protective role.  Despite the crowds, it was an excellent walrus sighting.  It also a fabulous opportunity to have a chat to some of the guides from the ship.

The landing party from the 'small' expedition cruise ship.  You can see the 100 passenger vessel in the distance.

A surprising amount of driftwood ... considering there are no trees for hundreds of miles.

What we came to see - evidence of (rather than) polar bears.

More evidence - a reindeer leg.

A real treat - a herd of walrus on the beach.  This is what the cruise ship has come for, too.

What you don't see on the expedition cruise brochures.  You are not alone.
It's hard not to be a little sanctimonious.

The money shot.

Towering mountains and plunging glaciers. The beaches littered with wood and lumber, having ridden the currents from Siberia. Flocks of glaucous gulls, the hind hocks of a reindeer pulled apart by an apex predator. Purple saxifrages. A wee bit smelly!

A successful shore party.  No one got eaten!

Working our way north up a very calm Forlansundel under motor. Getting noticeably colder to the point we can see our breaths. About two thirds of the way up the sound is the Sarstangen Bar, formed millennia ago from glacial till. A very narrow channel with a strong tidal current, so timing the tide is important.  Huge glaciers on both sides, quite magnificent but impossible to capture in a photograph. The crossing was straight forward. It did become rather shallow but that does keep the big ships out of the sound. 

One of the crew's activities when they are off watch.

We anchored in a huge shallow bay in 3m of water.  Walrus, walrus, walrus.  Twenty or so hauled up on the beach and a dozen curious creatures checking us out from the water. Raised the dinghy just to be sure we had one in the morning and a curious tusked creature didn't puncture it.

Passage distance: 92nm

This curious fella got close enough to Myrca for a good picture. 

Myrca's log, date 6 July 2026. Our position, Trinityhamn 79° 33.425' N 10° 57.161 E

Sunshine and partially cloudy skies.  Much warmer than yesterday. Walrus huffing and puffing in the bay with a big herd ashore. Paused to watched them on the way out. They sound like a huge pug snuffling. In dead calm and absolutely no wind we motored north to Magdalenefjord.  Arctic fox, black guillemots, little auk, puffins.  At times the birds pop up next to the boat and are totally startled.  Some dive, some take off and others, particularly the puffins, flap their wings through the water like they are doing butterfly in the desperate attempt to get away.

We managed to photograph this puffin before they dove under or flapped away.

Glassy smooth and beautiful.  We have been lucky with the weather so far.

So lovely.

Having an autopilot to steer the boat when it is calm like this means that sometimes we can relax when on watch.

The coastline wiggles and shallows with the vast amount of glacial till forming spits and reefs and 'billabongs'.  At times, the banks are so straight and uniform, they look like a man-made break water.  Many tidewater glaciers calve into the fjord but evidence of former mammoths-sized ones remain with every gravel beach and shallow reef. It's a crumbly, barren landscape. Not even blessed with the life and vegetation of the high alpine of the Rocky Mountains.

The slight tinge of green on the hillside betrays the presence of a bird nesting area.

Except under the towering bird cliffs. The scree slopes beneath the rookeries are a haze of shock-green, patches of well fertilised ground that can support plants.  Not trees, not even woody shrubs but saxifrage, sorrel, scurvy-grass, Svalbard poppy and whitlow-grass. And where you see green, you will also find arctic fox, attracted to the birds.

Kate guides us into the fjord and towards our anchorage.

And an absolutely stunning anchorage.  At the base of a tidewater glacier, we had sunshine, blue skies, sparkling glaciers, aquamarine waters and crackling ice bergs. And walrus!  Often we cross a very shallow bar into and deep pond below the glacier. Distance is deceptive.  We can feel very close to the glacial toe yet discover we are over a nautical mile away.

Deceptively distant.

Very sadly, due to some nasty weather in the forecast, we made the decision to turn around and not go to the milestone of 80°N.  And a little justification of this decision, it involved sailing 25nm north into the Arctic Ocean crossing an imaginary line to just tick a box.  It's not a beautiful anchorage, a tiny island or even the polar ice-pack, simply another stretch of ocean indistinguishable from any other unless you consult the chart plotter.  That said, the decision was made not without regret (we are SO close). 

So we duly logged 79° 33' 26" N as our most northerly point.

Passage distance: 138nm

Our northernmost anchorage.

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