• Trip experience with sailboat – experienced and locally familiar skipper on board
• Trip leader with knowledge and professional expertise
• Solid beach cleaning clothes (oilskins) from HellyHansen, as well as other equipment
• Our Comfort Package which consists of accommodation onboard in a shared double cabin (bunk or double bed) with a ready-made bed (warm and nice duvets and pillows!)
• All the food we eat on board during the trip
• An environmentally friendly, local, sustainable, unique, exotic and exclusive Norwegian adventure holiday
• A shared experience and friendship with like-minded adventurers from around the world
• A lot of time outdoors – raw and honest nature experiences
• Use of our shared trip equipment: dinghy, kayaks, fishing equipment, etc.
• All boat-related expenses such as diesel, gas, harbour fees, etc.
• Personal safety equipment, Helly Hansen inflatable life vest
• Advice, guidance, and practical training on sailing and boating

• Travel to and from the start/end location
• Optional meals at cafés/restaurants
• Entrance to galleries, museums, and similar, or other activities that you/we may come up with along the way
• Optional activities where we hire external guides and equipment, such as kayaking, glacier hikes, or surfing
• Drinks like wine, beer or high-exclusive apple juice and other luxury drinks (yes, we drink beer and wine on board, bring your own)
• Travel/cancellation insurance – optional, but recommended

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: Welcome to our sailing and beach-cleaning adventure!

We meet at the boat in Bodø harbour at 16.00, have lunch and get to know each other. We go through the program for the week, and discuss our ambitions and expectations. We then take a tour of the boat and review safety procedures and routines on board. On this first day we set off south on our way to the skerries we plan to clean up. Depending on the weather, we find a suitable place for the night on Fleinvær, Arnøy, or Sør-Fugløy.

Day 2: How do we sail and clean beaches?

Today we start with a review of how we actually clean a beach, what we look for, where we look, and whether there are any things that should be left behind. Full of motivation and courage, we find a suitable place to start cleaning the beach. Today we pass the islands Fugløy and Bolga, and the fishing village Støtt. We can potentially stop at alll these places to clear plastic and other waste. We eat dinner along the way. Once we reach Rødøy, there will be the option to take a midnight sun hike up on Rødøyløva.

Day 3: Sailing out to the Myken whisky distillery

After breakfast, we do our next clean-up trip and see how much plastic we manage to pick along the fantastic chalk-white beaches of Rødøy. When the rubbish is packed and ready for collection, we lift the sails again. Now we set course for Myken: a small island community out in the open sea. Here we are invited for a tour of the world’s only Arctic whiskey distillery, and into their newly built Whiskey Cathedral! We spend the night out here at the far end of the ocean.

Day 4: Cleaning trip around Myken and sailing to Træna

Despite, or perhaps because of, Myken’s exposed location out in the sea, there is plenty of plastic to be found on the shore here. Maybe today we will split into two teams, and see who gets to clean the most! After lunch, we head south past Selvær towards Træna and Husøy, where we stop for the night and enjoy ourselves in the Havfolket sauna!

Day 5: Hiking and cleaning on Sanna, and sailing to Lurøy

We will also find plastic at the limit of the Helgeland coastal islands, at Træna. We sail over to Sanna, the island with the iconic Trænfjella, and go for a walk around the island while gathering plastic and waste along the way. After the cleaning trip, we sail towards Lovund. If we’re lucky, we might even catch a fish or two for dinner along the way!

Day 6: Full sail day to Vega, the World Heritage islands

In the morning we set our course towards Næs at the island of Vega. The route goes through a fantastic coast dotted with islands where we will use our light boats to get ashore and do some beach clean-up on our way. When we’re safely moored in Næs we visit Vega World Heritage Center where we get to learn about the traditional use of this lands with farming, fishing and specially the eider ducks. Early evening we sail onwards to our homebase island of Ylvingen and spend the night at Himmelblå Brygge.

Day 7: The Søla nature reserve, and SailNorway homebase, Yvingen

One of our favorite places on Vega is the small mountain island Søla, which is west of the main island. This is a beautiful nature reserve, but unfortunately we still find a lot of plastic here as well. We anchor up and spend the day cleaning on these beaches. After lunch around a campfire, we sail around Vega, and towards Ylvingen. At Ylvingen we arrive at the SeilNorge base at Himmelblå Brygge and celebrate a successful trip with dinner on land!

Day 8: Sailing to Brønnøysund and thanks for the trip!

The last day offers the last couple of nautical miles of sailing from Ylvingen to Brønnøysund. Once in port in Brønnøysund, we pack up our things and clean up the boat. We end the trip no later than 12.00. Thank you for a fantastic and meaningful trip!

The program

The program should be seen as a rough itinerary that we can adapt 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 – we are ready for adventure! Are you?

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