Around Spitsbergen by Sailing Ship

Arrive in Longyearbyen, the administrative capital of the Svalbard archipelago. Before embarking, take the opportunity to stroll around this former mining town, whose parish church and Polar Museum are well worth visiting. In the evening we sail, setting course for Trygghamna with the remains of a 17th century English whaling station and an 18th century Pomor hunting station, which we will visit next morning

From Tryghamna we walk to Alkhornet a large seabird cliff. Below the cliffs is a den with Arctic Fox which scavenge off fallen eggs and chicks. Reindeer graze on the lush vegetation. At noon we sail through the Forlandsundet. Weather permitting we will go ashore at Fuglehuken where the first Western Europeans (the expedition of Willem Barentsz) set foot on Spitsbergen. Here, near another big bird-cliff, we can see the graves of whalers. Nearby we may be able to visit a haul-out of Harbour Seal and Walrus.

Today we will try to visit Seerenburg and Ytre Norskoya, a small island which was used for many years as a lookout point for Dutch whalers. There we can still follow their tracks to the summit of the island, passing excellent bird cliffs on the way. On shore the remains of 17th century blubber ovens can be found, while Arctic Skua and Common Eider breed among the graves of 200 Dutch whalers.

Our route over these days depends on sea and ice conditions, but we start by sailing to either Sorgfjord or Murchison Bay, where large herds of reindeer can often be seen on the rolling tundra. We continue past icecaps through Hinlopen Strait and plan to land in the beautiful Lomfjord. We can walk at Augustabukta, an open bay close to a glacier and a nearby cliff where the rare ivory gull nests along with black guillemots. We also look out for reindeer, polar bears and walrus in this area.

We sail towards the spectacular Brasvell glacier and take a walk in the polar desert area of Svartknausflya, or perhaps visit the whalebone strewn beaches of Wilhelmoya. There are several route options here depending on ice and sea currents. One is via Freemansundet to Kapp Lee to walk in the lovely Rosenbergdalen to see reindeer or Diskobukta for kittiwakes, Arctic fox and maybe more polar bears.

Continuing in southern Spitsbergen, we sail in the Hornsund fjord system with its colourful geological formations and look for bearded seals and polar bears and then on the way back to Longyearbyen into Bellsund, a good area for beluga. We may visit Barentsburg, the only inhabited Russian settlement on the island, Finally we sail back up Isfjord back to Longyearbyen.

Arrive in the morning and disembark