VOYAGES - NORTH ATLANTIC, 2010

Scottish Islands and arctic Norway

Sail Lofoten Islands

Scottish Islands and arctic Norway

Jan Mayen is a volcanic island set in the north Atlantic Ocean, half-way between Iceland and Spitsbergen. It is named after Jan Jacobsz May, a Dutch whaler who landed here in 1614 (though the island had been seen before) and was a major whaling centre for both Dutch and English whalers. The still-active volcano, Beerenberg, is 2,200m high and dominates the island. The first impression the visitor gets is of a rough, inhospitable landscape, studded with snowfields, the sides of Beerenberg swept by glaciers and separated by steep, rocky faces. The weather is unpredictable: there may be heavy rain, wind and fog but then, soon after, the sun may break through and the sky clears. During the winter Jan Mayen is often surrounded by pack-ice and Beerenberg's slopes are perpetually snow-covered. When whaling ceased, the difficult access and poor climate limited human activities: Norway established a weather station there, finally claiming sovereignty in 1929. During World War II Jan Mayen was of great symbolic importance as the last piece of 'free Norway'.

Vegetation is scarce, limited to just a few mosses, grasses and a scattering of flowering plants, yet for all its ruggedness and inhospitable climate the island has a wild beauty. Pebble beaches alternate with dazzling high rock faces and you can still see the old bleached bones of whales and the remains of the whaling stations on the beaches. The rock faces are home to breeding colonies of glaucous gull, northern fulmars, kittiwakes, little auks, black guillemots and Brünnich's guillemots and puffins, whilst common eiders, arctic terns, ringed plovers nest on the flat land behind the beaches.

Guide price per person based on triple cabin (private facilities)

Sail Lofoten Islands

S/V Noorderlicht in Svalbard. Photo: J.Belgers

The Lofoten voyages take place in the autumn, when the days are getting short in northern Norway but the colours are beautiful in the daytime. We can expect the first snow showers, and temperatures are sometimes just above freezing. At night, we may be able to admire the Aurora Borealis. Embarking in the harbour at Lodingen we spend two full days in the Tysfjord area looking for groups of Orcas (killer whales) which hunt in these fjords for herring and looking at petroglyphs from the Stone Age depicting orcas at Leiknes. We will sail into Vestfjord, another good area for observing whales and then visit Kabelvaag, a cosy historical town before working our way back through Vestfjorden to disembark. The Lofoten voyages are very dependent on the weather, which can be quite rough so the itinerary is provisional. The best time to see orcas is during the second half of October and in November.

Travel from London - London (embark in Lodingen)

Guide price £1,620 per person based on twin cabin (shared facilities)