northwest passage yacht

• Destinations

Northwest Passage & Arctic Canada Cruises

Book early for 2025 /2026 sailings to Northwest Passage & Arctic Canada, saving up to 40% with the HX Price Promise*.

Reasons to explore the Northwest Passage with us

Sail through the wild and isolated Northwest Passage and venture into the wild as you journey off the beaten track in Arctic Canada aboard a modern ice-class expedition ship. We’ll probe this fabled route in the same spirit as the pioneers who sought to prove its existence. Using our small expedition boats we’ll land at historic exploration sites, visit remote Inuit communities, and kayak amidst breathtaking natural beauty.

Book early for 2025/2026

Explore the Northwest Passage in 2025 /2026 on our small, well-equipped, hybrid expedition ships, where safety and sustainability come first. Sail in style and comfort so you’re relaxed, rested, and ready for adventure.

PLUS with our Price Promise, if you find the same cabin available for a lower price after you've booked, let us know and we'll give you back the difference.

Activities in the NWP and Arctic Canada

Your expedition cruise has included and optional activities so you can make the most of your Arctic adventure. 

The onboard Expedition Team are natural born explorers. They’ll take you on hikes, shore landings and expedition boat cruising, and give talks about wildlife, history, geology and other topics about your destination. 

Wildlife of the Arctic regions

You’ll enjoy seeing incredible Arctic wildlife as you explore the Arctic regions between Alaska and Greenland. Look out for whales such as narwhals, minke, bowhead and beluga – and scan the shores for iconic ‘King of the Arctic’ polar bears. 

A true explorer

Become one of very few people in the world to cross the epic, and often unforgiving, Northwest Passage on board our ice-class expedition ships.

Cruises to the Northwest Passage

In the Wake of the Great Explorers | Westbound

Departure date

Price from $39,592

MS Fridtjof Nansen

In the Wake of the Great Explorers | Eastbound

Price from $32,008

MS Roald Amundsen

Reykjavík to Cambridge Bay

Price from $27,803

Save up to 40% on 2024-2025 Expeditions!

Explore the Extraordinary! Through March 31, save up to 40% on must-see destinations

Expedition heroes

Join the Expedition Team on landings at historic sites and learn about the legendary expeditions of Franklin and Amundsen – both the successes and failures.

A plethora of life 

Arctic Canada and the lands surrounding the Northwest Passage are wild and unspoiled places. It’s here that we can find six seal species: harp, hooded, ringed, bearded, spotted and ribbon. And as polar bears hunt these seals in the seas and on the ice, herds of musk oxen and caribou roam the tundra. Birdwatchers might see kittiwakes and auklets in the Bering Strait, guillemots in Prince Christian Sound, and maybe even the elusive Ivory Gull.

Animals of the Arctic

See icons of the Arctic such as polar bears, beluga whales, walruses and narwhal in their natural habitat as you sail through pristine waters.

Your Arctic Expedition Team

The Expedition Team on board your ship are wildlife experts and scientists. As they guide you, they’ll help you spot wildlife and share their knowledge during lectures in the Science Centre as your Arctic Canada and the Northwest Passage adventure unfolds.

Arctic Expedition Ships Built for Adventure

State-of-the-art, ice-class expedition ships, combined with the nautical expertise of our captains and crew means we’re able to attempt sailing through the Northwest Passage with confidence. Whether it’s crossing Baffin Bay or sailing through the Bering Strait, our ships can easily handle local conditions.

Purpose-built as an expedition cruise ship, MS Fram is an exceptional base camp for explorers.On board, comfort is a top priority, so after a day of exploration you can relax in a hot tub ,dine in your choice of two restaurants or at the outdoor BBQ and catch up with your fellow guests with a cocktail in hand as you watch the scenery glide past in the Explorer Lounge & Bar. In the Science Centre, at the heart of the ship, you’ll discover more about the places you sail to and listen to talks by the Expedition Team.  With key expedition features and technology, MS Fram is primed to bring you on a journey of discovery to our planet’s most alluring and unspoiled regions. 

The newest addition to our fleet will honor the heritage of her namesake – the Norwegian explorer, scientist, humanitarian and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Fridtjof Nansen. Known for his innovations in Arctic expeditions, Nansen led the first crossing of Greenland on cross-country skis. He is perhaps most famous for his attempt to reach the geographical North Pole during the Fram Expedition (1893-1896). Interestingly, after Nansen's Fram expedition, the ship was passed on to another great explorer who secretly planned an expedition to the South Pole - Roald Amundsen.

Named after the first man to cross Antarctica and to reach the South Pole, MS Roald Amundsen leads the way towards an even more sustainable way of travelling. The ship is specially constructed for voyages in polar waters. It serves as a comfortable base camp at sea – bringing adventurers from all over the world to the most spectacular destinations in the most sustainable way.

Sail safely and sustainably

Cruise aboard our ice-class expeditions ships best suited to polar waters. Choose from one of our smallest ships or our hybrid–powered ships.

Stories from Northwest Passage & Arctic Canada

Travel guide to the Northwest Passage & Arctic Canada

The Northwest Passage is a series of waterways that connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans via the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America.

Wildlife in the Northwest Passage

The Northwest Passage is an unspoiled oasis across the High Arctic. Its animal life of musk oxen, caribou, seals and polar bears migrate to more comfortable climes or adapt to the icy landscape.

Why Hurtigruten Expeditions ?

With a focus on sustainable cruising, we continue to explore the planet, visiting some of the world’s most beautiful and pristine regions.

Get closer to nature with our small expedition boats

Our expedition ships venture where many cruise liners can’t. But we want to go further. We want to immerse you in the raw, untamed beauty of the natural world – and that’s where our small expedition boats come in.

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• Digital Editions

Our historic Northwest Passage adventure on 45m superyacht Latitude

• Superyachts

The extraordinary adventures of Latitude include two successful attempts at the Northwest Passage and becoming the first superyacht to reach 82˚ North...

The Bellot Strait is a 20-mile-long, mile-wide shallow and winding canyon separating Somerset Island from the northernmost part of North America. It’s an alarming leg of the Northwest Passage , where the changeable current can rip through at up to eight knots, hurtling down ice on anyone crazy enough to be there.

If National Geographic ever produce a series called ‘Northwest Passage Nightmares’, it could do worse than start here. And yet, at one end of the strait, sat Latitude , a 45-metre steel and aluminium Vripack superyacht , with Captain Sean Meagher weighing up the options.

He needed to take a look in the tender at what was up ahead, so off he went, along with the yacht’s owner Anil Thadani, Anil’s cousin Ravi and son-in-law Lappo, and wildlife photographer John Issac.

Docking was sometimes a case of improvising

The conditions started to close in, and soon they realised that there they weren’t getting back to the mothership any time soon, with the ice gathering around them. They were now stuck on the opposite side of the canyon to Latitude . It was blizzard conditions.

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“We were there for seven hours, with polar bears running around and staring at us,” Sean says, with a disarming nonchalance. “All we could do was wait and watch the current and the ice-floe.” Then he noticed that the ice around him was starting to compact.

“That meant the edge on the other side a quarter of a mile away was opening up. A little corridor appeared, about as wide as the tender. I told everyone to hold on and we went for the gap,” he says.

The tender – a 35ft Everglades in Kevlar with triple 350s (“that boat is a tank!”) – punched through the gap at 40 knots. It was just another chapter in the extraordinary voyages of Latitude .

Captain Sean on bear watch on Ragged Island

Even aboard a 21st-Century superyacht, there’s something very 19th Century about cruising at these latitudes. At least Sean and his guests were well prepared: “We were properly dressed, armed, we had food, and an Iridium sat phone.”

He recalls “a phenomenal piece of advice” from Captain Phil Walsh – a veteran of the Northwest Passage: “When you step into the tender, assume you are spending the night there, and equip yourself accordingly”.

It was, adds Sean, “something we lived by”, and it proved its worth in the Bellot Strait, when their only option was to wait it out and watch the polar bears.

Locals on a family outing

For centuries in the minds of mariners, the Northwest Passage was one of those mythological ocean regions that fired the imagination and chilled the blood in equal measure – a mare incognitum on the margins of the early charts, where there really might be dragons and sea serpents.

History books credit Sir John Franklin with the discovery of a route from the North Atlantic to the North Pacific in the 1840s, although neither he nor a single soul from his 120-strong party made it home. Roald Amundsen was the first to get through in 1905. Since then, only a handful of private craft have made the treacherous passage.

Latitude ‘s sundeck became the ice deck at times

It takes a special captain and crew to get a superyacht with guests on board to successfully cruise the region, but also an owner with a vision and a sense of exploration. Sean joined the yacht in December 2013, when the current owner bought the yacht. Anil had come to Latitude in a number of steps, the last of which was a 92ft Pershing .

“He wanted to pull the trigger on something a little bigger, and was looking for a captain. A mutual friend recommended me, and that started the conversation with the owner.

Had he said: ‘I want to go to St Tropez and drink cocktails’, I wouldn’t have taken the job. What he actually said was: ‘I want to go on adventures and photograph wildlife’. That was it. I was in!”

There were stunning landscapes on the Northwest Passage

The planning for the Northwest Passage began in Latitude ’s salon, with the nearest ‘chart’ available – an Ikea map of the world. “We were discussing where to take Latitude with the owner, and he suggested Alaska,” Sean says.

“I told him we could go via the Panama Canal , or I pointed to the Northwest Passage and said we could go this way. He looked at the map, looked at me, and said: ‘Yes! We have to do that!’”

There was plenty of time for fun…

With the decision taken, the only question now was planning and prep. “We were mid-refit,” says Sean. “We’d just replaced the sauna with a dive-room. Then we decided to go to the Arctic. After ten hours in sub-zero temperatures, I’d often ask myself: ‘Why on earth did we rip the sauna out?’”

…but a constant lookout was kept for real polar bears

Even though Latitude was a little rusty on the cruising front, the early impressions were good. “Our first cruise with the owner on board was out of New York, and we were heavily tested by the weather, but the yacht handled well.

After a couple weeks’ running around New England, I knew a couple of things needed sorting. We went into Delta in Seattle and sorted out a steering issue, and into Bay Ship & Yacht in California to realign the shafts. After this, we were a knot-and-a-half faster.”

Latitude in the ice at Ilullisat on Greenland

With the ship ready, the personal preparation could begin. “I looked around for guys who’d done this trip before. I found Captain Phil Walsh, formerly of Turmoil and now of Mogambo . I had a couple of hours chatting with him on the phone, and ended up flying to see him for a weekend,” Sean says.

“The equipment list I had prepared was pretty good, but he was able to suggest better Arctic suits, and recommended putting a bag filter over our watermakers because there is a lot of plankton and krill.”

The Northern Lights put on a show in Iceland

Another source of great advice was an experienced commercial ice pilot, Patrick Toomey. “He’s 81 years and full of experience. I called him, and explained what I wanted to do, and he asked me if I’d ever read the book Ice Navigation in Canadian Waters .

“I told him that I had, and that it was extremely well written. He said: ‘Good. I wrote it.’ I knew I’d found the right guy!”

The rugged 35ft Everglades tender was a highly practical tool

Patrick provided Sean with a wealth of experience. “You learn pretty quickly to instinctively appreciate how ice is moving,” says Sean. “But sometimes I needed Patrick’s advice because the best approach might be counter-intuitive. He was great at strategising a course through the ice-field.

“When we got back to Latitude in the Bellot Strait we had six to eight knots of current, and huge chunks of ice whipping at us. At the end, it was frozen solid, and I saw a gap in the ice by the cliff and was thinking about heading to break the ice there, but Patrick told me to aim for the centre of the channel, even though the ice is thicker at that point.

“Too close in and we ran the risk of being run up onto the land, he told me. You can pick up all sorts of techniques, like using your bow wave to push a chunk of ice out of the way. I even used to wedge a piece of ice the size of the yacht’s beam between the bow and the bulb, using it is a battering ram.”

Walruses in Dundas Harbour

What Latitude achieved in that first east-west run was one of the most remarkable superyacht adventures ever undertaken, in a season when despite the general reduction of ice in the region, the ice was at its worst for decades.

“It never occurred to be me that we wouldn’t make it. One of the fortunate things in this industry is that you get to work for guys who’ve beaten the odds and don’t take no for an answer. I guess that kind of rubs off,” says Sean.

Latitude had to take on some difficult waters

But cruising somewhere as alien and unfamiliar as this did have an effect on the crew. “We did 126 days straight. We were looking after guests, and the engineering guys were kept busy.

“By Vancouver, we were fried. I looked at everyone around the table in the mess, and it was like a scene from Das Boot ! A friend asked me if I’d just got back from Iraq!”

Captain Sean with a humpback off Nova Scotia

Fried they may have been, but the adventures weren’t about to stop there. “At San Francisco, I was putting some itineraries together for the owner and it suddenly occurred to me that we had to go back.

“The owner’s response when I called him was: ‘What? Are you crazy?’ He went for it though, and so did the crew, and the experience we had gained the first time made it a lot less painful. We were veterans now, and it also helped that there was less ice.”

A polar bear on patrol

The available charts are “real sketchy”, according to Sean, with whole areas left blank. One part of the passage meant cruising along Amundsen’s original route (the planned route was full of ice). It needed some improvisation.

“We were using charts from the 1930s. Captain Phil Walsh reckoned that they were a thousand metres out. There was very little data to be had off them, but I thought that what little there was must have been surveyed close to land, where there were more likely to be reference points.

“So we went closer to land and we were able to make use of that small amount of reliable data.” Navigation was a case of using all the wheelhouse tools. “We had three chart plotting systems and the paper charts. Sometimes all four would disagree!” says Sean.

A reminder of how things can go wrong – a wreck on Bear Island

Latitude ’s historic passage-making is continuing. This year they have become one of the only vessels to circumnavigate Svalbard , and the only superyacht to reach 82˚ North. Had Sean learned any lessons from the Northwest Passage that fed into the Svalbard cruise?

“Certainly, but there was a big difference, too. There were places to hide in the Northwest Passage, but Svalbard was just rough, nasty seas.”

Fifty knots of wind off Devon Island

When we talked to Sean last September he was on the brink of heading back to Boston for some much-anticipated R&R.

So is that it for adventuring? You can sense the excitement in his voice as he says: “I’ve just got off the phone with the owner. We’ve agreed on Antarctica.”

• A version of this story appeared in SuperYacht World Issue 52 and on SuperYachtWorld.com on January 20, 2017

Revealed: The true cost of running a $3 million superyacht

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• Yachting World
• Digital Edition

Sailing the northwest passage in a traditional cutter

• January 11, 2024

Sailing the northwest passage in a 43ft gentleman’s cutter was the fruition of years of planning for Will Stirling

Integrity set sail from Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, on 1 June bound for Alaska via Greenland and Arctic Canada. It was a Thursday. With naval superstitions rife among the crew and the trouble of folklore’s HMS Friday, there was no option to delay.

Having misdiagnosed one of several narrow channel entrances passing between two low lying islands and out onto the sea, we almost encountered the sea bed within a mile of departure port. Running aground on mud is not too bad, rocks tend to have a more serious impact.

Having overseen various sailing mishaps and therefore accustomed as I am to general embarrassment and small scale humiliation, a call for help so close to the start would have been a little difficult to wear with grace. But the misadventure was soon forgotten and by dark we were roaring up the Nova Scotian coast.

The crew of four divided into two watches; one to steer and one to pump. By the time that the small electric bilge pump had packed up and the rebuilt engine-driven emergency pump had broken down, a rota of the off-watch team clearing the well once every 10 minutes with the manual pump was in place. By the end of everyone’s first night out at sea, we’d done 20 miles of the 6,000 ahead. There was no sickness on board, but a general distaste for the job in hand.

Thorough trials

Integrity is a replica of a Victorian cutter circa 1880, designed and built at our small Plymouth shipyard in 2012 in seasoned English oak, copper and bronze with a heavy dose of lead underneath. Five years of use in all seasons within hailing distance of the shipyard had allowed us to test and improve the boat, but also to teach ourselves how to sail her.

Following the extended Plymouth-based sea trials, Integrity spent five years in Iceland with a number of summer voyages to Jan Mayen and East Greenland, while the Northwest Passage expedition was set for 2023.

These years based in northern Iceland brought a different type of boat preparation and training. Each successful voyage cultivated a deepening assurance in the qualities of the boat and the crews and, crucially, experience of navigation in ice. We also learned about ourselves; having to deal with the boat and manage our own behaviour when tired, cold, hungry and at times frightened.

After each voyage spares and repairs were considered in two categories: the immediate in order to make the boat safe after an incident, and the onward in order to have the ability to continue a journey. We had to be sure of our own ability to service, maintain and repair the boat. Time in Iceland before and after each excursion also brought another element of great value: friendships with those familiar with the Arctic and the benefit of their advice. Having departed Iceland for one final sojourn in East Greenland, we sailed on south from Cape Farewell, reaching Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, late in the season. This was a journey in the wrong direction but felt worthwhile because we wanted the boat to be in an area of infrastructure and expertise for a thorough winter inspection and refit. The aim was to remove any element of doubt as to the structural condition of the boat where things could not be immediately seen for survey.

Navigating by sextant through the land of midnight sun. Photo: Will Stirling

Lobsters and leaks

Though the boat had been in refit overwinter it regrettably seemed to be in worse condition than when sailed to the Lunenburg yard the previous autumn. The most immediate issue (among a catalogue of grumbles, the most minor of which was my climbing boots having been inexplicably melted in acid) was the refinished topsides, through which the pumping team were able to clearly see and note the dipping heights of the numerous passing lighthouses.

It remained dark, the wind increased, the sea rose, water ingress continued and the gaff jaws came adrift aloft. At this point a meek suggestion was made that we might ‘go in’ somewhere to resolve some of our more pressing problems. On the face of it, this was a sensible proposal. However, with a fair wind and no immediately available harbour, I felt that first we might try to tackle our problems one by one and then reassess.

On we sailed for 100 miles to the rural quay at Fisherman’s Wharf. Supplied with lobsters by the kind fisherman, we set about where necessary, refitting the refit. We reminded ourselves that if we couldn’t sort out the raft of issues that presented themselves, how could we expect to tackle the Northwest Passage?

Walker trailing log measures distance run. Photo: Will Stirling

First ice was encountered in the Strait of Belle Isle, at a parallel latitude with Cornwall and in short order the southern edge of the Labrador pack ice hove into view. Further progress north along the Labrador coast was forestalled by the ice and so preparations were made for the 700-mile passage across the Davis Straight to Greenland.

Leaving Labrador at first light gave us the longest period of daylight to sail clear of the ice. During the first day of the passage, we encountered the southern tip of pack significantly south of its plotted position and skirted around it. The ice lights were rigged before darkness fell.

A little later we came into an isolated patch of loose ice. There was a swell running making the ice dance in the water. The ice density increased within a few moments and it wasn’t clear where to turn in the dark. Just when things were beginning to look awkward, the ice seemed to dissipate and with great relief we were in clear water again.

Navigating through slush ice. Photo: Hugh Coulson

As the days passed and we rotated watches on the tiller, the miles accumulated on the log. Having turned off the GPS before departure, we were consciously engaged in the practice of navigation. In a world where we are surrounded by technology that we do not comprehend, we sought to understand our position on the globe using the evidence around us. A collateral benefit of traditional navigation is to experience the excitement of landfall.

Given the size of Greenland, we could proceed with reasonable confidence in finding the world’s largest island at the end of the bowsprit. It would then be a matter of deciding on which part of the 1,500-mile coast we arrived.Hence, navigation was by dead reckoning supported by sextant sights when the sun was visible. Venus and the Moon also helped but as we proceeded north, night faded into twilight and we entered the land of midnight sun.

After six days at sea the fog peeled back to reveal the snowy mountains of Greenland. We worked our way north sailing among offshore islands. Wildlife spotted included eagles, an Arctic fox, an Arctic hare and one musk rat. With no darkness, sleep patterns became erratic. We might wake at midnight and breakfast at 1600.

On reaching Disko Bay, crew Martyn Oates produced a mini disco ball; a joke of considerably patient gestation. In Disko Bay, ice concentration increased which became tricky with narrow anchorage entrances and grounded icebergs. One anchorage yielded a crop of mermaid’s hair; we played football on a surreal astroturf in Godhavn; and Luke Browne led a short climb on a carefully selected berg. The ice was incredibly hard, but with some nudging and wiggling we made it in time and on time for the first crew change in Ilulissat.

Poling off to release Integrity from pack ice in Resolute Bay. Photo: Kevin Oliver

Second stage

Our concerns about the ice coverage and speed of its break-up was crystalising into an awareness that it appeared to be a relatively heavy ice year. This created some uncertainty about what lay ahead.

Approaching the North Water, we waited for the pack ice in Melville Bay to dissipate. With some poor weather approaching and plenty of ice offshore we spent almost a week near a landmark called The Devil’s Thumb where Kev led a number of mountaineering shore excursions. These included an attempt to summit The Thumb, from which we turned back due to a lack of specialist rock climbing gear. The sea water was cold and, despite the 24 hour sunlight, in one bay the surface had settled into pancake ice by early morning.

Crucial to our comfort on board was the small stove in the saloon. Our usual type of coal having been unavailable in North America, we’d settled on a ¼-ton of anthracite sourced, delivered and stowed with difficulty. Gentle concern mounted as we found the anthracite reluctant to ignite without constant and fawning attention. Granted it wasn’t Welsh coal, but there was reasonable expectation that it might be flammable. The riddle was finally solved by taking a sack ashore and individually crushing the anthracite rocks into pebbles with the lump hammer. A dull task that involved the frying pan as an anvil.

Sailing the Northwest Passage means spectacular scenery. Photo: Will Stirling

A weather opportunity arose for an attempt to cross over to the beginning of the Northwest Passage. Our route across the North Water to Canada was rather meandering in order to have least exposure to the pack ice. Nevertheless, three days is quite a long time to spend in persistently thick fog with blue sky above the masthead – for those who may doubt, fogbows do exist!

While underway we used the sun to check the compass at local midnight. Ordinarily this would be done at local noon with the sun due south. As we were sailing north and the sun was above the horizon all the time, we used the sun due north at midnight. There was a small amount of maths involved; as we sailed further north, the magnetic variation between the magnetic pole and the geographic pole increased to almost 40° with one chart noting ‘magnetic compass useless in this area’.

Following the retreating pack ice edge west along Lancaster Sound, we took shelter from stronger winds in Erebus and Terror Bay beside Beechey Island, the Franklin Expedition’s winter quarters of 1845. Having climbed up to Franklin’s cairn to gain height we were able to survey the ice conditions to the west and choose a route through to Resolute.

Integrity moving fast in Newfoundland. Photo: Will Stirling

Within six hours of anchoring in Resolute Bay the wind changed and the ice sailed in, surrounding the boat and dragging her towards the shore. Having extricated ourselves from its icy grip we chose an equally unsuitable anchoring spot when, fortunately, a local hunter guided us to a partially sheltered cove where we were able to pole the more threatening ice away from the boat. Options for shelter were limited so we heeded more local advice, moving to a secluded bay nearby from where the Resolute Royal Canadian Mounted Police detachment kindly facilitated the final crew change.

Storm-bound

We remained cornered near Resolute for 12 days, initially by ice and then by a storm. The word is not used lightly: for five days we were confined on board, unable to leave the boat because of the sea state. Luckily we had forewarning and had chosen our anchorage carefully in respect of both wind and ice. With 36 hours of moderate weather between the next low pressure system and the ice having finally been dispersed by the wind, we agreed to take the rough with the smooth and get into Peel Sound.

Shore party staying in touch with the boat in Greenland. Photo: Will Stirling

Transiting Peel Sound is a crucial milestone because it is an ice choke point. The later it opens, the later in the season we would emerge in Alaska and the greater probability of autumn trouble in the Bering Sea. Down Peel Sound, across the St Roch Basin and through Rae Straight led us on to Gjoa Haven, ‘The most perfect little harbour in the world’, which Amundsen found in 1903 and where he overwintered for two years.

Sailing from Gjoa Haven, we negotiated Simpson Straight, the narrowest part of the Northwest Passage and the site of the Franklin Expedition’s last stand in the somberly named Starvation Cove. Darkness had started to set in at night, though both the cold and dark were compensated by the Northern Lights.

Integrity had a good run with the square sail out of Dolphin and Union Straight. This was the final narrow passage between mainland North America and the Arctic Islands, leading into the Beaufort Sea. With boisterous weather building up again, we careered into a lovely bay giving protection from all directions of wind – fortunate as over the subsequent six days a gale blew from the north-west and then south-east.

On a day when we could get ashore by dinghy, we walked seven miles to a river to fish. We didn’t catch any, but it was good to be out in the countryside – a low lying desert of brown gravel as far as the eye can see. With reduced visual inputs you become sensitive to nuance; the changing light on the land could be captivating.

Disko Island in Greenland’s Disko Bay. Photo: Will Stirling

Pressing on

At this stage, due to unseasonably strong weather, we’d covered one-third of the distance of the third leg in two-thirds of the allocated time. Patience is an essential trait of the Arctic traveller; with 1,500 miles to go, we kept busy while waiting for the opportunity to press on.

The gales finally abated to allow us to sail 750 miles to Point Barrow, the north-west point of mainland North America. It was a helter-skelter journey in order to make the most of the reasonable weather, with only two brief stops. One was at Tuktoyaktuk, the northern end of the ice road where we saw the tug and barge trains which service the settlements in the summer, the other at Herschel Island where Inuviak rangers were packing up after the summer. They were most hospitable and their hut very warm.

The Beaufort Sea is shallow and we became used to approaching land in 4m of water. Care is required as the Canadian charts are in feet; the USA charts in fathoms and the digital charts in metres! The compass became more useful as we moved west past the longitude of the magnetic North Pole. The magnetic variation changed to east and reduced to a mere 9°.

The sun never sets during the high latitudes summer. Photo: Hugh Coulson

On leaving Canada we entered United States territorial waters. We attempted to stop at the settlement of Kaktovik for shelter from weather but on approach it was too shallow. It was windy and there was evidence of a sand bar with breaking waves. While we hauled our wind and dealt with the sails two polar bears played in the water nearby. So instead it was fresh water rationing and straight on for Point Barrow: a passage of wind, fog, a Northern Lights display, and never enough sleep!

There was some brave action from the crew at Barrow, where we took on fuel and water. It involved landing on an open beach and twice the dinghy was swamped in the surf. The stakes are a bit higher when the water is 1.5°C.

Our final leg of 550 miles remained across the Chukchi Sea and through the Bering Strait. Onwards we sailed south past Icy Cape, across the Arctic circle, through the gap beside the Diomede Islands (where Russia and the USA are just two miles apart) and into the safety of Nome harbour, the gold panning town where Integrity is overwintering. Destination reached: voyage complete.

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Inside Arcadia's transit of the Northwest Passage

The Northwest Passage remains one of the most remote and inhospitable regions of the globe and has until recently been virtually impassable, with the sea frozen for much of the year. Since Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen first completed the journey in 1906 there have been fewer than 160 crossings, but with the retreat of the ice pack due to global warming, the route is becoming increasingly navigable.

It was the isolation and exclusivity that inspired Captain James Pizzaruso and the owner of the 36 metre gentleman's explorer yacht A rcadia to plan their own adventure originally scheduled for 2009.

"My mate, Brent Cook, and I were on the bridge one night looking for an alternative to Panama to get back to the Med," explains Pizzaruso. "We were trying to plan a circumnavigation, but Suez just did not appeal to anybody involved. The research for the Northwest Passage trip excited the crew and the owner, and so preparations began."

Changing direction

The crew had lined up a potential west-east transit, but delays to their approach from Japan meant they lost their weather window. Undeterred, they began preparations for an east-west attempt, and in July 2011, after some preparatory refit work at Royal Huisman's yard in Holland, A rcadia headed up the North Sea bound for Greenland.

The plan was to cruise Greenland's coast for three weeks to await the optimum weather window and to use the area as a training ground to see how A rcadia would perform in challenging conditions. It was a steep learning curve.

The yacht had ventured into the Arctic Circle before, but had never undertaken such a challenging voyage. She is a luxury cruising yacht constructed from aluminium with some carbon composite elements in her superstructure -not a steel-bound ice-breaker - and her stabilisers are also largely incompatible with chunks of submerged ice.

Entering the Arctic's waters

On September 2, the steep learning curve of _Arcadia' _s training schedule soon flattened out to a point where captain and crew felt comfortable with their preparations and ready to take on the challenge of their attempted transit.

Arcadia  filled her tanks with winterised fuel and departed Qasigianguit (also know as Christianshab), Greenland, for a three-day Baffin Sea crossing to Pond Inlet, and headed into the Northwest Passage. Ice conditions were expected to be favourable, but they far exceeded expectation: the passage proved to be free of sea ice.

"Arcadia  doesn't have the capability of pushing through even medium concentrations of ice," said Pizzaruso. "We had agreed with the insurance company that we would not enter anything above two-tenths coverage, and I had no intention of putting the boat in a situation we would not be able to get out of."

But the icy capes and islands left no room for doubt that Arcadia was travelling in extremely high and isolated latitudes: only one other ship was ever seen. And with yachts often becoming stranded and with conditions capable of changing rapidly, the crew could not afford to be complacent.

"Some of the conventional rules just don't apply up there, and what you have to do is counterintuitive," says Pizzaruso. "You would expect to find shelter and security in a protected anchorage, but the reality is that ice caps can create powerful katabatic winds and steep seas just metres from the shore. Safety and security are actually to be found in the normally more exposed areas of deep, open water."

Arcadia  progressed westwards by way of Devon Island, Prince Leopold Island, through Bellot Strait to Jenny Lind Island, Victoria Island and then on to Nome Island, the Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea and Bering Strait. Anchorages were chosen to allow owners, guests and crew to enjoy invigorating (if cold and challenging) hikes ashore where they could explore, view wildlife and visit the graves of lost expedition sailors on Beechey Island.

Harsh conditions

The weather was relatively mild, 10 to 12 degrees centigrade by day on most days, and not too far below freezing at night. Occasional snow flurries were experienced along with quite fine weather, but the temperatures could drop alarmingly in the katabatic winds.

On September 9, shortly after anchoring in a calm at Cape Home,  Arcadia  was subjected to almost 60 knots of wind and a steep, four-foot chop, just metres from shore. Fortunately, her owner had the foresight, when building her, to specify anchors, winches and ground tackle well above the norm for a yacht of her size; with the additional benefit of good holding ground, she held securely throughout.

Arctic wildlife

From a wildlife perspective, the passage yielded some dividends and some disappointments. Guests and crew were delighted by the number of polar bear sightings but also by the healthy condition of the bears; those seen on a previous passage to Labrador in Canada had appeared emaciated by comparison.

Thankfully, a close encounter with a swimming bear proved the only pulse-raising experience. "We were manoeuvring through a patch of glacial ice chunks when a bear suddenly appeared right in front of the boat," recalled Pizzaruso. "It rolled over, looked at the boat and snarled -we narrowly missed it."

Humpback whales were regular companions but eagerly anticipated sightings of the much rarer narwhal and beluga whales did not come to pass. The best platform for wildlife sightings proved to be the yacht itself: shore parties discovered the sensitivity of both birds and mammals to their presence.

Crossing the Northwest Passage

Navigationally, the Northwest Passage presented only modest challenges -but that is in the context of both 21st century technology and 2011's exceptionally open waters. The compass is effectively useless so close to the magnetic pole, but GPS, radar and visual bearings ensured safe navigation through the relatively deep and steep passages.

Arcadia  covered a total of 3,278 nautical miles, of which 1,587 were completed between Ilulissat and Cambridge Bay, and a further 1,691 between Cambridge bay and Nome, Alaska.

"The highlight was the knowledge that we had done something that only a few before us have done, and we have a great respect for those who pioneered the Northwest Passage," adds Pizzaruso. "We were very happy with how it worked out, especially after having had our 2009 attempt robbed from us."

Memories and pride

For Arcadia's owner, the most powerful memories derived from the extraordinary sense of isolation and vulnerability at the northern navigable tip of the planet; from the sense of awe and humility that accompanied a passage in the footsteps of pioneers such as Sir John Franklin and Amundsen; from the magnificence of the scenery and wildlife; and from the recognition that this relatively small yacht could offer such comfortable and reliable access to an exceptional experience so far from modern-day human habitation.

There is also the quiet pride in being the 159th vessel to complete a transit of the Northwest Passage. And she was officially credited as the 145th because each year's passages are listed alphabetically.

The open waters of 2011 may have made the attempt less challenging than in earlier times, but it takes a rare spirit to even contemplate heading north into the Arctic Circle to make such an attempt.

Originally published March 2012.

Photography by Luc Hardy, courtesy of Royal Huisman

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Sailing the north-west passage

The Oyster 72 Katharsis II has been my home for the last three years. During this time, she has crossed various waters, logging 45,000 nautical miles. We raced together across the Atlantic, completed the long voyage around Cape Horm from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean, discovered fjords in Patagonia and reached the Antartic. Katharsis II met the challenge beautifully in all of these difficult circumstances.

Through the north-west passage.

By Mariusz Koper

The goal that I set myself, my crew, and Katharsis II in 2012 was to complete the North-West Passage from east to west. Since 1906, with the first crossing of the Passage by Roald Amundsen, only 65 sailboats have successfully completed the crossing. I am proud to add Oyster and my name to that list.

Arctic ice tends to be less threatening than it was a dozen or so years ago, as global warming is diminishing the permanent ice cap . Navigation is facilitated due to the highly accurate forecasts published by the Canadian Ice Service. Nevertheless, the ice in the Arctic has not yet completely disappeared and so a voyage through the daunting North-West Passage was very dramatic last year, thanks to the large concentration of ice in the Eastern Arctic.

ILULISSAT IN DISKO BAY, GREENLAND

Ilulissat in Disko Bay, GreenlandWe had our first Arctic experience in Greenland towards the end of July. We sailed to the port of Ilulissat in Disko Bay in calm and sunny weather. In order to reach the harbour, we had to successfully manoeuvre Katharsis II through a field of massive icebergs. I had never seen so many icebergs in one place before. They break, or calve, from the most productive glacier in the world – Sermeq Kujalleq. It was a magical feeling to be surrounded by these towering walls of ice glittering with all shades of snow white and icy blue. 

During our short stay in the port, the weather deteriorated. Rain and strong winds started to blow from the land and changed the face of the bay. After just a few hours, ice floe and growlers began to fill up the harbour. Due to their size and number, it seemed that the safest thing to do was to leave the port. So we left, but unfortunately, the situation outside was deteriorating as well. The strong wind created currents, setting the ice in motion. We watched as streams of growlers moved in opposite directions. These conditions, combined with the growing fog, forced us to return to the safety of the harbour. 

We found refuge behind a cliff near the port entry, thus avoiding direct contact with the swirling ice. Although we avoided any collisions, we were completely blocked in by a white mass of ice. The next day, the ice began to leave the harbour. This made it possible for the 100m clipper Adventure to leave Ilulissat. However we had moored behind the ship and were still trapped in ice. We had only four ice poles to protect our hull against the pressure of the ice, which was put into motion by one of the ship’s propellers. We experienced several direct hits, but were otherwise left unscathed. The next day we were also able to leave the port of Ilulissat.

There is usually a large ice massif in the central part of Baffin Bay in July. Because of this, a detour is required. However, the melting of ice this year made it possible to sail directly towards the Canadian Arctic. On the other hand, the Eastern Arctic is usually free of ice in July, but this year the passage from Pond Inlet to Lancaster Sound was completely blocked in early August. Lancaster Sound itself, especially in the southern part, was also filled with ice. The pack ice began to flow out of the sound into Baffin Bay in the form of a long belt. We encountered its edge with two nautical mile accuracy on 4th August, and thus confirmed the quality of the Canadian ice charts. The pack ice was very impresive. We could hear the frightening sound of the ice bobbing in the swell. It cer tainly did not encourage us to enter inside.

LANCASTER SOUND

We passed by Pond Inlet and sailed directly into the northern part of Lancaster Sound. Entry into the Canadian channels marks the beginning of the North-West Passage. In the middle of Devon Island’s south coast we encountered our first pack ice, which could not be detoured. After several hours of manoeuvring through the maze, the newly downloaded ice chart confirmed that we were in pack ice with an ice concentration of 7/10, which extended well into Maxwell Inlet. We expected to be in drift ice with an ice concentration of 3/10, as indicated by the previous day’s forecast. Sailing close to the shore, due to the absence of wind and surge, we were able to break through to clear water, after ten long hours of negotiating the ice. 

On the evening of 6th August we anchored in Erebus and Terror Bay, between the islands of Devon and Beechey. Here, John Franklin’s tragic expedition spent their first winter of 1845 in this Martian-looking environment. It was one of the most tragic Arctic expeditions. None of the 129 participants survived.

BELLOT STRAIT AND FORT ROSS

We continued our journey south. I decided to go through Peel Sound because there was no ice forecast issued for Prince Regent Inlet at the time. On the way to Somerset ’s west coast, we met a huge (about 10 km 2 ) ice island, which had calved from the Peterman Glacier in Greenland. It was more an attraction for us rather than an obstacle. It was easy to imagine that if the currents and winds had shifted it into one of the narrow passages, one would have been totally blocked. The ice island seemed to be completely intact. It was carved with canyons filled with icy rivers. We couldn’t resist the temptation to explore it a bit. It left a great impression on my crew. 

Being well ahead of our schedule, I decided to visit Fort Ross on the east side of Somerset. To get there, we had to cross Bellot Strait. This narrow, 18-mile-long pass is tricky because of its strong currents which can cause a rapid change of ice conditions. We encountered a clear entry, but exit on the eastern side looked like a flowing mountain stream filled with ice. We faced 6 knots of current there. Fortunately, there was a narrow, ice-free path through the mainstream. We suffered only one direct hit by a large ice floe. It was turned into fast motion by the current and with side wind picked up to 25 knots, we couldn’t avoid it. T here was no damage to the boat as the ice only licked our port hull. We passed the strait, but the drama was still unfolding. The entrance to Fort Ross was blocked by several miles of long, thick rings of ice floe. I was hoping the ice wouldn’t have filled up the strait on the way back to Peel Sound. We broke through the barrier of ice at last and dropped an anchor in the bay, which housed the remains of a Hudson’s Bay Company outpost closed in the 1940s. One of the buildings still serves as a self-service shelter. I filled in the guest book as the first yacht visiting Fort Ross in 2012. We met several polar bears, one of whom even tried to board the boat, tempted by the smell of freshly cooked lobster pasta. Nothing worked to discourage him, so I had to use our rifle to make a shot in the air. The way back was much easier despite strong head winds, which fortunately dispersed the ice, so the east entrance to Bellot Strait was clear this time. Shortly afterwards we found out that Katharsis II was the first vessel ever passing Bellot Strait twice during a single voyage.

VICTORIA STRAIT

At this point, I had another decision to make: which side of King William Island should we choose on the way to Queen Maud Gulf? Amundsen and the vast majority of sailors chose the long way around, a clockwise one. Despite numerous shallows in James Ross Strait, a clear passage can usually be found nearby the mainland. This time, strong winds were blowing from the west for several days and completely blocked the strait with solid pack ice. I decided to stop and wait for a new ice forecast in Paisley Bay. It was the same place which gave shelter to Henry Larsen’s expedition on St Roch in the winter of 1941. He completed the North- West Passage as the second after Amundsen and was the first one to sail an eastbound route. 

Prospects for a quick change in ice condition were slim, and I suggested we sail south through Victoria Strait. This was a shorter route, but also a harder one, thanks to the movement of pack ice from M’Clintock Channel in the direction of King William Island. In case of any problems, it would be hard to find shelter, as the western shore of the island was completely covered with ice. There was a several-mile-wide gap, filled with floating ice with concentration of 3/10 between the two expanses of pack ice: one was resting against the island with coverage of more than 9/10 and the other was floating down from M’Clintock with a coverage of 7/10. I decided to find this gap and to sail through it. As it turned out, it was a much more difficult task than I thought. The transition between the floating ice, with smaller filling of ice and the closed pack may be quite smooth. Taking into account the latest ice chart, my preferred sailing direction was towards the border of pack ice running down from M’Clintock. Unbeknown to us, we were sucked into it.

The situation began to look serious. We were manoeuvring with a minimum speed looking for ice-free channels. Observing much more ice around us than there should have been according to the ice chart, I changed our preferred sailing direction towards King William Island. Visibility deteriorated due to darkness and snowfall before midnight. The temperature dropped to zero. At that point, I wanted to find a rest for the crew and planned to anchor to a large ice floe. Everybody looked exhausted. Then one of the crew sitting up at the first spreader saw a looser ice field abeam. It was a huge relief for all of us, even though we still had a few dozen miles to the exit from the drift ice. I decided to continue our passage. It was not until the next day in the afternoon that we passed the last thick pack ice at the Royal Geographical Society Islands and we were ice free. We sailed through ice for 120 nautical miles. It was Tuesday 14th August and we could finally hoist our sails to cross the open waters of Queen Maud Gulf. The sun was hanging low above the horizon, lightening up single growlers floating on the sea, and lifting up our spirits.

BEAUFORT SEA, CHUKCHI SEA AND BERING STRAIT

Cambridge Bay was the only visited settlement during the North-West Passage and marked the halfway point on the route. From there we were supposed to see water only, as even Point Barrow in the Chukchi Sea entrance was free of ice. According to Amundsen, the Bering Strait, which was still 1,400 miles ahead, marks the end of the North-West Passage. We experienced almost all possible conditions on this part of our route. We sailed into the wind, sometimes very strong. We ran with the wind, even managed to hoist our spinnaker in the Beaufort Sea. We struggled with strong contrary currents approaching Point Barrow. Twice we had to hide from storms, once in the Chukchi Sea, and the second time in the Bering Sea, to avoid the 11B wind in our nose. After two consecutive low systems with head winds in the Chukchi Sea we entered the Bering Strait, running in a storm with winds over 45 knots. I will never forget the freak, square waves generated in these shallow, murky waters. 

We passed Fairway Rock, located in the Bering Strait, on 3oth August, 25 days after we entered the Canadian Arctic. We all felt a great wave of emotions washing over us, as we had finally achieved the difficult and strenuous task of completing the North-West Passage. It was a once in a lifetime experience for all of us. Because of this enthralling voyage, we were able to learn and better understand the unique and powerful behaviours of the unknown and dangerous Arctic ice. We also had the privilege of beholding the astounding and mysterious beauty of the Arctic and its wildlife. 

We could afford only a short but meaningful celebration due to the continuation of the storm. I was fully aware this was not the end of our expedition. There were still 2,400 nautical miles ahead of us, including the Bering Sea (dangerous and extremely stormy at this time of the year) and the whimsical North Pacific, on our way to Vancouver.

To view more images of Katharsis II on her travels, visit   www.katharsis2.com

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Northwest Passage Travel Tips & Guide

• The flora & fauna of the Arctic , including the great migrations of the beluga & narwhals, kittiwakes & other Arctic birds, seals & polar bears. Snowmobiles offer a great way to see this wildlife.
• Baffin Island , at the mouth of the Northwest Passage, where you can trek across glaciers and hike the trails at Qikiqtarjuaq.
• Karrat Fjord , one of Greenland's most impresive fjords, where stone cliffs highlight the landscape & wildlife abounds.
• Somerset Island , in the depths of the Arctic Circle, is home to caribou, musk ox, and thousands of birds.
• Beechey Island , where solemn gravemarkers honor Franklin's lost crew of pioneers, and Caswall Tower offers a great lookout for polar bears.

The Mystery of Franklin's Lost Ships

Northwest passage cruise: when to go, wildlife guide to polar regions.

• Le Soleal  
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• L'Austral
• Greenland – The Kangerlussuaq Airport is one of only two airports in Greenland and the best for our Northwest Passage itineraries.
• Nunavut & Edmonton – If you're flying into this far-north territory of Canada, make sure to plan an extra day of travel before in case extreme weather conditions affect your flight.
• Ottawa – This international airport offers a good gateway to Passage expeditions.

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Yachting Monthly

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Sailing in the Arctic: how to cruise to the far north

• Katy Stickland
• December 6, 2021

Once you’ve experienced the beauty and peace of sailing in the Arctic, you’ll want to return again and again. Andrew Wilkes explains how to make the dream a reality

Once you've caught the sailing in the Arctic bug, it can become addictive. Credit: Cody Duncan/Alamy Stock Photo

Sailing in the Arctic can easily become an addiction, writes Andrew Wilkes .

It can start with a night spent at anchor in a remote and beautiful Scottish loch – basking in a clear starlit night in sheltered waters .

You may have spent all day negotiating tidal gates , reefing and shaking out reefs , dodging rocks and using transits. You may even have spotted a sea eagle.

Things might not have gone entirely to plan but you and your sailing partner have solved the problems along the way.

You’re tired, in a very contented way, and you might have a glass of something in your hand.

Andrew Wilkes’ Annabel J sailing in Scoresby Sund, East Greenland. Credit: Andrew Wilkes

The conversation flows and the old subject returns: where shall we go next year?

There are several sensible answers to that question: the Spanish Rías or a cruise in the Mediterranean are good, safe, options.

But… if the romance of your tranquil anchorage has taken a firm grip, you could find yourself at the boat show buying a pilot book for the Faroe Islands.

Winter evenings might be spent at the kitchen table making a passage plan ‘just for fun’.

Then, since you’ve made the plan, you might as well make an attempt at the passage.

One thing leads to another and, in a few years’ time, you find yourself sailing through the icebergs in Disko Bay.

That’s when you know you’re hooked.

The Faroe Islands

Kalsoy Island, Faroe. The northern islands have huge ridges and long fjords. Credit: Ivan Kmit/Alamy Stock Photo

Also known as Føroyar (the islands of sheep), the Faroe Islands are a group of 18 islands with many holms and stacks.

They are about 200 miles north of the Butt of Lewis and boast some of the most spectacular scenery in northern Europe.

Most of the land lies at between 300m and 800m which rises as sheer cliffs from the sea.

The more dramatic cliffs are on the west and north coasts and there are tremendous ridges and fjords in the Norðoyar (northern islands).

The eastern coasts of the central and southern islands are gentler and are deeply indented by fjords.

Strong tides rip through the islands creating eddies and overfalls .

Iceland, a land of volcanoes and small fishing towns, it not for the faint hearted but offers rich rewards. Credit: Zoonar GmbH/Alamy Stock Photo

Iceland lies 250 miles northwest of the Faroe Islands. It is a land of volcanoes, icecaps and spectacular geysers.

The lunar landscape created by volcanic action is hard and unforgiving.

Visiting yachts berth alongside tyre-clad quays in small fishing towns.

There are not many people but there is a great sense of Viking history about the place.

Western Fjords, Iceland. One of the remotest regions of the country, jutting out in the Denmark Strait. Credit: Sunpix Travel/Alamy Stock Photo

Thor, Odin and the Sagas rub shoulders with Eirikur Rauði (Erik the Red). Greenland (Kalaallit Nunaat or Grønland) is the world’s largest island but with a population of just 56,000, it is also one of the most sparsely populated places on Earth.

Everyone lives on the coast, mainly the west and southwest coasts. 80% of the land is permanently covered in ice.

Glaciers calve icebergs into the sea which are swept down the east coast, around Kap Farvel in the south, up the west coast and around Baffin Bay.

Kap Farvel is the ‘Cape Horn’ of the northern hemisphere – its storms and vicious weather deserve the greatest respect.

Much of the coast is protected by offshore islands, which creates a magnificent cruising ground.

In the summer, it remains light continuously.

Baffin Island

Baffin Island, Canada. Samford Fjord, in the northeast of the island, enjoys 24 hours of daylight in the summer. Credit: Albert Knapp/Alamy Stock Photo

Baffin Island is the second biggest island in the northern hemisphere. It is rarely visited by yachts.

Much of our pilotage information is based on the old whalers’ observations from the 1800s and early 1900s.

Distances between anchorages are great, tides strong and ice plentiful.

Nature is all powerful and polar bears abound.

The first time we sailed there, I naively thought that, because a place had the word ‘harbour’ in its name then it would offer some shelter, but this is not necessarily the case!

The Northwest Passage

Crew need to be confident to handle heavy weather when sailing in the Arctic. Credit: Maire Wilkes

For better or worse, this is on many sailors’ ‘tick list’.

It is defined as the sea route, north of North America, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

It is blocked by ice for most of the year but global warming is taking its toll.

It was first transited by Roald Amundsen in 1906. By December 2020, 314 transits had been completed. Over half of these were completed in the last decade.

However, despite what you may read in the papers, ice can still be abundant and a successful transit is by no means guaranteed.

The remoter areas have no facilities of any sort.

Visiting sailors need to be totally self sufficient in every respect with regards to fuel, food, water, spares and maintenance.

The reward you get from this independence is a massive sense of achievement, the privilege of being in some of the most beautiful places on Earth, an almost spiritual connection with nature and, occasionally, meeting the most genuine people.

Sailing in the Arctic: The boat and her equipment

The first challenge of a cruise in higher latitudes is to get there. The boat needs to be seaworthy and comfortable for the delivery voyage.

Good, and free, guidance for choosing and equipping offshore sailing boats can be found in World Sailing’s Offshore Special Regulations (OSR).

Metal hulls are best when sailing in the Arctic as they are generally stronger and cope better with ice. Credit: Danita Delimont/Alamy Stock Photo

They are designed for yachts competing in offshore races but the advice holds good for cruising yachts.

The OSR are split into different categories ranging from short warm weather races (Cat 4) to trans-oceanic races in the world’s most hostile conditions (Cat 0).

Voyages to higher latitudes will fall within the Cat 1 or Cat 0 categories.

Weather can change rapidly and become violent when sailing in the Arctic. Credit: Bob Shepton

When you have arrived at your cruising ground there will be new challenges.

Depending on the area, these might include: poor charting, cold and windy conditions, ice, poor shelter and little or no shore facilities.

A new, and also free, resource is available in the form of the Polar Yacht Guide (PYG) which can be downloaded from the RCCPF or World Sailing websites.

You need to be familiar with your engine, and have the ability to repair it by yourself. Credit: Aleksandrs Tihonovs/Alamy Stock Photo

As the name implies, the guide specialises in best practice for high latitude cruising.

It focuses on safety and the environment. It is very difficult to translate all this into a definitive specification for a high latitude cruising yacht.

There have been some amazing voyages in small, comparatively modest, boats by people like W.H. Tillman, Willy Kerr and Bob Shepton, but I would urge high latitude sailors to consider the following…

• The right hull design and material: Greenland and the Canadian Arctic have extensive coastlines and archipelagos which are not frequented by shipping. There is little commercial incentive to survey and chart the waters with a high degree of accuracy. In these areas, running aground , possibly at speed, is a probability. A modern lightweight hull sitting on top of a high-aspect fin keel is unlikely to take this well. A metal boat will withstand a sudden impact better than most GRP hulls.
• Heavy-weather rigging : A strong and well tested rig with which the crew are familiar. Good, simple reefing systems and storm sails .
• Anchor and chain: Unpredictable katabatic winds are likely. Excellent ground tackle comprising a choice of heavy anchors and lots of chain are recommended. Anchors have been lost in bad weather or ice conditions so spares are vital.
• Protection and comfort: Crew who are over-exposed to cold and harsh conditions are not safe. Think about doghouses, cuddies and heating .
• A reliable engine: Ensure your crew are familiar with the boat’s engine and have a well thought out supply of tools and spares needed to fix the engine if it runs into problems.
• Simple systems: Plumbing, heating and electrical systems which the crew can repair with spares they have on board. You need to be fully self-reliant, and a broken down system that you are unable to repair yourselves could make the voyage uncomfortable or a serious danger to you and others.
• Safety Equipment: Even with the latest communications equipment, boats in high latitudes can be several days away from potential help. Crews need to be capable of surviving in hostile conditions for a long time. Read the Polar Yacht Guide.

The crew: are you ready?

Having a well-prepared crew with adequate experience is essential for sailing in the Arctic. Credit: Bob Shepton

Sailing in the Arctic attracts all sorts. Many go because they want to explore beautiful cruising grounds and build on their experience.

Unfortunately, it also attracts ‘Adventurers’ whose egos exceed their abilities. These people are a danger to themselves and others.

They also give the rest of us a bad name. More about this later.

Courses and qualifications help us to acquire a basic understanding of skills but they are not a substitute for experience.

You need to know your boat, your crew and yourself. Happily there is a great way of doing this – go sailing!

Train for using safety equipment, including survival suits. Credit: Andrew Wilkes

Gain experience in your home waters, get some offshore passages under your belt and fix things yourself.

Start going further afield: spend a season or two on the west coast of Scotland or Ireland.

Then expand your horizons a bit: cruise to the Shetland Islands, the Faroe Islands, the Norwegian fjords and then circumnavigate Iceland.

These are all fantastic cruising grounds which are both beautiful and challenging.

I helped to write the Polar Yacht Guide and, as part of that process, we asked experienced high latitude sailors for contributions.

Members of the Irish Cruising Club have a lot of experience sailing in the Arctic.

This is what they said:

‘High-latitude experience and dedication are both really important.’

‘The skipper must have good people-handling skills along with a high dose of empathy.’

‘Crew compatibility is very important along with plenty of old-style, marina-free, cruising experience in demanding weather and anchoring conditions.’

A Refleks diesel heater keeps life comfortable on board. Credit: Andrew Wilkes

‘It’s essential to have ocean and coastal experience – even if they have no experience in Arctic regions. People with sea miles under their belt understand how to eat, sleep, work and behave in challenging conditions and can engender confidence.’

‘A physically strong crew is required to pole aside bergy bits in leads’.

‘Have someone on board with good medical skills together with a first-class medical and dental kit.’

Careful planning can help. Much like parenting, the wisest course of action is often to ‘pick your battles’.

Here are a couple of scenarios:

• A voyage from the UK to Iceland could be broken in the Faroe Islands. Each leg would be about 250 miles, or about two days’ sailing. Weather forecasts for two or three days are generally pretty accurate and, provided time is available to wait for a good forecast, a passage in favourable conditions should be achievable.
• Sailing directly to western Greenland from Ireland is a voyage of about 1,200 miles, a week or two’s sailing for an average cruising boat. If ice conditions are unfavourable, a longer passage further north up the west coast of Greenland will be necessary. The weather off Kap Farvel, on the southern tip of Greenland, is often extreme and it can change quickly. By the time a sailing yacht is in this area, the forecasts downloaded before departure will be out of date.

Sailing in the Arctic: Navigating in ice

Ice and icebergs are plentiful in Disko Bay, West Greenland. Credit: Sergey Oyadnikov/Alamy Stock Photo

People sometimes have the perception that global warming is melting all the ice so a small boat passage through, say, the Northwest Passage is easy.

This is too simplistic: global warming is melting the ice and there is a lot less ice than there was 20 years ago but there are still ‘good’ ice years and ‘bad’ ice years.

There are long-range ice forecasts but we don’t really know what kind of year it is going to be until the navigation season has started. 2018 was a ‘bad’ year and only three vessels managed to transit the Northwest Passage.

Ice arches are quite common – do not be tempted to go through them in a dinghy – they do collapse. Credit: Maire Wilkes

2017 was a ‘good’ year and there were 32 successful transits, 22 of which were made by yachts.

Navigating in these waters requires both good planning and luck.

There are a couple of important things you probably already know about navigating in ice: only a the tip of the iceberg is above the surface and a cubic metre of ice weighs a tonne. So a yacht of, say, 10 or even 50 tonnes is not going to smash through much ice.

We have to navigate around it and this determines where we can go. We study ice charts and try to avoid areas showing more than 3/10 ice.

Don’t try to navigate in areas with more than 3/10 ice coverage. A long pole can be helpful to push aside smaller floes. Credit: Jonathan Sumpton/Alamy

However, ice charts, like weather forecasts, are not always entirely accurate and they do go out of date.

Navigation in ice is covered in more detail in my book Arctic and Northern Waters and also in High Latitude Sailing by Bob Shepton and Jon Amtrup.

Much useful information can also be gleaned from reading the Polar Yacht Guide and the Canadian websites which are written for ships navigating in polar waters.

( https://www.ccg-gcc.gc.ca/publications/index-eng.html ).

Things to consider when sailing in the Arctic:

• Know how to use ice charts to find out which waters are navigable.
• Wind and current will move ice. Use weather forecasts in conjunction with ice charts to forecast ice movements.
• Anchor watches are necessary to avoid being hit by ice
• Fog and ice often go hand in hand.
• Fuel consumption will be increased whilst navigating in icy waters.
• Learn traditional techniques such as spotting open water leads, ice blink and water skies.
• Ice shelves often protrude from an iceberg or ice floe beneath the surface – do not go too close.
• Icebergs and glaciers often ‘calve’ without warning. Decide on safe distances from icebergs.
• One or two ice-poles are useful for pushing away small floes.
• Radar may detect icebergs but will probably not smaller bergs or flat floes.
• Ice accretion on a vessel will affect her stability as well as the operation of mechanical equipment, electrics and antennas.

Impact on the environment

An Arctic fox in its darker summer coat – one of numerous species to be spotted while sailing in the Arctic. Credit: Rodger Grayson and Ali Dedman

The days of ‘attempting a transit through the Northwest Passage to highlight global warming’ are gone.

We all know global warming is happening and, if we are honest with ourselves, we should know that our presence sailing in the Arctic is not helping.

If we choose to sail there, we should make it incumbent upon ourselves to minimise our impact on the environment.

A polar bear swims around the boat at Beechy Island. Credit: Maire Wilkes

We sail there because we love nature, so it should not be difficult to convince ourselves that we should do our best to protect it.

Environmental considerations

• The Arctic has one of the world’s most fragile ecosystems.
• The short Arctic growing season means that plants grow at a very slow rate.
• It is home to some of the world’s most endangered species.
• Cold temperatures slow down or stop the decomposition of organic matter.

Vessels visiting the Antarctic have to obtain a Permit. This requires a high degree of planning including a boat specific Environmental Impact Assessment.

While there are many regulations designed to protect the Antarctic environment, at present little legislation applies to the Arctic and it is left to skippers to act responsibly.

Responsible Arctic cruising

A hunter in Qinngertivaq Fjord, eastern Greenland. Credit: Jonathan Sumpton/Alamy Stock Photo

Detailed guidance is given in Arctic and Northern Waters and in the Polar Yacht Guide. This includes:

• Responsible engine, generator and outboard maintenance
• Fuel transfers
• Dealing with oil and fuel spills
• Boat maintenance
• Trips ashore
• Management of rubbish and waste disposal
• Black and grey water disposal
• Biosecurity and minimising the risks of introducing invasive species
• Responsible behaviour at historical sites
• Respecting local people and their culture
• How to minimise our disturbance to wildlife – ashore, at sea and in the air

The Polar Yacht Guide includes an example of a boat specific ‘Environmental Protection Plan’.

Every boat will have different limitations and resources, so skippers must develop their own boat code of best practice.

Make a plan for sailing in the Arctic

If you have not sailed in high latitudes before, and I haven’t dissuaded you from doing so, you need to make a plan.

Remember Roald Amundsen’s advice to foresee and prepare for every difficulty, read all you can and get as much experience as you can.

Be a Seaman not an ill-prepared ‘Adventurer.’

The author’t boat sailing in Scoresby Sund, East Greenland. Credit: Maire Wilkes

You will need a boat and you will need to equip her. Like most sailing projects, this can either be done expensively or very expensively.

It is unlikely to be done cheaply but, if you are committed, it is probably achievable.

You can read accounts of, mainly, successful high-latitude cruises on the web pages of sailing clubs like the RCC, OCC and Trans-Ocean.

I gave a talk recently about sailing in the Arctic which was followed by a number of mainly very sensible questions.

Continues below…

A guide to high latitude yachts

Yacht cruising within the Arctic Circle has become increasingly popular, 
but what is the best type of yacht for the…

Roger Taylor: Impossible voyage conquered

Roger Taylor navigates his engineless 24ft Mingming II on a 4,000 mile nonstop voyage around the usually icebound waters of…

Heavy weather sailing: preparing for extreme conditions

Alastair Buchan and other expert ocean cruisers explain how best to prepare when you’ve been ‘caught out’ and end up…

Adventure: guide to sailing in storms

Award-winning sailor and expedition leader Bob Shepton regularly sails some of the most storm-swept latitudes in the world. Not bad…

The question which floored me came from a relatively inexperienced listener who asked: ‘How much would it cost me to equip a boat and sail through the Northwest Passage?’ He had totally missed the point.

Sailing in these waters is not about money, the size or sophistication of your boat.

It is not even about the training you have done or the safety equipment you might have on board.

Greenland’s capital Nuuk is a good option for resupply and crew changes when sailing in the Arctic. Credit: Niels Melander/Alamy Stock Photo

What is important is the experience you have gained before moving on to the next stage of your sailing career.

Enthusiasts will read everything they can about the subject at hand, learn from anyone they can and practise their skills until they become second nature.

If you do this, and are honest with yourself, you will know if the boat, the crew and you are ready.

Successes and failures

Roald Amundsen, the Norwegian who led the first successful transit through the Northwest Passage famously wrote, ‘I may say that this is the greatest factor – the way in which the expedition is equipped – the way in which every difficulty is foreseen, and precautions taken for meeting or avoiding it. Victory awaits him who has everything in order – luck, people call it. Defeat is certain for him who has neglected to take the necessary precautions in time; this is called bad luck.’

He completed the transit in 1906 but his advice is as relevant today as it ever was. Some have followed it and others have not.

I am not sure if the Franklin expedition should be counted as a success or a failure.

Roald Amundsen who led the first successful voyage through the Northwest Passage. Credit: GL Archive/Alamy Stock Photo

Much has been written about Sir John Franklin’s 1845 expedition to find the Northwest Passage.

His two ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror and 134 officers and men were lost in the ice off King William Island.

The British, however, have a unique talent for remodelling apparent failures into resounding successes.

The expedition prompted a huge interest in Arctic exploration and much was learned from the expeditions which followed this one.

Roald Amundsen was a smart Norwegian cookie.

Not for him the grandeur of the Royal Navy. Despite not having a 1,000-book library, extravagant dinner services, dress uniforms, and highly polished brass buttons, he transited the Northwest Passage for the first time in 1906.

Amundsen transited the Northwest Passage in an old herring boat with a crew of six men. Credit: Granger Historical Picture Archive/Alamy Stock Photo

He did it, over a period of three years, in a converted herring fishing boat with six men dressed in Inuit seal-skins.

My wife, Máire, and I were moored alongside in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland in 2008.

A 32ft yacht, with a broken boom, tied up alongside us. We invited the two crew onboard and they told us their story.

The owner/skipper was very ‘gung-ho’ and rather full of his and his boat’s prowess. The other man was very quiet.

I think he was still in a state of shock following their recent ‘adventure’.

They had been knocked-down that day whilst sailing in bad weather, the boom and sails were in pieces.

The crew had been washed over the side but had managed to clamber back onboard. The boat and her contents were soaking.

We gave them a hot meal and dry sleeping bags.

The crewman flew home the next day and I often wonder what became of the skipper.

Adventurers vs Seamen

In 2013 a group of American adventurers, who featured in a US reality TV show called Dangerous Waters , attempted to use jet-skis to transit the Northwest Passage.

Andrew Wilkes has cruised all his adult life. He and his wife cruise Annabel J, a 56ft gaff cutter, in remote areas such as the Baltic, Alaska and Chile

Their tent was torn up by a polar bear and the jet-skis did not work when the sea started to freeze.

They and their support/fuel boat were rescued by the Canadian Coastguard.

The rescue expedition is reported to have cost a six-figure sum.

The yacht Anahita , an Ovni 345, was crushed by ice and sank in the approaches to the Bellot Strait in 2018.

The Canadian Coastguard had warned yachts away from the area four days before the incident. Fortunately the crew were rescued.

On a positive note, the number of people sailing in high latitudes is increasing year on year.

Nearly all of their passages are successfully completed by competent sailors in well-equipped boats.

Additional information for sailing in the Arctic

Polar Yacht Guide Alan Green, Andrew Wilkes, Victor Wejer & Skip Novak (World Sailing/Royal Cruising Club Pilotage Foundation, free) https://rccpf.org.uk/pilots/187/Polar-Yacht-Guide OR www.sailing.org/sailors/safety/polar_yacht_guide.php

Arctic and Northern Waters by Andrew Wilkes (Imray/Royal Cruising Club Pilotage Foundation, £65)

Buy Arctic and Northern Waters at Amazon (UK)

Buy Arctic and Northern Waters at Amazon (US)

High Latitude Sailing by Jon Amtrup & Bob Shepton (Adlard Coles, £25)

Buy High Latitude Sailing at Amazon (UK)

Buy High Latitude Sailing at Amazon (US)

Buy High Latitude Sailing at Waterstones

Note: We may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site, at no extra cost to you. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

Arctic and Northern Waters and NW Passage Periplus : https://rccpf.org.uk/pilots/191/Periplus-to-Northwest-Passage

World Sailing Offshore Special Regulations https://www.sailing.org/specialregs

Canadian Coastguard publications (including the Manual of Ice, Notices to Mariners, Canadian Aids to Navigation ): https://www.ccg-gcc.gc.ca/publications/index-eng.html

Few, if any, high latitude recreational cruises took place in 2020-21 due to the COVID pandemic.

At the time of writing (Oct 2021), most Arctic communities do not welcome foreign visitors due to limited resources to cope with potential outbreaks.

It is hoped this will change next year, but contact the appropriate authorities before departing.

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EYOS Completes Historic Northwest Passage Season

Expeditions | News | Yacht Charters | September 28, 2023

EYOS Expeditions completed a historic season in the Northwest Passage this summer with five vessels sailing the historic High Arctic sea route. Three of these set out to complete the full ocean-to-ocean passage and all were successful. EYOS is the first company to manage three vessels completing the entire Passage in a single season.

Vessels working under EYOS guidance this summer in the Northwest Passage included a 47-meter motor yacht, two 50-plus meter sailing yachts, a 70-plus meter motor yacht, and the 196-meter residential ship, The World . Additionally, EYOS managed expedition operations for another seven yachts in Greenland, Alaska, Svalbard, and the Norwegian Arctic, making a total of twelve vessels, many with multiple expeditions, in the Arctic this season.

EYOS provided ice pilots for the yachts along with expedition guide teams that helped plan the itinerary, guided and managed safe shore landings and activities, providing polar bear protection throughout. EYOS also completed permitting for each of the vessels operating in the region, navigating the multi-layered system from the local, provincial and federal levels.

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Ben Lyons, EYOS Expeditions CEO said “The Northwest Passage is an iconic waterway – a true challenge not to be taken lightly by any vessel. Each of the vessels and their crew that we worked with deserve congratulations for their historic achievement.”

Founding Partner Tim Soper was Expedition Leader onboard The World, the largest privately owned residential yacht on earth. In September 2019, The World completed its second Northwest Passage (NWP) transit sailing from east to west and becoming the largest ship ever to accomplish a “double transit” — the full passage in both directions. Soper also led The World’s first and record-breaking NWP transit in 2012 when it sailed the historic sea route from west to east.

Soper said, “We had absolutely spectacular conditions throughout the voyage, from quietly observing polar bears hunting seals right in front of our Zodiacs to several nights with incredible Northern Lights lasting for hours, many narwhal sightings and fantastic mountain landings by helicopter. And while it is difficult to determine exactly, we believe The World’s transit was about the 300th in history—quite a milestone in itself.”

Lyons added “We can’t always plan exactly where the vessels will be each day as some passages or bays might be frozen solid. That allows us to take advantage of spontaneous and opportunistic occurrences, like encountering polar bears or bowhead whales, or the chance to kayak to a lost island in 90 minutes of bright sunshine. Guests will get to sail through grand fjords surrounded by towering mountain barriers; marvelling at the icebergs that dot the way. On vessels with helicopters, they get to soar over mountain peaks for a hike (or a glass of champagne) amidst awe-inspiring scenery. They will also land at rarely visited Inuit communities and come to better understand, first-hand, their way of life” said Lyons.

EYOS has unmatched expertise in the Northwest Passage and the full EYOS team has been involved with over 10% of all successful transits. The company places a strong emphasis on building amiable relations between the local communities and its visiting yachts. As funded by The World, this spring, while the north was still frozen over and iced in, EYOS sent its Director of Expedition Operations and Undersea Projects Kelvin Murray, along with one of its Inuit guides, to communities in the Northwest Passage to meet with the local communities.

“It was -32°C and fermented walrus was on the menu, but face-to-face meetings with locals are invaluable and improved our rapport. Regional communities quite rightly wield a lot of power because it’s their backyard we’re sailing through. They literally feed and clothe their families from these coastal areas,” said Murray.

Provisioning and bunkering as well as the complicated logistics of owners and guests joining the yachts in remote Arctic communities are also major components of the planning for a successful passage transit, and are among the various services that EYOS offers to its clients.

“You have to have an appreciation of where you are,” says Murray. “Quite simply, there’s no major port access after refuelling at either St. John’s in Newfoundland, Nome in Alaska or Greenland. “If you need Pak Choi and 2,000 Nespresso capsules, you’ll have to arrange transport and plan for what happens if fog delays delivery by plane.” Murray also sits on the board of the Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators which creates guidelines for passenger safety, environmental protection and interactions with indigenous residents.

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Sailing the Northwest Passage

A canadian couple’s adventure from quebec to bc.

It was in the launderette at Westview Marina that we began chatting to an unassuming Quebecois couple who apologized for loading the washer a few minutes before we arrived. Chat naturally lead to where had they been sailing. “Up North” came the reply, then: “We have completed a sail of the Northwest Passage.” The whir of the washer filled the silence as we took in these astounding words.

There are coastal cruising sailors, courageous ocean-going sailors, and then there are the very few adventurer sailors who are daunted by nothing.

Guy Lavoie and Claire Roberge are a remarkable couple. In 1987 they embarked on a plan to build Balthazar , a Gilbert Caroff designed 35-foot sloop-rigged, steel-hulled sailboat. Like many, their dream was to sail the world. Over a seven-year period every spare penny they had went into the building of Balthazar  while Guy ran his printing business and Claire pursued her work in physical education and raised their two daughters.

In 1999 they sold the printing business, their house and possessions, lifted their two young daughters onto Balthazar  and, leaving behind the cares of a conventional life, headed down the Intracoastal Waterway learning to sail as they went. Over a five-year period their voyage took them through the Panama Canal to Australia, Indonesia, Africa, and the West Indies until they returned to re-enter a routine and settled lifestyle in the Eastern Townships of Quebec, South of Montreal in 2004.

But the settled lifestyle did not hold forever. The unfettered freedom of the ocean was calling again. Guy was in need of another challenge to satisfy his pressing urge for adventure and Claire, knowing its importance to him, agreed they would take on a daring voyage that few had done before them. They would sail their 35-foot Balthazar  from Gaspe to Greenland, through the Canadian Arctic Islands, over the top at Point Barrow Alaska, through the Aleutian island chain, down the south coast of Alaska and into the cruising waters of British Columbia.

Unlike their world circumnavigation, there were no dreams of warm sandy Caribbean anchorages or the pleasant breezes of idyllic islands of the South Pacific to draw them on. No, this trip was adventure at its most raw and demanding. It would require enormous courage and be a test of everyone on board.

Balthazar  slipped her moorage in mid June 2012 with a crew of four and sailed out of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence into the Labrador Sea.

As Balthazar  left the relative safety of the Gaspe Peninsular, Guy, who had sailed most of the world’s oceans, felt the butterflies rise in his chest. It was a mixture of anxiety and elation as he left the security of the known for the excitement, uncertainty, danger and discovery of the unknown that lay ahead of him.

The first few days of sailing were difficult. The weather freshened to 35 knots and the sea rose to four metres, sail was reduced to the minimum, everyone was wet from the lashing spray, they were cold and tired. There was seasickness. And at night the first iceberg was spotted on radar. Visibility in the fog was down to 100 metres. For a number of days the difficult conditions continued. They veered away from numerous icebergs. Then the barometer rose and the sailing got easier. After 700 miles and eight days the grey coast of Greenland came into view. There was relief on arrival in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland (population 17,000). For most of July they enjoyed the many colourful small ports and hospitable people of Greenland as they worked their way up the west coast to Illulissat (Disko Bay) and Sarqaq.

Their passage up the coast was not easy and involved numerous aborted attempts into a fierce wind and persistent rain, only to return to the safety of the inland fjords to try again another day. Delays forced them to waive their rules for coastal sailing: no more than 30 miles per day and no more than two days in a row. The result: tiredness set in.

Navigating to Illulissat was their first real test in the ice floes that ranged from table-sized growlers to massive icebergs calved from the nearby glacier. At least the visibility was good. The ice was on the move and they took brief, demanding, turns at the helm for 11 hours until they arrived at a port that appeared barred by an ice dam. They threaded their way through and tied to some fish boats. In the morning they awoke to a harbour locked in ice.

The weather in Greenland was mostly wet, except in Disko Bay where the sun shone brightly and they soaked up its warmth. Their daily lot for the 20-day voyage through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago was to be fog, rain, snow and cold. Even though they “ate like ogres” dining well on hearty roasts, stews, and heavy deserts, they lost weight.

From Illulisat, Greenland, to Pond Inlet in the Canadian Arctic is a four-day crossing of the Davis Strait in a northwesterly direction. The passage went well as they slalomed between the drifting icebergs. Claire was introspective at the helm. Could she go on with this?

Sailing in these latitudes means the autopilot is useless, as its compass is thrown off by the influence of the Pole. When motoring, which Balthazar  did 50 percent of the time, someone is required at the helm constantly. When under sail in clear water the mechanical wind vane self-steering allows the crew more time to relax.

The passage from Pond Inlet to Gjoa Haven past Baffin Island and through the mile-wide Bellot Strait took them 12 days, not the predicted five. They departed August 12 confident of a good weather forecast but four hours later a sudden gale on the nose forced them back for two days. On the second departure it was two degrees and a storm force wind from behind sent them way too fast, fully reefed, between icebergs and ice floes at night. Even though there was no darkness at that latitude, visibility was low with the sea foam, hail and snow swirling about. But they pushed on under the pressure of time, as now every day of delay would bring them closer to winter. When they arrived at Gjoa Haven they were almost out of fuel and food—a serious condition in these waters where temperatures are at freezing point at night and typically eight degrees in the day.

Their weather fax radio had failed leaving Greenland and there was no spare. From Pond Inlet they had a satellite phone and by calling friends in Quebec they could get a weather forecast read out to them. Internet was only available in the few settlements and was usually poor. They also carried a Spot personal locator beacon so friends and family could follow their progress when other communications were unavailable.

The Canadian Ice Service provides daily updated status information on ice conditions and 30-day forecasts in areas of known marine activity. They distinguish more than 100 types of ice and conditions—a science in itself.

The Strait of Bellot was clear and they transited without incident. Further south they met a gale that blew the ice pack toward them. They were forced back into an uncertain anchorage. Two days later the wind ceased and the engine was on again. Such is the uncertainty of sailing in the arctic islands.

And, yes, surprisingly, they did meet a few other sailboats en route but compared to Greenland there was almost no living soul seen in the Canadian archipelago outside of the few small population centres. The crew described a desolate landscape where no plant grows higher than 10 centimetres, no animals were seen on land, and a stormy sky rarely showed a patch of blue. Yet the waters teemed with whales and seals and the skies with numerous birds.

That vision of desolation was erased at the human settlements they visited where they were greeted warmly and with an overwhelming generosity that only people living in isolation will give. They are helped immeasurably, meet families, they are entertained, given access to showers and laundries and are assisted in picking up supplies of fuel and food.

Their 240-mile route from Gjoa Haven to Cambridge Bay took them near to where Franklin’s Terror  was found in September 2016 off the southwest coast of King William Island. All hands were lost to exposure and starvation in an ill-fated attempt to find the very passage Guy and Claire were now sailing. Indeed, throughout their voyage the crew of Balthazar  could not escape the dreadful history of those who had suffered immeasurably or lost their lives in the exploration of these waters.

Their next challenge was the 75-mile trip up the Mackenzie River to Inuvik, and it proved hazardous. Guy had a foreboding because they could not find the paper chart that he always had at hand as back-up to the chart plotter; a sailor’s superstition perhaps. They had to rely on markers, many of which had been taken out by the winter’s ice. And then came the inevitable grounding on a sandbar that took hours to relieve with anchors, kedging, and the halyard being hauled by the eight-horsepower dinghy. When off, they proceeded slowly with crew in the dinghy cautiously taking soundings ahead of them.

The relief on reaching Inuvik was palpable among the crew. In Inuvik, Balthazar , having completed 4,000 miles in three months, was hauled out and prepared for winter and they all flew home.

Back in Quebec, it took a month before the stress of the voyage lifted and Guy and Claire could reflect somewhat dispassionately on their experience. True they had had the intimate bond between husband and wife and the support of their crew, but they had faced extreme isolation in a hostile environment far from their known world. At times, the severe weather, the confinement of a small boat, the moving ice, and the technical difficulties had seemed unsolvable. And every delay by ice or weather meant the onset of winter was closer and the possible abandonment of the voyage. The magnitude and accomplishment of the voyage slowly dawned on them.

Balthazar  was launched again in Inuvik on June 29 the following year when the weather was 32 degrees in the shade and the boat shrouded in mosquitoes. Departure had to await the breakup of the ice on the coast. They made a sail plan with 18 possible moorings and distances of typically 30 to 165 miles between them. They anchored for three days in the Mackenzie Delta 50 miles from Inuvik waiting for the 35-knot winds to subside and the ice to move out of Mackenzie Bay. When it was time to leave they faced a maze of shallows in the delta where the boat became grounded three times in soft mud. The electronic charts were unreliable and their waypoints were off. Anchoring the boat, they spent hours in the dinghy surveying the bottom to find a way through with at least the three feet of depth required by their pivoting keel.

To Herschel Island and beyond the sailing was good, the weather warm and there was no ice, partly due to the warmer water of the Mackenzie River that flows from the south. But as they entered northern Alaska waters they met the growlers again and huge plates of ice blown in from the Beaufort Sea. These blocked access to their intended anchorage, forcing them on a further 30 miles. And once again they met dense fog that only revealed the many growlers at the last moment when collision could be avoided. This was intense sailing. They took one hour each at the helm, and arrived after midnight. A midnight sun maybe, but the cloud had kept it hidden for 10 days.

The north coast of Alaska coast offers numerous anchorage possibilities in lagoons formed by gravel beds and sand spits but entry is usually shallow and risky and the sand and gravel shift over time, rendering the charts useless. In addition, the position of longitude and latitude is shifted, often by as much as 100 meters. For Guy and Claire, visibility was often severely reduced by fog and rain. Inevitably, fatigue descended but morale on board remained good even though the navigation was taking its toll. Guy wrote he was dreaming of trade winds, swaying palms and long passages in the tropics!

The shallow waters and currents of the Chukchi Sea and the Bering Strait do not need strong winds or many hours to lift seas to aggressive heights. Balthazar  did encounter heavy seas in the area off Point Hope and Guy says they passed through the Bering Strait in “furious katabatic winds” but they appeared to take this all in stride. After 40 hours of tough sailing they were able to anchor safely in front of the abandoned village of Tin City. The sun finally came out, it was 30 degrees, and they felt they were in paradise. North Alaska is flat and barren, to the south the barrier formed by the Aleutian Islands is volcanic, the mountains rise to 2,500 meters; they were thrilled by the majestic peaks now before them.

But it was mid August and the short summer was coming to an end. After 1,000 miles Guy and Claire decided it would be best to overwinter Balthazar  in Nome, Alaska. It was the completion of their Northwest Passage. The following July they would return to sail through the Aleutian Islands and down the Alaskan coast into the waters of British Columbia. By comparison, that would be a piece of cake.

Claire and Guy continue to sail and write about the BC Coast while writing their blog and preparing for future presentations to be made in Quebec. For more info go to voilierbalthazar.ca .

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The Northwest Passage

Making history by conquering the icy passage through this famous northern corridor  (published March 2014)

“Polar bear! There is a polar bear right next to our hull!” Jürgen’s shout echoes through the boat and sends me out of my bunk at six in the morning. Truly, a big pack of ice drifted into our open anchorage with the tide and one floe has the “King of the Arctic” on top of it, which is now leaning against our boat, La Belle Epoque .

Today is the 19th of August. We left the coast of Greenland three weeks ago using the northwestern section of a low pressure system to sail across Baffin Bay and into Arctic Canada. This is the start of our journey. One that only few yachts have ever conquered: the Northwest Passage.

Days went by and two yachts turned back and were well on their way south. Every few days we could hear the plane from the Canadian Ice Service roar over us and soon after, the friendly pilots informed us via radio about heavy ice in the narrow Strait ahead of us. But soon we also got information that a Canadian icebreaker, Henry Larsen , was on its way to Bellot Strait to break up the pack ice to help a bigger ship pass through. Three of the remaining five yachts decided to take their chance, but we still hesitated. Of course, icebreakers can open waterways for big ships, but it can be fatal for a small sailing vessel to follow one.

Soon, only Isatis —our well equipped and far cruised friends from New Caledonia—and La Belle Epoque stayed behind, not completely sure if we were making the right decision. We found out later that all the boats made it through the Bellot Strait, but not without trouble. To get every boat through, Henry Larsen needed to break the ice twice and the yachts had to fight ice and strong currents to get out before the pack ice closed down again, threatening to lock them in and squeeze their hulls.

A BREAK We started every morning by downloading the new ice reports and could hardly believe our luck. The pack ice had opened up and the report showed “only” half of the ice at the western end of the Strait. The tide was about to change in our favor and from one minute to the next everybody onboard was busy. Soon the anchor was stored on deck and we were on our way. Jean Pierre aboard Isatis forwarded us a message from the Canadian Coast Guard letting us know that the Henry Larsen would be in our area until evening, ready to help if necessary. But we transited through the Strait without trouble, using the engine to slalom around the small ice floes ahead while enjoying the sights of the dark and wild shore under a gray and cloudy sky. Soon we were through and with friendly words and ice info from the icebreaker’s captain, we raised all sails on our way through the open water of Franklin Strait.

But, sailing the Northwest Passage is not that easy and it only takes a few miles until the next pack of ice is in sight. Down went the sails and Mr. Perkins had to do the job again. While Jürgen took lookout at the bow and Louis got ready to help with the ice pole—a long stick with a sharp end to push the ice floes—I maneuvered the boat slowly along the edge of the pack ice and waited for a sign from Jürgen. As soon as he found a spot where the ice looked a bit weaker, I pointed the bow into the ice and accelerated.

Slowly, and with a crunching noise, the bow of our sailboat lifted itself out of the water onto the ice, pushing it down and cracking open a small gap. Immediately, Louis stuck the first broken piece of floe with the ice pole and pushed it towards the stern, always taking care that no floe could get sucked down towards the prop. Getting through the pack ice required all our care and concentration. Jürgen kept on showing the way, I worked on the helm, accelerating the engine, going into idle or even into reverse for a short distance, and La Belle Epoque worked her way inch by inch through the ice.

But waiting here also meant taking the risk of facing even more ice as a strong northerly could bring multi-year pack ice down and make it impossible for us to continue on. There was no other choice for us than to get under sail as soon as the wind dropped down to 35 knots. From then on we preferred to have two people on watch while the other rested because the confused sea sprayed with white foam and made it hard to spot drifting ice floes.

The coast of the Yukon and Northwest Territory seemed flat, stony and never ending. In the beginning of September La Belle Epoque reached the Beaufort Sea west of the Arctic archipelago of Canada. Again we had to face ice and poke our way through patches of dense pack ice to reach the open water between the mainland and the never-melting pack ice north of us. And the McKenzie River Delta brought a new danger—driftwood— even if the nearest tree was hundreds of miles away.

After completing the Northwest Passage, Claudia Kirchberger and her husband Jürgen sailed through False Pass in the Aleutian Islands on October 1, 2013 to put the Bering Sea in their wake. They are now in Kachemak Bay, Alaska where they have found a perfect spot to spend the winter aboard.

Author: Claudia Kirchberger

Greenland · August 10 - September 28 2026

North West Passage

Take on the "Everest" of Sailing and prepare to be part of something amazing.

Prepare for an adventure that will redefine your concept of exploration. The Northwest Passage, a fabled route less than 200 vessels have successfully navigated since 1906, awaits you. Now, you have the chance to join this elite group of explorers, but with a ground-breaking twist - you’ll embark on this epic journey aboard the world’s lowest environmental impact yacht. Crafted by world-renowned experts in sustainable yacht design, this purpose-prepared vessel will feature 100% recyclable materials and zero fossil fuel consumption. This is high-adventure sailing at its most extraordinary, where your passion for exploration aligns with a deep commitment to the planet.

A JOURNEY LIKE NO OTHER

Take on a formidable 900-mile journey high up in the Arctic Circle, traversing shifting ice floes and narrow sea passages against the backdrop of the Arctic’s untouched beauty. Your odyssey begins in Nuuk, Greenland and concludes in Nome, Alaska - a 50-day expedition in August 2026 that is an authentic test of endurance and skill, and one of the last great exploration trips on the planet.

WORLD-CLASS SKIPPERS

Join a crew of ten, including six adventurers like yourself. This is not a leap into the unknown; it’s a carefully planned adventure with comprehensive training, including an ocean survival course and at least one multi-week qualifying Arctic circle passage, ensuring readiness for this ultimate challenge.

LIFE ON BOARD

Incredible sights and experiences and one of only a handful of people that have traversed the Northwest Passage. It will be mentally and physically challenging; it requires a constant watch through the day and night, especially looking for ice which is a constant threat. We’ll build a sense of camaraderie and team that will last for life and of course, an incredible sense of achievement.

EPIC EXPEDITION SAILING

This is hands-on sailing. You will be a fully active part of the crew involved in preparation, planning and execution of the trip.

PURPOSE PREPARED YACHT

We are securing a purpose built yacht expressly for the voyage. This will be fully fitted out with the latest safety and navigational aids.

Jim Dobie (Skipper)

A hugely experienced Skipper and RYA Yachtmaster Examiner who has sailed almost every ocean of the world, leading expeditions to some of the remotest places including the Galapagos, Cook Islands, French Polynesia and Tasmania. Jim is experienced, not only on, but also under water, as a Scuba Diving Instructor delivering expeditions to the Great Barrier Reef, Oceania and Asia. Jim has a long history of successful race campaigns including  skipper for the 09-10 Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, competed in five Sydney to Hobart races, two Fastnet races, Round Britain and Ireland Race and many other offshore race events.

Jim will be supported by a fully qualified first mate on the trip.

T he first step is to apply to us. We have just six crew places available and this is a challenging trip. Therefore, we will be interviewing each person to ensure you are aware of the challenge you are taking on and answer questions (because you will have lots!)

You can either pay the deposit directly, in which case we will contact you to set up an interview, or simply write to us [email protected] and say you want to apply.

The interview is an informal event - you do NOT need to have huge sailing experience, but you do need to have a good "hands-on" approach and be comfortable joining a trip which will require adaptation, team working and calmness in challenging situations.

After the interview, and if we feel you are suitable, we will write to offer a place on the crew. At this point, you will pay the "deposit" and become a member of the exclusive "Expedition Crew"

If you are not offered a place on the crew, or you elect not to take up the offer, we will refund the deposit (if you paid in advance).

PREPARE : Be part of the build

The worlds very first "Net Zero" adventure sailing yacht is under construction in France. This vessel will re-define the world of sailing. Built from revolutionary materials and fully "Fossil-fuel" free.

Once you are accepted onto the crew and pay your deposit, Expedition crew become members of an exclusive community. 

Benefits include:

• Reserved space on the NW passage (one of only six)
• Trip to France to see the yacht in construction
• Crew shore kit (jacket and polo)
• Social events and regular progress updates
• 50% discount on ANY other Wavysail trips you book
• FREE sailing opportunities and exclusive offers

Discounts and sailing benefits are valid until the end of 2026 and can be used for an unlimited number of trips*

* Full Terms and Conditions are here : Click here

TRAIN : Full training to take on the arctic

Once the vessel is in the water, you will pay your "berth" fees and then embark on the heart of the adventure.

It starts by being part of the "launch" crew, the first people to sail the world's first "net zero" adventure sailing yacht. 

You will then join a qualifying passage on the yacht up to the Arctic circle, fully testing and preparing yourself and the vessel for the voyage ahead

You will complete a shore-based Ocean survival course

We will plan, train and prepare together - ensuring you are fully ready for the attempt at the passage itself, which we expect to be in August 2026  

SAIL : Leg 1 Join in Nuuk

Our journey begins in the picturesque setting of Nuuk, Greenland, where adventurers from around the globe converge to embark on an unforgettable voyage. Prepare to be immersed in the excitement of yacht preparation, where every detail is meticulously attended to ensure a seamless and safe journey ahead. Safety drills conducted by our experienced crew will equip you with the knowledge and confidence needed to navigate the Arctic waters with ease. As we provision our vessel, stocking up on essential supplies for the voyage ahead, anticipation builds for the incredible experiences awaiting us on this once-in-a-lifetime expedition. 

SAIL : Leg 2 - The Legendary Passage

Traverse the formidable Davis Strait and Lancaster Sound, where icy waters merge with rugged coastlines, painting a breathtaking tableau of natural splendour. Navigate the challenging Barrow, Peel, and Franklin Straits, each passage steeped in maritime history and adventure. As we sail through Victoria Strait, the heart of the legendary passage, anticipation mounts for the wonders that lie ahead. Our planned stop at Cambridge Bay offers a welcome respite—a chance to restock supplies, conduct maintenance, and embark on exhilarating explorations of this remote Arctic outpost. With two days devoted to discovery, immerse yourself in the rich cultural tapestry of the region and forge lasting memories amidst the untamed beauty of the North West Passage.

SAIL : Leg 3 - An epic finish

 As we navigate the vast expanse of Coronation Gulf and Amundsen Gulf, surrounded by towering cliffs and majestic glaciers, the sense of exhilaration is palpable. Traverse the icy waters of the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas, where the untamed beauty of the Arctic landscape unfolds before us in all its glory. With each nautical mile, anticipation builds as we approach the iconic Bering Strait, a gateway between continents and a testament to the indomitable spirit of exploration. Our journey culminates in the historic port of Nome, Alaska, USA, where tales of exploration echo through the streets and the allure of the wild beckons from every corner. 

What's Included

Interview and acceptance on the crew (one of only six places)

Automatic membership of “Expedition club” giving lots of benefits including 50% off all Wavysail trips (we want to encourage you to sail, train and prepare!)

Visit to Les Sables D’Olonne, see the yacht under construction (meet the designers and engineers behind the vessel)

Place on the launch voyage of the vessel (expected Q1 2025)

Qualifying passage – Oban to Lofoten Islands or other passage to high latitudes – Arctic training

Ocean Survival Course to ensure you’re fully prepared for the voyage

Your own specialist gear to keep (foulies)

Attempt at the Northwest Passage itself

All food and drink (non-alcoholic) on board

Safety equipment including life-jackets

Sailing instruction from a world leading skipper and first mate

Arctic and high latitudes sail training

Your own foul weather gear

What's Not Included

Sailing & Travel Insurance

Transport to the boat

Shore excursions

Booking options

6 spots left

PAY ONLY $9,811.50 /pp DEPOSIT

Expedition Crew Member

Register to become Expedition Crew by paying the non-refundable £7,500 deposit. Once accepted on the crew, you will get immediate benefits including 50% off all other Wavysail trips. The balance is not due unless and until the vessel is in the water and dates are confirmed.

FROM $64,101.80 /pp

VIEW GALLERY

Is this adventure for me?

This is one of the world’s toughest challenges. We will have an interview with you to get to know you better and chat through questions, concerns, etc. What we're looking for: 

• Responsible and safety mindset
• Have a can-do attitude
• Committed to taking on the challenge
• Calm under pressure
• Some sailing experience is required
• Recommended day skipper qualification or equivalent experience as a minimum
• Female and Male crew are equally welcome
• Must be over 18 yrs (no max age!)
• Reasonably mobile –no need to be superfit!
• Must have English as a working language
• Special dietary requirements – no problem
• Medical needs such as Diabetes – no problem*

*provided they can be safely managed during an extended period away from support

Is sailing through the Northwest Passage guaranteed?

The Northwest Passage is the ultimate adventure, but it comes with no guarantees. While we plan meticulously, unexpected conditions like ice and weather can impact the journey. Our top priority is the safety of the crew and the vessel, so we won’t hesitate to return to a safe haven if conditions become risky. This isn’t the place to take unnecessary risks. 

Can anyone join the North West Passage?

At Wavysail, we typically welcome adventurers of all experience levels on our trips. However, the Northwest Passage is an exceptional challenge. We conduct interviews to ensure crew suitability. Ideal crew members have prior sailing experience including ocean passages, such as participation in the Clipper Race, the Fastnet or similar endeavours.

However, joining at Adventurer level doesn’t require previous sailing experience. There are opportunities for you to sail on this remarkable yacht, even if you have very limited prior sailing experience.

What equipment do I need?

We will supply specialist equipment including life-jackets and Foul Weather gear required for the trip.

What's the cancellation policy?

At this moment we are only requesting you register interest - this is not a commitment to join. Booking and cancellation policy will be outlined nearer the time. 

Greenland · August 10 - September 28 2026 · 49 nights

$64,101.80 /pp

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VIDEO: Charter Yacht ROSEHEARTY Sails Through The Northwest Passage

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By Oliver Pearson   23 September 2016

Departing from Newport over two months ago, the 56m/184ft sailing yacht ROSEHEARTY has completed her passage through the incredible Northwest Passage.

Heading out through Greenland and visiting a range of incredible destinations such as Belle Isle, Victor Bay, and Peel Sound, ROSEHEARTY has returned home with more than a few stories to tell.

Indeed, her route saw her enter some historically challenging straits and her stop-offs saw her enjoying some truly far flung spots.

Exceptionally well-prepared for such an ambitious undertaking, the sailing yacht received a number of upgrades ahead of her departure, including new electronics and tenders which could be properly utilised in harsher conditions. Sea trials were also conducted well in advance to ensure durability.

As the short film shows, ROSEHEARTY provided  guests the unique experience of sailing in waters typically enjoyed by expedition yachts .

Watching her in action, it’s hard not to agree that ROSEHEARTY is one of the most impressive sailing yachts available for charter

Treated to a wholly especial private charter vacation , guests on board ROSEHEARTY played an active role in their adventure, even going so far as to gather ice from icebergs to help cool their cocktails.

When not underway, the yacht visited remote sea port communities in order to replenish supplies and allow guests to see parts of the world which are otherwise all but impossible to access.

Similarly, the assistance of a helicopter brought the party up to look out across some views which look to be nothing short of breathtaking.

Whilst the film is a resounding testament to the performance of the yacht, it should be pointed out that the Christian Liaigre designed interior establishes a wholly restful ambience, making her just as appropriate for vacations in warmer climates.

From dolphins to seals to walruses and polar bears, the once in a lifetime charter also allowed guests the chance to get up close and personal with some seriously interesting wildlife.

No doubt a captivating part of the passage, such fauna is certain to have set a particularly diverse backdrop for those out on the water.

Having undergone a refit in 2014, ROSEHEARTY has the additional advantages of modern engineering as well as a series of entertainment options for the quieter moments spent in her company.

With a total of seven well-appointed staterooms, she is capable of accommodating up to twelve guests whilst away on a private charter.

In order to find out more regarding S/Y ROSEHEARTY, as well as her current availability, please feel free to get in touch with your preferred charter broker .

Alternatively, take a look at all luxury superyachts available to rent in North America .

More Yacht Information

56m Perini Navi 2006 / 2020

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Cruising the Moskva River: A short guide to boat trips in Russia’s capital

There’s hardly a better way to absorb Moscow’s atmosphere than on a ship sailing up and down the Moskva River. While complicated ticketing, loud music and chilling winds might dampen the anticipated fun, this checklist will help you to enjoy the scenic views and not fall into common tourist traps.

How to find the right boat?

There are plenty of boats and selecting the right one might be challenging. The size of the boat should be your main criteria.

Plenty of small boats cruise the Moskva River, and the most vivid one is this yellow Lay’s-branded boat. Everyone who has ever visited Moscow probably has seen it.

This option might leave a passenger disembarking partially deaf as the merciless Russian pop music blasts onboard. A free spirit, however, will find partying on such a vessel to be an unforgettable and authentic experience that’s almost a metaphor for life in modern Russia: too loud, and sometimes too welcoming. Tickets start at $13 (800 rubles) per person.

Bigger boats offer smoother sailing and tend to attract foreign visitors because of their distinct Soviet aura. Indeed, many of the older vessels must have seen better days. They are still afloat, however, and getting aboard is a unique ‘cultural’ experience. Sometimes the crew might offer lunch or dinner to passengers, but this option must be purchased with the ticket. Here is one such  option  offering dinner for $24 (1,490 rubles).

If you want to travel in style, consider Flotilla Radisson. These large, modern vessels are quite posh, with a cozy restaurant and an attentive crew at your service. Even though the selection of wines and food is modest, these vessels are still much better than other boats.

Surprisingly, the luxurious boats are priced rather modestly, and a single ticket goes for $17-$32 (1,100-2,000 rubles); also expect a reasonable restaurant bill on top.

How to buy tickets?

Women holding photos of ships promise huge discounts to “the young and beautiful,” and give personal invitations for river tours. They sound and look nice, but there’s a small catch: their ticket prices are usually more than those purchased online.

“We bought tickets from street hawkers for 900 rubles each, only to later discover that the other passengers bought their tickets twice as cheap!”  wrote  (in Russian) a disappointed Rostislav on a travel company website.

Nevertheless, buying from street hawkers has one considerable advantage: they personally escort you to the vessel so that you don’t waste time looking for the boat on your own.

Prices start at $13 (800 rubles) for one ride, and for an additional $6.5 (400 rubles) you can purchase an unlimited number of tours on the same boat on any given day.

Flotilla Radisson has official ticket offices at Gorky Park and Hotel Ukraine, but they’re often sold out.

Buying online is an option that might save some cash. Websites such as  this   offer considerable discounts for tickets sold online. On a busy Friday night an online purchase might be the only chance to get a ticket on a Flotilla Radisson boat.

This  website  (in Russian) offers multiple options for short river cruises in and around the city center, including offbeat options such as ‘disco cruises’ and ‘children cruises.’ This other  website  sells tickets online, but doesn’t have an English version. The interface is intuitive, however.

Buying tickets online has its bad points, however. The most common is confusing which pier you should go to and missing your river tour.

“I once bought tickets online to save with the discount that the website offered,” said Igor Shvarkin from Moscow. “The pier was initially marked as ‘Park Kultury,’ but when I arrived it wasn’t easy to find my boat because there were too many there. My guests had to walk a considerable distance before I finally found the vessel that accepted my tickets purchased online,” said the man.

There are two main boarding piers in the city center:  Hotel Ukraine  and  Park Kultury . Always take note of your particular berth when buying tickets online.

Where to sit onboard?

Even on a warm day, the headwind might be chilly for passengers on deck. Make sure you have warm clothes, or that the crew has blankets ready upon request.

The glass-encased hold makes the tour much more comfortable, but not at the expense of having an enjoyable experience.

Getting off the boat requires preparation as well. Ideally, you should be able to disembark on any pier along the way. In reality, passengers never know where the boat’s captain will make the next stop. Street hawkers often tell passengers in advance where they’ll be able to disembark. If you buy tickets online then you’ll have to research it yourself.

There’s a chance that the captain won’t make any stops at all and will take you back to where the tour began, which is the case with Flotilla Radisson. The safest option is to automatically expect that you’ll return to the pier where you started.

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