A fun, educational, and inspiring sailing experience on the coast of Helgeland. Clean up beaches, gain knowledge about waste-dumping in the sea, and learn about concrete solutions to this problem.
6 Nights: 23- 30 June 2023
16,900 NOK / £1,470 per person*
*Trips are priced in the operator's local currency. The sterling amount shown is a guide only and the amount you pay in sterling will change with currency fluctuations.
Day 1
You meet at the boat in the harbour of Bodø at 4pm, have lunch and meet the people in your group. You review the week’s agenda and talk about your ambitions and expectations. Then you walk around the boat and review the safety procedures and routines on board. On this first day, you head south, toward the beaches that we plan to clean up. Depending on the weather, you find an appropriate location for the night on Fleinvær, Arnøy, or Sør-Fugløy.
Day 2
You start with a review of how to actually clean a beach, what to look for, where to look, and whether there are any things that should be left behind. You find a suitable beach and begin cleaning. You cross the islands of Fugløy and Bolga, and the fishing village of Støtt. You could stop in any of these places to clean up plastic and other waste. You eat dinner along the way. Once you reach Rødøy, there will be an opportunity for a midnight sun ride on Rødøyløva.
Day 3: Sailing out to the Myken whisky distillery
After breakfast, you continue cleaning and see how much plastic you manage to collect along the beaches of Rødøy. Once the garbage is packaged and ready for collection, you set sail for Myken: a small island community out in the open sea. You visit the only Arctic whisky distillery in the world and stay the night at the edge of the ocean.
Day 4: Cleaning trip around Myken and sailing to Træna
Due to Myken’s exposed location, there’s a lot of plastic to find on the shoreline here. You split into two teams, and see who cleans up the most. After lunch, you head south past Selvær towards Træna and Husøy, where you stop for the night and have fun in the Havfolket sauna.
Day 5: Hiking and cleaning on Sanna, and sailing to Lurøy
Plastic is also be found on the edge of the coastal islands of Helgeland at Træna. You sail to Sanna, the island with the emblematic Trænfjella, and walk around the island while collecting garbage along the way. After the clean up, you sail towards Lovund. If lucky, you may even catch a fish for dinner along the way.
Day 6: Full sail day to Vega, the World Heritage islands
In the morning you head towards Næs on the island of Vega. The route goes through a fantastic coastline dotted with islands where we use tenders to get ashore and do some beach clean-up alongg the way. When safely moored in Næs you visit Vega World Heritage Center where you learn about the traditional use of this land with farming, fishing and the eider ducks. Early evening you sail onwards to your homebase island of Ylvingen and spend the night at Himmelblå Brygge.
Day 7: The Søla nature reserve, and SailNorway homebase, Ylvingen
One of the favourite places on Vega is the little mountain island Søla, which is west of the main island. Usually an excellent nature reserve, but shockingly has a lot of plastic population. You spend the day cleaning these shorelines. After lunch, around a campfire, you cruise around Vega, to Ylvingen. At Ylvingen you arrive at the SeilNorge base at Himmelblå Brygge and celebrate an effective trip with supper on arrival.
Day 8: Sailing to Brønnøysund and thanks for the trip!
The final day offers the final few miles of cruising from Ylvingen to Brønnøysund. Once in the harbour in Brønnøysund, you pack up and clean the vessel. You conclude the trip no later than 12.00.
The program
The program should be seen as a rough itinerary that is adapted to the weather and conditions. We also reserve the right to change and improve our itineraries. We will have a dinghy for beach trips and small expeditions, fishing gear for cod, and gear to hike or make bonfires on the beach on all our trips.
Travel – in general
Sometimes we have to fly, but not always. If you have the luxury of time, we always encourage you to travel as environmentally friendly as possible. Travelling slowly also allows you to start your holiday in a special way. Cycling, taking the train, or driving a car together can be good options! Feel free to add some extra time before and after your trip, since up north the weather can be unpredictable and might affect your plans!
Travel – Bodø
The Nordlandsbanen train line goes all the way to Bodø, and can be taken overnight from Trondheim or Oslo. This is a great way to travel and a beautiful journey from southern Norway. For timetables and prices see www.vy.no. If you live along the coast, the speed ferries or Hurtigruta are possible options either northbound or southbound. Another option is a flight to Bodø, and there are some reasonable tickets.
Travel – Brønnøysund
The north-Norwegian train line stops at Grong, and from Grong you can take a bus to Brønnøysund.
Another “slow” and great way to get to Brønnøysund is with Hurtigruten from Trondheim or from Bodø. However, most of us fly (check flights at www.wideroe.no).
Safety and risk – in general
We take safety seriously and on our trips we train on handling different situations that can occur at sea. On board a boat and on trips, everyone must know what to do in potentially dangerous situations. For us it is important that you as a guest and participant are trained quickly enough to be a participant – not a passenger. It contributes to learning, a sense of achievement, and increased safety for all. It’s also why our trips are considered to be sailing courses: you are trained to be one of the crewmembers on board. Feel free to contact us to discuss risk.
Level of this trip
Sailing wise, our trips are not very difficult, and you are always welcome to join us! Our trips attract both people who have never sailed before, as well as experienced sailors. If you are a beginner, we will turn you into a seaman/woman as soon as possible. If you are experienced, you will be given more responsibility and greater challenges so that you can learn new things along the way. We usually sail along the coast in protected waters, and we often have the opportunity to choose either more or less exposed routes, depending on the weather. The weather Gods decide, so you must be prepared for both windless conditions and sailing in harsher weather!
Equipment/packing
On this trip, we offer free SeilNorway “oilskins” to all participants, in collaboration with our partner Helly Hansen. You’ll even get to take these home after the trip! These are perfect for both sailing and beach cleaning. Otherwise, you’ll be quite comfortable in regular hiking/mountain clothing. What you need is something waterproof and windproof on the outside, and layered clothing underneath, preferably wool. Even in summer it can be cold at sea, so bring both swimwear and warm clothing. We will send you a detailed recommended packing list in good time before departure.
Food and cooking
On our trips you will be part of the crew onboard and get the chance to participate in all aspects of the running of the sailboat. This includes the cooking, where everyone is taking turns in the galley! Skippers and guides assist as much as they can along the way. Before the trip we set up a menu and purchase what is needed. We offer good menus with healthy “boat friendly” food. If you have allergies or preferences, let us know in the registration form and we will take that into account. During the trip, we often sail by a good restaurant or two where we stop and eat.
What we expect from you
We want you to take part in the routines onboard the sailboat, whether it is sailing, docking, navigating, looking for whales and icebergs, washing up, cooking, cleaning the boat, or contributing in other ways when required. Our trips require a little work from the participants – and you must be open to contribute and open up a bit socially. We have many different people with us on our trips, and most people get along very well. Our experience is that doing things with others out in nature, and not least doing things with new people with different personalities than one might be used to, is what creates the best, most interesting and memorable stories :)
Life on board and accommodation
Life on board a sailboat is social and pleasant, but for some it can be perceived as quite intimate and crowded, which one should be prepared for. On our trips everyone participates in the operation of the sailboat and everyone is considered crew. We would like to get to know you well and hope that you will get to know everyone else on the boat as soon as possible. It requires some patience, generosity, and an open mind to thrive, but the new acquaintances and completely raw nature experiences will take your focus as soon as you become comfortable with life at sea.
Accommodation on the boat is part of the fun. The accommodation is generally in shared cabins, some of which have a double bed and some of which have bunk beds. Figuring out who sleeps where can be a bit of a puzzle, but we do believe we’ve gotten quite good at it. Let us know if you have any special needs or reservations. You must arrange any accommodation before and after the trip on your own. If you have any doubts about where to stay, we’re happy to give you some recommendations.
We have plenty of heating and good food on the boat, but not always abundance of fresh water. This means it will not be possible to shower every day, but more or less every other day we are either in a harbor with fresh water or we sail through a place where we can borrow showers or enjoy a sauna. A morning swim in the sea is also available all year round!
What kind of people join this trip – and how many will we be on board?
Many come alone, some travel as couples, and others travel as a group of friends. The common denominator for everyone is that these are fun and interesting people you will become friends with almost no matter what. Sharing grand experiences creates strong ties! Many people wonder about the age composition of our trips, but this isn’t so important to us. It doesn’t matter if you are young or old as long as you want to go on a trip and intend to do your part in making this a great trip for everyone. The number of participants varies from trip to trip. If we have many participants, we will expand with more boats and skippers. On most trips we sail multiple boats in a fleet, with 7-9 people onboard each boat.
Environment and sustainability
In general sailing is an environmentally friendly activity,, and we sail as much as we can and use the engine as little as possible. We encourage crew and participants to travel as environmentally-friendly as possible, and we use local ingredients and resources as much as we can. We also run trips where we collect litter and clean ocean trash from beaches.
Philosophically, we often say that sailing is an exercise in sustainability: we move with the wind and we have limitations on things like water, diesel, electricity and food. In order to run sustainably, knowledge, patience, flexibility, and hard work are required. The same can be said about many other things that one tries to do in a sustainable way.
Please see 'Other Practical Information Section'
Please see 'Other Practical Information Section'
Day 1
You meet at the boat in the harbour of Bodø at 4pm, have lunch and meet the people in your group. You review the week’s agenda and talk about your ambitions and expectations. Then you walk around the boat and review the safety procedures and routines on board. On this first day, you head south, toward the beaches that we plan to clean up. Depending on the weather, you find an appropriate location for the night on Fleinvær, Arnøy, or Sør-Fugløy.
Day 2
You start with a review of how to actually clean a beach, what to look for, where to look, and whether there are any things that should be left behind. You find a suitable beach and begin cleaning. You cross the islands of Fugløy and Bolga, and the fishing village of Støtt. You could stop in any of these places to clean up plastic and other waste. You eat dinner along the way. Once you reach Rødøy, there will be an opportunity for a midnight sun ride on Rødøyløva.
Day 3: Sailing out to the Myken whisky distillery
After breakfast, you continue cleaning and see how much plastic you manage to collect along the beaches of Rødøy. Once the garbage is packaged and ready for collection, you set sail for Myken: a small island community out in the open sea. You visit the only Arctic whisky distillery in the world and stay the night at the edge of the ocean.
Day 4: Cleaning trip around Myken and sailing to Træna
Due to Myken’s exposed location, there’s a lot of plastic to find on the shoreline here. You split into two teams, and see who cleans up the most. After lunch, you head south past Selvær towards Træna and Husøy, where you stop for the night and have fun in the Havfolket sauna.
Day 5: Hiking and cleaning on Sanna, and sailing to Lurøy
Plastic is also be found on the edge of the coastal islands of Helgeland at Træna. You sail to Sanna, the island with the emblematic Trænfjella, and walk around the island while collecting garbage along the way. After the clean up, you sail towards Lovund. If lucky, you may even catch a fish for dinner along the way.
Day 6: Full sail day to Vega, the World Heritage islands
In the morning you head towards Næs on the island of Vega. The route goes through a fantastic coastline dotted with islands where we use tenders to get ashore and do some beach clean-up alongg the way. When safely moored in Næs you visit Vega World Heritage Center where you learn about the traditional use of this land with farming, fishing and the eider ducks. Early evening you sail onwards to your homebase island of Ylvingen and spend the night at Himmelblå Brygge.
Day 7: The Søla nature reserve, and SailNorway homebase, Ylvingen
One of the favourite places on Vega is the little mountain island Søla, which is west of the main island. Usually an excellent nature reserve, but shockingly has a lot of plastic population. You spend the day cleaning these shorelines. After lunch, around a campfire, you cruise around Vega, to Ylvingen. At Ylvingen you arrive at the SeilNorge base at Himmelblå Brygge and celebrate an effective trip with supper on arrival.
Day 8: Sailing to Brønnøysund and thanks for the trip!
The final day offers the final few miles of cruising from Ylvingen to Brønnøysund. Once in the harbour in Brønnøysund, you pack up and clean the vessel. You conclude the trip no later than 12.00.
The program
The program should be seen as a rough itinerary that is adapted to the weather and conditions. We also reserve the right to change and improve our itineraries. We will have a dinghy for beach trips and small expeditions, fishing gear for cod, and gear to hike or make bonfires on the beach on all our trips.
Sailing boots
Trainers/ deck shoes (no black soled shoes please – they mark the deck)
Waterproof sailing kit (two sets are recommended. Heavy gear for on-board and lighter kit for trips ashore)
Hat
Balaklava
Sailing gloves – 2 sets
Glove liners
Hand warmers
Hot water bottle
Clothes for on-board and on shore
A small backpack for trips on-shore (30-40 litres)
A water bottle
Thermals, two sets
Thick socks, two sets
Sun glasses (polarized)
Sun cream – SPF50+
Small quick dry towel
Swimming kit
USB cord to charge your phone
Cash
Warm sleeping bag
Head torch
Sailing knife
Passport
Printed out Insurance details
Any medication you require
