A happy new year and a big thank you from the Barba crew!

It has been somewhat silent on the Barba blog lately. Following 112 days out at sea we were all rather pleased to return to normal life following a couple of weeks of acclimatization.

The Barba spirit remains intact, and we have been working behind the scenes with the aftermath from our greatest expedition to date. 50 000 photos or so have been sorted, with some being sent to magazines, sponsors whereas other have been hand picked for storytelling purposes in Pubs and similar. We are also working on a movie trailer from the journey. It will be done with the help of one of many Barba supporters so that the quality is expected to surpass the short videos we are able to produce ourselves. The video will serve the function of getting funds for what we hope will be a video documentary at some point later on.

A video documentary or not, our trip had all the elements of a great drama. What started out with a dotted line on the map planned from the safety of our home, ended up with realizing our common dream to sail as far north as there was ocean to sail on. The video above was shot from a drone August 15th at 81 degrees North. It was as far North as we would dare venture, and we were about as close to the North Pole as our beautiful yet fragile Barba boat would permit. Other highlights included close encounters with walrus, battling a polar bear from the stern with a wooden stick, diving in the quiet cold and lush artic waters, scaling mountains and flying over glaciers with paragliders.

The trip also had some less glorious moments. With limited space, cultural differences and a challenging environment, we did have some arguments. Living in a rather moist and moldy indoor climate, waking up in the middle of the night to hoist the anchor in a gale, being tossed around in the boat for days, end sailing back to mainland Norway also took its toll.

The fabulous five at 81 degrees North. From the right, Terry, Andreas, Ivan, Jon and Daniel (photographer). 

However, as we had our Christmas Skype meeting some days back the challenges have turned into memorable memories we can laugh at, and the highlights keeps us dreaming for new adventures.

The Barba crew are all very much aware of that we could not have realized our trip without the kind help from friends and Barba supporters. We are most grateful for your assistance from making it to the worlds end and back, safe and sound. We have listed some of the people that helped us out below. A big thank you to all of them, as well as numerous more for helping us out the summer of 2015.

As for Barba, she rests in the port at the moment to celebrate the new year. She is eager to get out again, and who knows, maybe the next adventure is just around the corner.

Happy New Year from

Andreas, Daniel, Ivan, Jon and Terry

Distinguished Barba friends & supporters

• 330 Squadron, and the remarkable crew of the rescue helicopter during our rescue exercise.
• A.K – Our friend from the east for help with the application and facilitation up North.
• Alex Staudacher for supporting us with the excellent Skyman paragliders  
• Alfred Foss – Local guide and fascinating storyteller in Kjøpsvik.
• Andrea Maurer for designing the Barba expedition presentation.
• Anni Seitz, who we first meet in Greenland 2010, for consulting us on the video documentation.
• Antti Peuna, for technical advice, and a memorable party in Ny-Ålesund.
• Arne Århus, for a pleasant stretch of sailing in Bergen, and a hilarious demonstration on how not to look after your shades.
• Betina Eliassen and Ann Elin Mikalsen, for organizing our surprise welcoming committee, and the welcoming committee itself.
• Boyfriend and girlfriends for being of the supportive and patient type.
• Bud and Cathie Ward for excellent support and for promoting Barba.
• Camilla and Rolf from Lofoten-Opplevelser in Henningsvaer for whale insight.
• Christian Eliassen, for help with upgrades and keeping the morale high in the Barba HQ.
• Cousin Ulf and family for a pleasant stay in Kabelvåg as well as cognac supplies (everyone should have a cousin like Ulf!).
• Cruising World, the world number 1. Cruising magazine for covering the story.
• Dag Svendsen, the Barba doctor, for medical advice.
• Dubarry, for keeping our feet warm and dry by equipping us with the best sailing boots in the market.
• Einar Galta, for assistance with fitting the new Barba engine.
• Frank Moncrieff for technical and practical inputs.
• Fredrik Jensen for help with technical upgrades of Barba.
• Gabriela Rastner & Friends with Family Hug for all other diverse support from Germany and Italy!
• Hanna Hamnes Krogh and her family for the amazing hospitality quayside and meals and warm showers at Heimgardsbrygga in Henningsvaer.
• Hans Gerlach Sørensen from Ship-Shape, the best rigger we have come across to date, for upgrades of Barba.
• Harald Hansen from Visit Norway as an excellent facilitator for Barba related activities.
• Helen Munch-Ellingsen for design inputs.
• Joachim W. Heide as our primary onshore safety liaison.
• Johannes von Kirschbaum for supporting us with great GoPro products (appolgies for a few camera casualties)
• John from Ullmann Sails for sorting out a new Barba sail wardrobe.
• John Magne Hestnes and the team at Pronav as sponsors and excellent advisors on the upgrade of the navigational equipment of Barba to B&G and Simrad.
• Jørgen Karlsen, for help in the planning phase.
• Kari, my dear mother, for an upbringing outdoors and support on yet another expedition.
• Krister Nyløkken for years of excellent technical support.
• Kristian and Liv-Toril, for years of excellent Barba support.
• Madelyn Rose Malin, our youngest assistant for help with preparations and filming (we look forward to having you onboard one day in not too many years).
• Mari Espedal from Puriosity for mentoring, and inspiration.
• Martin Svangtun, for assistance with blog updates while out of reach up North.
• Musto for supporting us with the very best sailing clothing out there.
• Nicholas Fraser, for helpful strategic advice during the planning phase.
• Nikolai Frisak, for sailing with us the last stretch home from Ålesund.
• Pål Bjørn Olsen, the old and inspiring sea dog with extensive sailing experience from the Arctic for technical advice.
• Peter Høeg, the local Ullmann Sails representative for supporting us with excellent advice on the design of the expedition specked sail wardrobe of Barba.
• Petter Haug Jenssen and John Olav Thorvalsen from Maritimt Kompani, for a warm welcome and outstanding technical support in Trondheim.
• Samuel Dürr for media consultation.
• Santi, Reel Diving and Fue.no for supporting us with the best diving gear around, which stood it´s test in the Arctic water of Svalbard.
• Scanstrut and Lifedge represented by Jessica Batey for supporting us with a superb radar mount and for keeping our iPhones dry.
• Seilas, the premiere Norwegian sailing magazine for featuring the story.
• Spinlock for providing us the best life jackets in the market.
• Stephan Frink and Brian Harper from Alert Diver for their interest in our unusual story for a mainstream magazine.
• The crew of the Polaris 1 vessel for a cold beer and a warm shower at 80 degrees North.
• The friendly guys at Bear Island for a pleasant guided tour of the weather station.
• The Governor of Svalbard and team for kind help with the application and numerous friendly encounters during our stay.
• The Russian General Consulate for a warm welcome in Barentsburg.
• Tobias Friedrich for excellent drone assistance and underwater photography advice.
• Wenche and Hans Oscar in Tromso for laundry and local advice.
• William Restorff as our secondary onshore safety liaison, as well as local caretaker of post.
• Yanmar Norway, for supporting us with an engine that performed flawlessly for 7000 kilometers.

Apologies to those we most certainly have forgotten.

A final quote by Louis Pasteur “Fortune favors the prepared mind”, and we may equally add “those with good friends and excellent supporters.”