Sibylla's amazing sailing trip through the north Norwegian seas ⛵
Our ambassador Sibylla and her dog Saga (@insect_dog) always share beautiful pictures with us from their life in Åre in the Swedish mountains. This spring, Sibylla is going on an amazing (and climate-friendly!) adventure: to travel with a sailing boat through the north Norwegian seas, with the end goal of reaching Svalbard. Follow her journey and the breath-taking encounters with nature and astounding wildlife here with us!
Beginning of April and the long journey starts...
My name is Sibylla and I have a strong environmental commitment. My life philosophy is Ayurveda which is an oriental health philosophy based on the five elements: fire, water, earth, space and air. To me, animals and nature are the most beautiful things there are and man is the greatest threat to their downfall. I have no sailing background but 6-7 years ago I wanted to change my lifestyle and drastically reduce my climate footprint here on earth and then chose to stop flying, got an electric car and solar cells, became vegan and reduced my consumption.
I have always loved to travel and discover new cultures and environments and that is where the sailboat came into my life. I have always had a very great respect for the sea and was fascinated by sea people. A career at sea is very different from a career on land. At sea, it is important to read, respect and make good decisions regarding the forces of nature, society's norms do not apply here. At sea, it is nature that decides. You can not control the wind and the waves, but you have to read them and make smart choices.
The sailboat is 36 feet Hallberg-Rassy which has room for seven beds. There are many friends who join the adventure, unfortunately no girls, which I would really like to see more of. Everyone on board has a ski or snowboard interest, so Norway is perfect. Here you can top tour starting at sea level up on the high mountains. Before the pandemic, my boyfriend and I and my friends traveled to Japan to ski and snowboard by land. A film was made about the journey called "12,000 km Transiberian to Japan" which you can find on vimeo: https://vimeo.com/476216027
The boat serves vegetarian / vegan food, we spend a lot of time and love on the food as it is one of the highlights of the day. When we have sailed north, it has been -6 and a wind speed of twelve seconds, which gives a cooling effect of -16.
This year the adventure goes to Svalbard starting in Trondheim where the boat has been during the winter. I hope to experience untouched nature, whales, polar bears and fun snowboarding. The idea is to start sailing for five to six months and there is a dream of sailing to the Caribbean and South America. We sail as long as we enjoy it but I think the longing for Saga, my dog, will want to take me home. It would be super fun to have her on board the boat. 🐋💜
Update 15th of April
We are having a great time! High mountains, hailstorms and a lot of wind. Tom-Oliver and I sailed the boat to Lofoten where 4 guys stood on the pier and waited to get on board. We have met a killer whale family who swam 10 meters from the boat and encountered beautiful northern lights. ❤️
