Børge checks every bolt in the pontoons.
Attaching the life-raft onto the aft beam.
Winching our boat onto the beach.
Let me share a few more details from the last few days:
Thursday was an important day. As already mention in the blog, we tested our “escape system”, pulling the boat up onto the beach on low tide using the boat’s winches, Dynema rope and snatch blocks. This system was thought out carefully beforehand, and Torkel had made the stainless steel plate and bow rollers for the ropes. It worked exactly as planned! After some rigging (one of the snatch blocks broke due to too much force), we managed to pull the 2500-kilo boat onto dry land. This is the system we will use in an emergency if we need to pull the boat up onto the ice to escape dangerous situations.
Testing the large drag anchor.
We also tested the large, parachute-shaped drag anchor. This drag anchor is much bigger than the anchor we set from the stern, which is used merely to reduce speed. The large one stops the boat completely, and is set from the bow. We have rigged the ropes ready on each pontoon, so that it is easy to deploy the parachute. 120 metres of rope are needed for flexibility. Also this system worked as planned.
Yesterday (Friday) was a day devoted to logistics. Papers for entering Russian waters needed to be filled out – many pages – and we also needed medical certificiations for seamen.
Later that day I was invited by the local sports diving club to join them on one of their excursions. I used to work as a North Sea diver for the oil industry, and still practice freediving, so this was an opportunity I did not want to miss. In the clear, cold sub-Arctic waters I picked several large red king crabs (Paralithodes camtschaticus). Also called the Kamchatca crab, this species was introduced into the Barents Sea by the Russians – since then it has spread rapidly, like a pest. Every ten metres I could spot a new huge crab. They do, however, taste delicious, and dinner at the Johansen family was of course as much crab one could eat!
Joining members of Kirkenes Sports-Diving Club on an excursion.
Catch of the day – tasty red king crab. There’s plenty of them off the coast of Finnmark!
Today (Saturday) has been a day off. It was good to get off the relatively small boat and do something different. I went salmon fishing with Stig Tore, his wife Bodil and their two sons Mikkel and Mattis. Finnmark is great for all kinds of fishing, and some of the rivers are hidden pearls, known only to the locals. In one of these rivers we tented and fished throughout the night. Mattis, now 11 years old, caught his first salmon and later I got one too! Dinner from Mother Nature was secured for the second day in a row.
Mattis with his first salmon.
