Our objective is to build: THE best ZERO-Energy House in the Arctic:
“If we can prove that zero emissions is possible in the high Arctic, it is possible everywhere thanks to innovative products and technologies!”
Like its role model at sea, the TOPtoTOP expedition sailboat “Pachamama“, the “TOP Villa Villekulla” sets new horizons. The TOP Base is simple, functional, attractive, kids-friendly and inspirational. The house is intended as a laboratory for inventing, testing and optimizing top technologies for a more sustainable future. The TOP Arctic Base serves as a hub for our campaign “Save the Arctic” where we support Arctic research to find solutions to adapt to the challenging changes.
In this Future Center, school classes learn about the TOP solutions for a more sustainable approach to our planet, which have been explored on the “TOPtoTOP Global Climate Expedition“. The eco-center “TOP Villa Villekulla” is located in the beautiful Lyngen Alps at 70 degrees north latitude in the high Arctic. “Villa Villekulla” is the name of Pippi Longstocking‘s house, the eternal children’s bestseller by Astrid Lindgren.
It is THE example in terms of energy saving and child friendliness and an inspiration to breathe new life into an old house.
This in the spirit of “reuse”, i.e. not simply demolishing and replacing old buildings, but renovating them with know-how. The TOP project proves that old buildings can be efficiently renovated to a zero-energy standard, even in the Arctic. We want to show that it makes sense to bring back to life a building that is over 100 years old and has so much to tell, and that this can be done with a lower budget than building a comparatively soulless new building. For example, the heating system is based on the sophisticated heat pump from “POLARENERGI”, which is connected to photovoltaics and supported by a wood stove during the polar night. The wood demand grows back around the house.
Our objective is to motivate people everywhere to copy our concept of “living light & less is more”!
An open house for everyone:
The house will be always a welcoming house also for families with children and people in need, but also an “ideas hub” of inventors, pioneers, researchers and artists, where visitors can “grasp” – in this “future center” – the best practice examples we collect on the “TOPtoTOP Global Climate Expedition” (e.g. Vanuatu refrigerator without electricity, etc.).
We experienced so much hospitality in our travels to more than 100 countries. Therefore, travelers such as sailors, cyclists or foot pilgrims are always welcome and have the opportunity to rest, to shower and to wash their clothes!
Empowering a friendship with nature, – to save the planet:
After two decades on the expedition, we have come to the conclusion that outdoor sports is the best medicine for our planet and the best investment, the one in children, as they are the future and will shape our planet. Therefore, children’s ideas are the key to the development of “TOP Villa Villekulla”, that is, to create the best house for children and by doing so to take care of the future of our planet.
Sport in nature creates a deep relationship between human and nature. This mutual relationship of trust is the basis for a sustainable future. – That is why we see our house as a “youth playground” and “outdoor base” where children can lend equipment to connect with nature (skis, kayaks, sailboats, bicycles, etc.) in the paradise of the Arctic, the Lyngen Alps.
A vision without action is just a dream. “Be part of the Future!” Take action and join us!
A Norwegian – Swiss joint venture!
This TOP project is made possible by the following partners:
News: We experience a cold arctic winter with a lot of snow on board of Pachamama. The days are busy: We are engaged in many sport activities to inspire the youth for the outdoors and nature; we prepare the next “TOPtoTOP Arctic Research Expedition” towards Svalbard, Greenland, Jan Mayen and Iceland; and we try to build an arctic outpost.
Our Torqeedo electric outboard motor works perfect in arctic conditions. Here the article in English: “Uncharted Territories“; and here in German: “Unerforschte Gebiete.”
Watch Sabine and Dario at the start of the expedition with “Swiss TOPtoTOP” on Mount Titlis in Engelberg 20 years ago. Salina and Andri are now studying in Engelberg, where they find optimal training conditions for their ski mountaineering sport. An interview with Salina was published in many newspapers. At the beginning of February she participated in the European Championships in Spain.
In line with our belief that “inspiring youth to act” is the most efficient way to facilitate long-lasting change, we, as is customary, visited schools and universities with our program.
In January, we participated in the “Expedition Sailing Virtual Boat Show”. While waterfall-ice climbing, Dario broke a rib. The fracture was discovered days later by physiotherapist Paul Johan Hansen.
Even though it was very cold and pitch dark, Noé continued Optimist sailing in the fjord. He came up with the idea to start the most northerly sailing club for kids on the globe: “TOPtoTOP Lyngen”. He got two Topper sailboats donated thanks to Roger Proctor in the UK and six Optimists thanks to the Sailing Club in Tromsø. Noé’s idea to have the International Topper World Championships in 2024 in the Arctic, generated some radio interviews, TV reports and articles.
Our kids became ambassadors for other kids to go outdoors and see nature as a “friend”. Sailing and mountaineering connects young people with nature and has many benefits: Increasing resilience, learning endurance, being healthy, becoming a part of nature, thinking strategically, taking responsibility, and increasing self-confidence. To become a good sailor and mountaineer, we integrate other sports into our training: chess for strategic thinking; diving and swimming for strength; climbing for balance; surfing and skiing for coordination; ski-mountaineering and biking for endurance. But the most important thing for us is that young people get back in touch with nature, become a part of it and protect it. In addition to the weekly training, we organized various events, camps and expeditions, especially for families with kids.
TOPtoTOP Actic Research Expedition 2021
Meanwhile, we prepared for the “TOPtoTOP Arctic Research Expedition 2021” with professor Birgit Sattler and the two master students Sebastian Pohl and Max Kortmann from the University of Innsbruck. The Arctic is facing increasing stressors. Plastic pollution and climate change are the major threats to pristine Arctic environments. Yet, research concerning the quality and quantity of pollution, as well as public awareness on this issue, remains scarce. We intend to change this with our research expedition and combined outreach work:
Analyzing origin, quality and ecological impacts of microplastic pollution on the Arctic environment.
Raising Awareness and inspiring action with our campaign “SAVE the ARCTIC”. Our vision is to create a scientific hub for Arctic Research out of Lyngen.
On May 10, 2021, we celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary with a “wedding-ski-tour”. We put the kids to bed and were so tired that we fell asleep too. It wasn’t until 11:15 pm that we woke up, hastily packed our backpacks and skis, and headed out. – Twenty years later and 6 children richer, we reached the top of Tafeltinden in the Lyngen Alps at 70 degrees north at 4 am. Another “natural high” on our life journey together. Our great respect for nature has always been our most important “risk management tool” in the two decades now that we have been non-stop on the expedition. Our “wedding jubilee tour” reminded us once again to stay true to this principle: “Wummm” sounds alerted us, and we were able to trigger two avalanches from a distance! On the descent, we crossed a fresh debris field of ice and snow from a cornice break! – In recent years, we have mastered doing detours and turning back, and have gotten a sense to come back at the right time when conditions are best.
The start of the “TOPtOTOP Arctic Research Expedition 2021” was challenging: we left Lyngseidet on June 17 after stocking the boat with plenty of water and food. Soon after, we had an engine failure. Due to the fierce wind, it was too dangerous to continue without the support of our engine. We changed the plan and finally anchored in Koppangen. The anchorage was quite deep. Max and Sebastian went to take samples. We were busy all day and night disassembling the engine to fix the problem. Then the wind picked up, and we drifted towards a cliff, even though we had 80m of chain out. We had to act quickly: we tied all the ropes together, and volunteer Peder Pederson managed to lay a safety line to shore between gusts. Finally, we were able to fix the problem.
Approaching Svalbard, we spotted several whales and seals feeding. Just like last year, we were warmly welcomed by Helge Markusson, the leader of the most northerly research base on earth, Ny-Alesund. The staff enjoyed our “TOPtoTOP event”. Later we joined the annual clean-up of this multinational research base in the High Arctic at 78.56 degrees north, before being invited to their mid-summer party.
In Krossfjorden and Lillienhöökfjorden, we took 5 microplastic samples for the Western Norway University and NORCE, and simultaneously eDNA samples for the Swiss Polar Institute and the ETHZat the impressive vertical 80m high – and 10 km long glacier wall of Lillienhöök Glacier. We anchored not far from the glacier wall, just below Nilspyten, a large rock tower. There are large colonies of guillemots and kittiwakes; which means another opportunity for Max and Sebastian to sample for the Austrian Polar Research Institute and the University of Innsbruck. There is also a WWII German weather station lying S of the anchorage. For Noé, this was another reason to check the seafloor for debris from WWII and also from whalers or modern-day tourist vessels. The Blue Eye is the perfect ROV tool to do this assessment for the Arctic University of Norway.
The next stop was at 79.34N 11.03E in Magdelenefjorden. Before our clean-up, we did a polar bear protection drill and a crevasse-rescue training. Max and Sebastian went off to a side glacier of the Waggonbau Glacier, Brokebreen, to take more air, sediment and snow samples. While Peder, Noé, Alegra and Dario went from the anchorage at Gravneset all the way to the Southern shore and collected plastic. There were some big – and plenty of small – pieces and a lot of microplastic at the tide line. Afterwards, they left the anchorage with Sabine, Mia and Vital for another set of 5 microplastic – and eDNA samples all the way into the glacier wall of Waggonbau Glacier at the end of the fjord to the entrance on both the North and the South side.
After Magdalenafjord we sailed and sampled along the most north-westerly islands of Svalbard, Danksøya and Amsterdamsøya, named by whalers from southern countries in the old days.
Last year, we arrived later in the season and became the first sailboat circumnavigating the Svalbard and sailed up to 82 degrees north! This year in June, the pack-ice stopped us quite further south at 80.06 north and 010.00 east. Once again, we encountered not only the most micro -, but also the most macro-plastics at the edge of the pack ice.
After our turning point at 80 degrees North, North of Amsterdam Island, the most north-westerly island of Svalbard, we sailed to Longyearbyen, where our friend Lexi showed us her commercial food producing plant, where she is growing vegetables in artificial light all year round.
We continued South to Lyngseidet where we reprovisioned and got vaccinated. At the same time, Emily from the University of Tromsø helped us to fix our microplastic-air-sampler. The final stop before we covered the 500 nm to Jan Mayen was in Nyksund where we did some crevasse rescue training drills at the pier and prepared our climbing gear for our major climb this year Beerenberg on Jan Mayen Island.
In the morning of the 13th of July, we first saw the majestic peak of Beerenberg from far. Its name is Dutch “Bear Mountain”, and comes from the polar bears seen there by Dutch whalers in the early 17th century. Beerenberg is a stratovolcano dominating the northeastern end of the Norwegian island of Jan Mayen. After several more hours, we reached the coast and started sampling at the most northerly cape. Alongside glaciers and some icebergs, we finally anchored in Kwalrosbukta in the southwest of the island. From the beach in Kwalrosbukta, we started walking the 16 km at midnight to the base of Beerenberg, while Sabine did anchor-watch with Mia and Vital. First, we followed the eastern shore. When we started climbing, there were many loose rocks. This caused pain in Sebastian’s knee and he and Max decided to turn back.
We continued in the fog, put on our crampons and roped on at the edge of the glacier. The glacier seemed endless. After some hours the fog lifted, and we saw the highest peak of Beerenberg, Haakon VII Toppen with 2,277 m (7,470 ft), the world’s northernmost volcano. As the snow was getting soft, we decided to go in a straight line to the top. It needed a lot of energy and good navigation through the crevasses. It was hard work to make the trail in the snow. The slopes of the volcano are largely ice-covered, with several major glaciers, including five which reach the sea. Andri took the lead and continued at a steady pace for another 16 km. We had to climb steep ice in the summit upswing and had some challenges to cross the bergschrund. We summited on the 14th of July 2021 at 16:00: Salina (16), Andri (14), Noé (11) and Alegra (10) became the first kids to climb Beerenberg and with their climb honoured Swiss compatriot Paul-Louis Mercanton on the 100-year anniversary of the 1st ascent. It took 86 years for the next foreign climber to reach the top!
On the TOP, after 16 hours of non-stop climbing, suddenly the wind picked up and the temperature started dropping. So, we quickly took a picture and secured the crampons for the steep ice descent. As soon as we reached the flatter part, Salina fell into a crevasse. Noé was fast and managed to avoid a fatal fall. – Drills save lives! – He anchored Salina, who was hanging over a black hole and pulled her to the safe side like a pro.
After 26 hours of non-stop walking and climbing we were back at the anchorage; covering a total of 78 km in distance and close to 3000m altimetres. Everybody was happy about the accomplishment but tired and looking forward to the warm bed on our sailboat. Not before the next morning, and many hours later, did we manage to make it over the tremendous surf to the sailboat, where Sabine offered all an excellent warm meal, even though the boat was rolling terribly. But there was not much rest, the wind turned to the North and the anchorage became unsafe in Kwalrossbukta. It was last minute to leave the bay. The conditions worsened. We hoisted the anchor and sailed further from Jan Mayen towards Greenland.
Because of easterly winds, we had to sail north with a good watch in these foggy waters sparkled with icebergs. The weather cleared up when we approached Scoresby Sund, the biggest fjord on the planet. In calm waters, we did another set of samples surrounded by huge icebergs, before we dropped our SPADE anchor in front of Ittoqqortoormiit, the most northerly Inuit settlement on the east coast. Our Inuit friends, whom we knew from previous visits, gave us a warm welcome. After a presentation and workshop in the kindergarten, we started our “traditional” soccer tournament.
Meanwhile, Max and Sebastian were even able to sample some faeces from a polar bear. We continued sampling the Greenlandic coast south and had an interesting encounter with a polar bear in Römer Fjord. While we entered the narrow fjord, the bear was swimming towards the boat to say hello. Further in, we anchored Pachamama close to a natural hot spring. There we waited for better weather – and sea conditions. We enjoyed laying in the hot water, washing our clothes. We started a fire out of driftwood washed ashore to bake bread and pizza. It is also a good way to keep the curious polar bears away. Even in this remote place, lots of plastic waste and narwhal skeletons were lying around.
From Greenland, we crossed to Iceland. In Bolungarvik, the most northwestern settlement of Iceland we met our old friends Sosssa & Roland, Hordur, Katrin, and Kolbrún. We had a warm welcome in her mother’s house with lots of delicious pizza. The next day, Max and Sebastian left the boat. We had spent nearly three months together. They did a great job in sampling microplastic and always offered a helping hand to operate the boat. They went back to their University in Innsbruck. – We are all looking forward to reading their master’s thesis soon. – For the rest of us, there was a lot to fix and clean. A major job was to reinstall the broken VHF unit.
We continued sampling for Åsta from the University of Akureyi along the northern Icelandic coast. All of us, even 3-year-old Vital and 5-year-old Mia, climbed the top of Kálfatindur 534 m, the tallest cliff in the Hornstrandir Nature Reserve in the Westfjords. It is one of the northernmost locations in the country. Dropping sheerly into the ocean, the cliffs are renowned for their birdlife, being a notably popular nesting ground for guillemots.
The Swiss national day is on the 1st of August, and we celebrated it with our friends Erlingur and Åsta in a remote fjord between Siglufjordur and Olafsfjordur. In Olafsfjordur we met our friend and fisherman Sverrir. There, Mia and Vital learned to swim.
It was very emotional for all of us to dock at the same peer in Akureyri where we had one of our biggest joys, but also one of the biggest disasters in our life: Vital was born here in 2017, but soon after we got shipwrecked in a horrible storm, at exactly the same peer we returned to this year. The warm welcome of our friends in Akureyri, who helped us to overcome the huge challenge we faced to repair our boat, was overwhelming. We learned at our arrival that it has never been so warm and dry for such a long period, and that Akureyri is hosting the National Sailing Championship of Iceland, starting the next day. Noé and Alegra were invited to compete. As a big surprise, Noé came 3rd in the Optimist A class. Alegra went for gold, which means 1st place and Icelandic Champion in the Optimist B class.
Together with our new crew Ueli (the guardian of the Cavadiras hut in Switzerland), we waved goodbye to Iceland and sailed along the most northerly point, Grimsey Island. Because of a low-pressure system further east, we decided to head north for several days and passed huge icebergs. We stopped again in Jan Mayen to take more snow, sediment, and bird dung samples from the southern part of the island. It was impressive to see Beerenberg in the distance. Sven from the Norwegian Army confirmed that Salina, Andri, Noé, and Alegra were the first kids to climb Berenberg. He honoured them with a patch for their perseverance. After our last clean-up on Jan Mayen, we were ready to sail off towards Norway.
Noé had his 12 birthday on the 15th of August, exactly at the meridian – the latitude where “West” is changing to “East”. We made landfall at Yngwar&Torgunn’s in Ballstad-Lofoten, where Ivo & Nina joined us.
From Lofoten, we sailed to Lyngseidet for Vital’s birthday and Mia’s 1st school day, before taking some more samples towards the North Cape and more sailing events for the kids.
In October, we took part in a road trip to the south of Norway and Sweden to renew our expired passports in Stockholm. There we metSwiss ambassador François Voeffray-Peyro. In Oslo, we did a presentation for the Royal Norwegian Yacht Club and were invited to visit Swiss ambassador Bernard Jaggy at his residence. At the University in Sogndal, our presentation was streamed to all 5 campuses and therefore reached many students. Many thanks to our friends Pål, Rolf and Pål K, for connecting us with interesting people and providing accommodation and even appropriate clothing.
Before we went back to the cold Arctic, we accepted the invitation from Kalymnos Diving Center to update our scuba and climbing skills. It was a great experience for the whole family to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary and be away from the cold for a bit, after years of ice and snow. Thanks to Mikes, we learned important diving skills. Now we are able to clean up from the bottom of the sea up to the highest peaks.
Back on the boat at 70 degrees north, we were busy visiting local schools and taking eDNA- and microplastic samples while the orcas were around. It was fantastic to share these great moments with friends. The whole year we were blessed and had no accidents. But at the end of November Dario slipped on the ice, while walking to a school presentation in the fishing town of Skjervøy and broke his elbow. Good news: he is recovering fast.
After nearly sinking in an unforeseen hurricane in the port of Akureyri in 2017, we have known the tremendous forces of nature. Therefore, our greatest desire is to be in a safe place. Even in the sheltered bay of Lyngseidet, where we are moored at the moment, we have been forced to evacuate our children ashore twice due to easterly storms. Now, at the end of the year, after months of careful evaluation, we finally got our storm anchor set. It was bitterly cold and we had to fight the icing. Three heavy anchors of 1.5 tons and heavy chains secure our expedition sailing vessel. We are now better prepared if another hurricane hits us. Many thanks to all involved, especially Dag Olav Mollen, Lyngen Kommune, Lerøy, Boreal Maritim and the tough crew of working ship Runa.
Accomplishments 2021
distance sailed: 10,000 nautical miles (of a total of 126,000 nm)
distance climbed: 100,000 altimetres (of a total of 700,000 a.m.)
distance cycled: 100 kilometres (of a total of 23,500 km)
number of attendees at presentations: 10,000 (of a total of 155,000)
number of DNA – and microplastics samples collected: 100
plastic collected in clean-ups: 7,000 kg (of a total of 70,000 kg)
start campaign “TOPtoTOP Arctic Research Expedition”
campaign “Save the Arctic”
campaign LPS,“Leave the Plastic in the Shop”
campaign OHO, “One Hour Outdoors”
Highlights 2021
1st kids on highest volcano in the Arctic, “by human power and nature’s force”
sailing to 80 degrees North
TOPtoTOP sailing openings for kids
Community actions and Clean-Ups to fight plastic waste
Great media coverage! Everywhere we travelled, the media were interested in an interview. In all destinations, TV, radio and print media reported very positively about the TOPtoTOP actions.
The TOPtoTOP Global Climate Expedition teamed up with the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, the Norwegian Research Center, the University of Tromsø, the University of Akureyri in Iceland, the ETH Zürich in Switzerland, the Swiss Polar Institute, the University of Innsbruck and the Austrian Polar Institute to get a better understanding about the Arctic Seas, especially the Norwegian Sea, the Barents Sea and the Greenland Sea.
With our concept to get everybody on board, we have been received with open arms in Norway, Svalbard, Jan Mayen, Greenland and Iceland, establishing many partnerships with local individuals, organizations and initiatives.
Our Strategies — how we act
Our belief ‘to go together is to go far’ is a success: the family members and volunteers have gone far again this year and accomplished to inspire many to act too.
Our strategy to reach out more and to get the media involved worked very well. This approach also helped us to get in contact with the school authorities to organize events and actions.
We learned that our message is so much more powerful when our children started to talk to their peers of the same age.
Activities from TOPtoTOP members in other countries were reduced as a result of the COVID-19 situation. Our ongoing story and challenge is the backbone that creates the unique global family of activists. Our global network is based on understanding and solidarity in order to solve the global challenge we face with climate change.
Outlook 2022 – our campaign “Save the ARCTIC”
In 2022, Pachamama will operate in the Arctic Sea. We plan to sample up to the highest summit in the Arctic, Gunnbjørn Field. We will collect data for climate and plastic pollution research in Svalbard, Jan Mayen, Greenland, Iceland and Norway. Furthermore, we will combine our environmental education program and clean-ups with our research activities.
We plan to reach the highest mountain in the Arctic Gunnbjørn Field, from sea level, CO2 neutral, “by human power and nature’s force”
We start to establish an Arctic science hub in Lyngseidet
We invite families and their kids to join our outdoor camps and events. Our goal is to connect as many people as possible with nature through outdoor activities. This, with the ultimate goal, to preserve this paradise for the next generation.
We transfer our sustainable tourism – mountaineering and guiding skills – to give new perspectives and hope to young people living in the Arctic and to protect their environment, and also to enable them to get an alternative source of income to survive in their fast-changing Arctic environment caused by climate change.
We aim to give remote places a voice and connect schools from different parts of the planet.
Long-term Outlook
We aim to inspire another 100,000 students over the coming years on our route circumnavigating the Arctic and the Americas from POLE to POLE in a figure of 8, making optimal use of the winds and currents. On this endeavour, we sail the Northeast Passage to finish the circumnavigation of the Arctic and have a second try at climbing the last TOP, Mount Vinson in Antarctica.
Our ultimate goal is to save the planet with the inspiring examples we collect, as well as with our environmental actions and educational events. We aim to build a global network of activists to solve global challenges, based on understanding, friendship and solidarity.
Support us
It is time to save our planet! Our goal is to establish a lasting movement that inspires youth to act. Please consider an annual donation and scan below QR code or go to ttps://toptotop.org/donate/.
Without the generosity and hospitality of the people we meet on our journey, and without your support, our efforts would have been unthinkable. A big THANK YOU especially to our main sponsor VICTORINOX as well as to the patronage of UNEP and our science partners NORCE, HVL, UNIS, UIT, ETHZ, SPI, UIBK and APRI;and our carbon offsetting partner myclimate. Our thanks also go to all the benefactors and all those who support our project with their TOP products and services, especially: SAC, Sportler, PredictWind, Patagonia, Hostpoint, Sunware, Optrel, Munters, Sørheim Brygge, Magic Mountain Lodge, Lyngen Lodge, Kraemmervika Rorbuer, Kloster Engelberg, Hotel Waldegg,Topper International, Torqeedo, Nogva, Skarvik, Tromsø Seilforeining, Lerøy, Boreal Maritim, Lyngen Kommune, Credo Partners, MMC First Process, Computerwerk, Swiss Consulate Stockholm, Swiss Embassy Norway.
Special thanks to our members on the expedition: Sabine, Dario, Salina, Andri, Noé, Alegra, Mia, Vital, Odd, Natasha, Hanne, Rolf, Yngvar, Torgunn, Peder, Ueli, Sebastian, Max, Åsta, Erlingur, Sverrir, Arngrimur, Roland, Veronika, Carlito, Franz, Fabio, Paul Johan & Inge, Malachi, Bruno, Emily, Julien, Henrika & Patrick, Mikes, Ivo & Ina.
A special thank to all in the background: Dag Olav Mollan, Halvard Eneberg, Meret Jucker, Dominik Schaub, Simon Unternährer, Hanna Law, Bruder Martin, Frederic Marty, Peder Pederson, Hanna Lykka, Marianne Nielson, Tarald Seldal, Alessio Gomiero, Loïc Pellissier, Jørgen Berge, Ásta M. Ásmundsdóttir, Birgitte Sattler, Florian Ledoux, Andy Schmied, Toby Maloy, Rosi & Ernst Ammann, Ottavia & Reto Schwörer.
We also wish to thank for their friendship and assistance: Pieter Heerema, Family Carl & Veronika Elsener, Sylvia & Juerg Zahnd, Bruder Martin Hieronymi, Kloster Disentis, Dominik & Sylke Schaub, Marco & Ines Kappenberger, Karin Caderas & Marco Koch, Family Torgen & Lindsey Johnson, Family Pia & Andy Zimmermann, Stefan Baumann, Peter Locher, Mario Okle, Family Pholenz, Lars Ole Gudevang, Family Odd Tufte & Gunvor Steine, Natasha Tufte, Ric & Emma van Wachem, Clark & Barbara Blynn, Andrea Kuhn, Juliane Köhler, Elisabeth & Rolf Hefti, Rita & Johann Kaufmann, Magnus Mugaas Heiland, Eli Heiberg & Christian Zurbuchen, Hanne Lykkja & Harald Renum, Michael Thorne, Family Torgunn & Yngvar Rist Aagaard, Alexia Spencer, Iger-Lise & Rikart Evensen, Marit&Stein-Erik Eliassen, Family Henrika Lönngren & Patrik Jonsson, Ingunn Riverts Vatne & Mathieu Blein, Susanne & Chérif Khater, Ursula & Alex Zehnder, Nathalie Thierstein & Stefan Leimer, Fred Marty, Family Marius & Karine Løken, Sten-Robin Morfjord, Peder and Kaja Pedersen, Roland Müller, Naxo Tomey and Kavin Ochoa, Florian Lars-Åge Larsen, Tobias Maloy, Andy Schmid, Delphine Garcin & Espen Prestbakmo, Sanna Kaivantola, Salve Dahle, Roman Aguaviva, Magne Anderssen, Hebe Markussen, Norwegian Polar Institut, Dutch Arctic Station, Åse Hansen, Thomas Haavik, Sysselmannen på Svalbard, Andy Hodson, UNIS, Marianne Nilsen, HVL, Tarald Seldal, HVL, Alessio Gomiero, NORCE, Loïc Pellissier, ETHZ, Håvard Fjellheim, Kjell Roger, Jan Kiil, Ymgvar Hansen, Erlingur Gudundsson, David Skinisson & Annakari Sandvik, Paul Johan Jensen & Inger Palopää, Veronika Bodner & Graham Austick, Elisabeth Braathen, Swiss ambassador François Voeffray-Peyro, Swiss ambassador Bernard Jaggy, Turid Samuelson & Haldor-Inge Samuelsen, Terje Fagerborg, Rolf Kragerud, Pål Kragerud, Pål Brynsrud, Roland Smelt & Soffia Vagnsdóttir , Birma Hjaltalin Pálsdóttir, Christian Wehrli, Christian Pasquali, Nele Schimpf, Rune Madsen, Ragnar Evensen, Caroline Brynsrud,Roar Henriksen, Eva & Kurt Mesmer, Kristian Kaminski, Agnes Ammann-Illien, Manuel Bügri, Peter Gnehm, André Regli, Pater Andri, Pater Guido, Eugen & Susi Funz, Dominik & Elisabeth Brun, Familie Bicher Hotel Waldegg, Jacques De Vos, Christian Langlo, Rita Dolci, Roland Möncke, Jann Flütsch, Nils Thomas Lien, Reidar Fougner, Hans-Arne Lorange, Ole Melhus, Arno Berg, Lars B Thoresen, Tore Eiklid, Edgar Haugen, Truls Persen, Andreas Rørvik…
Alegra just gave an interview in the German newspaper “Süddeutsche Zeitung” about how she lives differently: “Ich wohne anders“.
In October we have been on a road show to the South of Norway and Sweden.
We did a presentation for the Royal Norwegian Yacht Club in Oslo. Dario had the perfect outfit, thanks to Pål from L’ESCALIER. Further we got invitations to present at corporate offices and dinners to find partners for our Arctic expeditions in 2022. Thank you very much Rolf and 2 x Pål!
The next day, we got invited by the Swiss ambassador Bernard Jaggy in Oslo in his residence, close to the Kontiki – and Fram museum, where they asked us for a presentation, next time we come to Oslo. In the garden of the Swiss residence is one of the oldest trees in Oslo. The kids were busy picking up lots of apples in the ambassador’s garden. The apples, we used to cook a delicious Swiss speciality “Älplermaccaroni” for our host Pål and his daughter Caroline. Caroline is a teacher and was able to organize two school presentations in Oslo.
At the University in Sogndal our presentation was streamed to all 5 campi. Many thanks to the organizer and head of the department of environmental sciences Tarald Seldal.
Our sailing friend Odd Tufte from the local sailing club organized a presentation in Kaupanger. We hope some sailors join our “clean-up armada” next year.
At Caroline’s school “Ringstabekk Skole” in Oslo 130 students got inspired in one morning.
In Sweden we were able to finally update our passports and to meet ambassador François Voeffray-Peyro. Now we are back at 70 degrees North visiting local schools and sampling while the Orcas join us…
The wind turned to the North and the anchorage became unsafe in Kwalrossbukta on Jan Mayen. After the climb of the Beerenberg volcano, it was a major challenge and operation to get everybody from the shore to the boat. Andri together with Dario in survival suits managed to land the dinghy through the tremendous surf several times. Supported by the Norwegian Army under the command of Sven, they were a perfect team to raft also two Norwegian scientists to a vessel picking them up.
We cleared the anchor as soon as everybody was on board to get some more microplastic- and eDNA samples at the southern tip of the island before we started the passage to Greenland. Because of westerlies, we had to sail north with a good watch in these foggy waters for icebergs. The weather cleared up when we approached Scoresby Sund, the biggest fjord on the planet. In calm waters, we did another set of samples surrounded by huge icebergs, before we dropped our SPADE anchor in front of Ittoqqortoormiit, the most northerly Inuit settlement on the east coast.
Our Inuit friends gave us a warm welcome. After a presentation and workshop in the kindergarten, we started our “traditional” soccer tournament. Max and Sebastian meanwhile were even able to sample some shit from a polar bear.
We sampled following the Greenlandic coast south and had an interesting encounter with a polar bear in Römer Fjord. While we entered the narrow fjord the bear was swimming towards the boat to say hello. Further in we anchored Pachamama close to the beach with a natural hot spring. There we waited for better weather – and sea conditions and enjoyed laying in the hot water, clean our clothes, and cooked bread and pizza on fire with driftwood washed ashore. There was also plastic waste and narwhal skeletons laying around. On the last day the bear showed up at the beach and it was a great experience to study this majestic animal.
From Greenland, we crossed to Island. In Bolungarvik, the most northwestern settlement of Iceland we met our old friends Sosssa & Roland, Hordur, Katrin, and Kolbrún. We had a warm welcome in the house of her mother with lots of delicious pizza.
The day after Max and Sebastian left the boat. We were nearly three months together. They did a great job in sampling microplastic and always offered a helping hand to operate the boat. They went back to their University in Innsbruck and we are curious and looking forward to reading their master thesis soon.
For the rest of us, there was a lot to fix and clean. A major job was to reinstall the broken VHF antenna in the mast, where the cabling was glued on (!), going from the mast below the deck.
We continued sampling for Åsta from the University of Akureyi along the northern Icelandic coast. All of us, even 3 years old Vital and 5-year-old Mia, climbed the top of Kálfatindur 534 m, the tallest on Hornbjarg an enormous cliff in the Hornstrandir Nature Reserve in the Westfjörds. It is one of the northernmost locations in the country. Dropping sheerly into the ocean, the cliffs are renowned for their birdlife, being a notably popular nesting ground for guillemots.
The Swiss national day on the 1st of August, we celebrated with our friends Erlingur and Åsta in a remote fjord between Siglufjordur and Olafsfjordur. In Olafsfjordur where met our old friend Sverrir, Mia and Vital learned to swim.
It was very emotional for all of us to dock at the same peer in Akureyri where we had one of our biggest joys, but also one of the biggest disasters in our life: Vital was born here in 2017, but soon after we got shipwrecked exactly at that peer in a horrible storm. The warm welcome of our friends in Akureyri, who helped us to overcome the huge challenge we faced, was overwhelming. Arctic aviation pioneer Arngrimur even organized a journalist and the national TV. It was good to send out another big thank you to all the hospitable people of Akureyri. – Read the article here.
Noé and Alegra were invited to the national sailing championship of Iceland while we were there. As a big surprise, Noé became 3rd place in the Optimist A class. Alegra went for gold, which means 1st place and Icelandic Champion in the optimist B class. We celebrated the great success of these two young sailors on SY Haval. Thanks to Roland and his friends Christain and Christian, we enjoyed a wonderful meal.
We left Iceland on the most northerly point, Grimsey Island, located at the Arctic circle with our new crew Ueli. Because of depression, we were heading north for several days. We saw huge icebergs and appreciated the sun and calm seas. We stopped again in Jan Mayen to take snow, sediment, and bird shit samples from the mountains in the southern part of the island. It was impressive to see Beerenberg in the distance. Sven from the Norwegian Army confirmed that Salina, Andri, Noé, and Alegra were the first kids to climb Berenberg and honored them for their perseverance with a patch. After our last clean-up on Jan Mayen for this year, we were ready to sail.
We completed our circumnavigation of Jan Mayen to have the full set of samples and started the crossing of the high North Atlantic Ocean towards Norway. Noé got 12 years old on the 15th of August about in the middle and exactly at the spot where you change from West to East longitude. At the approach of the Norwegian coast, our diesel tank was shaken too much by waves, causing a blockage of the fuel filter arriving in Ballstad Lofoten. Still, a mess with sealant when improperly opening the diesel tank in holland. There we celebrated Noé’s birthday with our friends, the family of Yngwar&Torgunn, and got an additional crew with Ivo&Nina.
For the 4th birthday of Vital we did a pre-celebration at Peder’s place in Svolvær because we were not sure to be on land in time. Peder joined us to Svalbard earlier. From Svolvær to Lyngseidet we sailed in 46 hours and had 4 breakdowns of the engine in narrow fjords with lots of current and not much wind.
We arrived Lyngseidet at 2 o’clock in the morning. Approaching the peer the motor stopped again. Exhausted we finally went to sleep, but happy that we made it back for Vital’s birthday the next day and Mia’s 1st school day in her early life. On our 20th wedding aniversery (church), Sabine and I Dario spent two days cleaning the diesel tank and finally solved the problem. Now, we are ready to sample more towards the North Cape…..
join us for this sailing event in Lyngseidet on the weekend 17.-19. of September 2021
Jan Mayen-Grenland-Iceland:
Wir kamen an einem schönen arktischen Sommermorgen in Lyngseidet an. An diesem Tag hatten wir sehr viel zu tun. Ich musste Wasser bunkern, das Deck waschen und das Sofa ausklopfen. Etwa 2 Stunden später kamen meine Geschwister Salina und Andri. Beide wollten noch einen Freund besuchen gehen. Mit ihm gingen wir im Meer schwimmen.
Am nächsten Morgen gingen wir los nach Tromsö, da machten wir noch einen Grosseinkauf. Als wir bereit waren, ging die Reise nach Niksund los, dies ist ein altes, halb verlassenes Fischerdorf im Norden. Dort angekommen packten wir den Rucksack, wir liefen unsere Schuhe ein, die wir von Johann Kaufmann gesponsert bekommen haben. Später am selben Tag gingen wir los nach Myre, da machten wir noch letzte Vorbereitungen. Ich ging noch kurz schlafen. Um 11:19 fuhren wir los nach Jan Mayen. Dort wollten wir den grössten Berg besteigen. Einen Tag nach der Abfahrt sahen wir Killerwale.
Nach 6 Tagen sahen wir Land, wir sahen den Berenberg vor uns am Horizont. Ich durfte meine nächste Wache durchschlafen. Plötzlich kam mein Vater und weckte mich. Ich musste mantatrolen gehen (=Mirkroplastik-Proben nehmen). Als ich hochkam, sah ich Jan Mayen ungefähr 3 Seemeilen backbord vor mir. Als ich weiter ging, sah ich viele Vögel. Ich ging die Kamera holen und fotografierte sie. Dann begann das Saempling (5 Mikroplastik und eDENA samples). Später kamen wir in der Bucht Kwalrossbukta an. Dann ging ich schlafen.
Um 1 Uhr starteten wir zum höchsten Berg der Arktis, den Beerenberg. Als wir an Land waren, gingen wir mit schnellem Schritttempo an der Kueste Jan Mayen’s entlang. Zuerst ging es 18 km gerade aus, dann begann der Aufstieg des Berges. Zuerst ging es über Moos und Steine, später konnten wir unsere Steigeisen anziehen. Dann waren wir auf dem langen Gletscher. Nachher ging es ungefähr 30% steil, nachher 45% steil nach oben. Wir mussten einen kleinen Umweg machen, den es hatte viele Gletscherspalten. Nach einigen Stunden waren wir auf dem Gipfel angekommen, 2227m. Als wir auf dem Gletscher waren, ging es relativ schnell bis zur Gletscherzunge. Da ging es die Steine hinunter zum Sandstrand. Von dort ging es wieder 18 km Kilometer bis zum Schiff. Total waren es 3000 m aufwärts und 78 km gerade aus. Es fühlte sich an wie 33 Ewigkeiten. Die Nacht mussten wir in einem Hüttchen verbringen, den die Dünnung war zu gross, so konnten wir nicht zum Schiff zurück fahren. Am nächsten Morgen kamen wir an Bord. Wir machten noch 5 Sampels ums Südkap. Dann nahmen wir Kurs nach Groenland. 4 Tage dauerte es, bis wir die Kueste Groenlands in Sicht bekommen haben. Beim Hineinfahren machten wir wieder 5 eDENA und Microplastik Samples. Wir ankerten in Itokotoromit. Da machten wir einen Schulvortrag und ein Fussballspiel. 3 Tage blieben wir dort. Wir fuhren weiter nach Ruemerbukta, da machten wir wieder 5 Sampels. Vom Schiff aus sahen wir einen Eisbaeren. Später gingen wir an Land und gingen in die warmen Quellen. 2 Tage blieben wir da, dann fuhren wir los nach Island. Ich sah zuerst Land. Wir gingen nach Bulgarwik, da begruessten uns Roland und Sossa herzlich. Einige Tage spaeter gingen wir weiter nach Hesteri.
