In the summer of 2015, Ivan Kutasov was privileged to take part in an international overseas expedition to the Svalbard archipelago. In total, he stayed in the Arctic for about three months. Also, on the 50th day of the expedition, he reached the northernmost point of 81° north latitude. In the next few articles we are going to publish few stories of Ivan's adventures during this very notable expedition. Stay tuned.
photo by Barba.no
We had the following plan: to sail on the thirty-seven-foot-long yacht up the entire Norwegian coast, from Stavanger to the city of Tromso, which is situated above the Arctic Circle. Tromso would be the starting point of our journey to the Svalbard archipelago; and, given favorable ice conditions, we would sail around it and come back to the Mainland by sailing past Bear Island. All in all, we planned to take four months, but I will tell you about everything in due order.
photo by Ivan Kutasov
I wasn’t acquainted with any of the crew members before the expedition, and it was already a tight-knit team which had embarked on a number of expeditions to the Arctic, though these had not been long-term expeditions. Our team consisted of four men and a woman: Andreas B. Heide, a young but sufficiently experienced captain from Norway; Daniel Hug, a photographer from Germany; Jon Grantangen, an outdoorsman and explorer from Norway; Terry Ward, a freelance journalist from Florida; and me – Ivan Kutasov, an adventurer and explorer from Russia. Given the fact that out team was an international one, we agreed right away not to get into discussions regarding politics and religion.
photo by Daniel Hug
I joined the expedition in Stavanger, the second week after it started from the city of Trondheim. We had about a month to examine local fjords and islands. During that time we had to “get used to one another” and become a united and coordinated team, and check out our equipment and rehearse all possible emergency situations that could happen in the Arctic latitudes. It was idle to expect help from anywhere, besides, as they say, the Arctic doesn’t forgive mistakes.
photo by Ivan Kutasov
The month was eventful, and it flew past as we visited a lot of interesting places, such as Traena, Rørvik, Lofoten, Røst, Reine, and Henningsvær. As for nutrition, our dietary regime consisted mainly of cod, scallops, and mackerel. Andreas and Terry were scuba diving enthusiasts, so we had an abundance of seafood. In Henningsvær we were invited by locals to a so-called dinner party, where I tasted whale meat for the first time in my life.
photo by Ivan Kutasov
photo by Ivan Kutasov
photo by Ivan Kutasov
On the 30th day of the expedition, we anchored our yacht in the port of Tromso. We had a week during which we had to work on our mistakes, store up some food, repair the boat, and prepare the gear. In the next article you will read about the three-day-long crossing of the sea to the Svalbard, about the capital at Longyearbyen, the Russian town of Barentsburg, and about one of the northernmost towns in the world – Ny-Ålesund.
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