The World's Northernmost Brewery: Longyearbyen - 78° 13' 40"N 15° 36' 45"E

Myrca's log, date 12 July 2026. Our position, Skansbukta 78° 31.769' N 16° 01.437' E

The rain has set in but it is time to go.

It was pouring with rain, windy and foggy, so we had a late start to the day. Despite the miserable weather, it couldn't dampen the spirits of the happy football fans as we departed the wonderfully odd Barentsburg and headed further into Isfjorden, looking for some shelter from the wind.

Fortunately, the wind was in a favourable direction, so we managed to pull out a sail and, for a couple of glorious hours, had the engine switched off. We sailed along with the wind behind us while the rain poured down around us. We ended up very wet, but running with the wind made us surprisingly speedy, and despite our late start we were anchored by 18:30.

Soggy but happy at the helm.

Skansbukta was a stunning anchorage, surrounded by bird cliffs and backed by a beautiful, long glacial valley. The scenery was spectacular, although the wind certainly kept us entertained. We were buffeted by strong katabatic winds, with the wind speed changing from 3 knots to 38 knots within a few minutes. It was quite something to watch the instruments swing through such a huge range.

Aside from all the rain, it is a landscape we would expect to find in the Badlands of Alberta.  It was totally devoid of trees.

Thankfully, the anchor held beautifully in around 10 metres of mud, giving us confidence that we weren't going anywhere—at least not without intending to.

Ashore, we could see campers with kayaks and, naturally, a reindeer wandering around as though it owned the place.

Kayaker camp setup on shore.  They had a lookout person at each end of the beach watching for wildlife.  Polar bears are not common but it would be a shame if someone got eaten.

Much more appealing in the sunshine.

A large raft of barnacle geese floated nearby. Perhaps they were moulting? They seemed remarkably content to sit on the water while the wind whipped around them.

The landscape had an almost Badlands feel to it, with deep valleys cutting between high, dramatic cliffs. It was rugged and strangely beautiful, but the wind remained extremely gusty, so we decided against going ashore. There didn't seem much point in getting blown off the mountain for the sake of a closer look.

Sometimes the smaller cruise ships tuck into these anchorages and send shore parties to check out historic sites.  We chose to just watch from the cockpit.

A closer look reveals a wreck and a hunter's shelter.  We chose not to go ashore.

Back on board, Ed turned his attention to our remaining provisions and had butchered the cow in Barentsburg. The enormous beef rump that had been traded to us back in Ny-Ålesund had finally thawed enough to be dealt with.

Sometimes, butchering a job can be a good thing!

Dinner was steak tacos.

Not a bad reward after a wet and windy day in the Arctic.

Total distance: 337.4 nautical miles.

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Myrca's log, date 13 July 2026. Our position, Skansbukta 78° 31.769' N 16° 01.437' E

A Day of Wind

It was a crazy night with crazy winds. We didn't drag, thankfully, but at times the wind had us heeled right over at anchor. Today was forecast to be the worst day, so we were expecting more of the same.

Time to get past this "small" cruise ship.  We end up going quite close.  Good thing we know what we are doing.

We got enthusiastic and decided to head for Pyramiden, but it turned out that we had been much more sheltered than we had realised. Once we were out in the open and hit 30+ knots of wind accompanied by a big, short, steep sea, enthusiasm quickly gave way to common sense.

We scampered back to the shelter of Skansbukta.

And here we stayed.

With the weather keeping us firmly on board, Jo took over the galley and produced an orange cake and beef and chicken tacos for lunch. This followed a delicious breakfast of kedgeree, which used up the last of our fish.

Orange cake for afternoon tea.

Supplies were starting to run a little short in the fresh fish, meat and vegetable department. We certainly weren't going to starve, but we were beginning to contemplate the possibility of eating beef without vegetables for dinner. A terrible hardship, obviously.

Wildlife and shipping provided some entertainment during the day. An Arctic fox appeared, along with a reindeer, while a cruise ship made its way through the fjord. The Arctic foxes were looking particularly dark at this time of year, their coats changing with the seasons.

The wind eventually began to ease, which was a relief. We were no longer seeing the enormous gusts that had been hammering the anchorage earlier.

In the past thirty minutes, the wind has ranged from mostly east to mostly west, and varied in strength from a bare breath to almost sixty kms per hour!

Dinner was hunter's stew, made using some of the steak and a packet mix stored deep in the locker. It was another excellent meal from increasingly creative supplies.

There were a few more arrivals in the anchorage during the day: the cruise ship Silver Endeavour, Rembrandt van Rijn and SV Seagloo. Silver Endeavour disgorged its passengers by the dozen in RIBs, with a steady stream of small boats ferrying people ashore.

The Silver Endeavour

The Rembrandt van Rjin - an old-timey experience

Sometimes the best cruising decision is simply to stay exactly where you are.

Total distance: 341.4 nautical miles.

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Myrca's log, date 14 July 2026. Our position, Longyearbyen - 78° 13' 40"N 15° 36' 45"E

Longyearbyen — The Last Supper

The weather had finally calmed down. The sun was shining, but the sea outside the anchorage still looked very rough. There were lots of red-jacketed cruise-ship passengers ashore, with Zodiacs zipping around everywhere.

Time to leave!

Unfortunately, Kate's sunglasses had other plans. They went overboard—straight through the baby gate - or where the baby gate should have been protecting things from falling through the open transom.

Oops! Niklas, you need a baby gate!

Kate's sunglasses location: 78° 31.786′ N, 16° 01.386′ E

We headed out into Isfjorden. The wind was F5, gusting F6, with an apparent wind angle of 25°, so there was no sailing today. The sea was messy and bouncy, and it was quite chilly, but the sun was out, the sky was blue and the glaciers were sparkling. It was a beautiful day to be out, even if the sea wasn't playing along.

We arrived in Longyearbyen Harbour, which was very busy—and very bouncy. We rafted up three boats deep, and the Harbourmaster requested that we not leave the boat. So we stayed aboard and bounced around in place.

We climb over our lifelines to get to the next boat's deck, to get to the NEXT boat's deck to get to the pontoon to get to shore.  Whew!

You put all the fenders you have between you and the boat you are rafting up to - that's the etiquette.  When a swell comes in, it keeps these 12 to 34 ton boats from grinding against each other.

Ed and Jo went ashore and organised dinner—the last supper.

The journey so far

Myrca's log, date 15 July 2026. Our position, Longyearbyen - 78° 13' 40"N 15° 36' 45"E

A big farewell to Jo and Ed. What a grand adventure we have had.  Thanks for joining us and we look forward to next time.

À la prochaine!

And a very welcome hello to Richard!

Our reflection in the grocery store window

We headed into the grocery store and, naturally, came out with all sorts of delicious food. Richard produced some steak sandwiches for lunch, which were very tasty —we still had an alarming amount of meat on board.

Walking into town past the plethora of snowmobiles (don't worry, they will be useful in about six weeks) and the FireHouse - part of the central boiler system that heats all the buildings in Longyearbyen.

Stopped in to talk to the nice volunteer from Polar Bears International.  We got stickers!

There were a few boat jobs that needed doing: refilling the water, changing sheets and, naturally, visiting the world's northernmost brewery. The beer was very good, as was the setting. Sitting outside was rather chilly, however, so after a suitably Arctic beverage we headed back to the boat.

Of course they have an outside patio ... with a guarantee that your beer won't get warm ... no matter how long it takes you to drink it!

Then came the challenge of dinner.

We had what we believed was chicken.

Or perhaps turkey.

We weren't entirely sure.

We eventually resorted to Google Translate to identify exactly what we had bought, after Richard quite reasonably questioned whether it really was chicken. It was turkey and made an excellent dinner.

By the end of the day, the wind had swung around to the south and conditions were considerably less bouncy. As some of our raft partners were leaving, we took the opportunity to move the boat and tucked ourselves in alongside the 70-foot Garcia.

It was great to see a 26-year-old Garcia still going strong.  It gives us hope that (very likely) Chinook will outlast us.

After another busy day in Longyearbyen, it was time to settle back aboard and enjoy our last night in Svalbard.

The Arctic adventure was beginning to feel like it was coming to an end.