Sailing Stella Polaris
Exploring paradise
Between May 2016 and December 2017, Margrethe and Andreas sailed with SY Stella Polaris on a fantastic trip, filled with excellent people, great food, swimming with dolphins, mantas, sharks, and even fleeing from bull sharks (twice) and exploring places not reachable if you’re land based. We went to amazing places like Galapagos, Easter Island, French Polynesia, Tonga, Vanuatu and New Caledonia. Here you’ll find tons of pictures, videos and text that detail our trip and hopefully gives you a glimpse into how much we enjoyed our trip. Maybe it will inspire you to do something similar. We hope so! Go out there and explore!
From our amazing trip with Stella Polaris!
The Pacific
Swimming with mantas and sharks
Visitors
Amazing people that joined us
Easter Island
A Magical Island
Nautical Miles Sailed
Countries Visited
Videos
Meeting old friends in Australia
Meeting old friends in Australia was the highlight of getting to the end of our journey. Both Margrethe and I have studied in Australia, so we had friends from back then, on top of this I knew even more people from when I sailed to Oz in 2010 onboard African...
Hiking, diving and sailing in New Caledonia
Sailing in New Caledonia, should be on everyones short-list. What's there not to like? The water is pristine, crystal clear and has beautiful colors. You're protected by a huge barrier reef, that shields you from the waves (the worst of them at least) and if you pick...
Exploring the volcano on Tanna in Vanuatu
We've put together a video that shows our adventures in Vanuatu when we amongst other things go visiting a Volcano on Tanna. Press play and watch it 🙂 Under the video we've written a bit more about our stay in Vanuatu, that gives you more details. Who would have...
We swim with whales in Tonga
We swim with whales in Tonga, getting up close and personal with humpback whales of all sizes. We also explore Vava'u and Ha'apai, seeing Mariner's and Swallow's Caves, go to church and feel the magic of these wonderful islands. The video shows it all!...
Freediving with mantas and sharks in Bora Bora, Maupiti and Maupihaa
In this video we go freediving with mantas and sharks in Bora Bora, Maupiti and Maupihaa. If you haven’t heard the names of the two last stops, it’s because few venture there. We did and were rewarded with amazing dives with mantas, man eating sharks and death defying...
Swimming with sharks in Fakarava
In our leisurely sail through Tuamotos we go swimming with sharks in Fakarava, my favourite spot from 7 years ago. We can go freediving with hundreds of sharks and an abundance of fish you see few other places on our globe. We get to enjoy Fakarava with Kolbi and...
Shark attack and falsifying the Kon Tiki Monument
A shark attack you ask? Yes. Watch the video to see how frisky they can get. We have just made a trilogy of short videos that show our trip through French Polynesia. In this one we look at Gambier, Amanu and Raroia. We include a shark attack in Gambier, some indecent...
Fish farming in French Polynesia
I have seen just how destructive fish farming can be to an ecosystem home in Norway, so when I heard that the Chinese have just been given permission to start fish-farming in French Polynesia, I was outraged. We are anchored in Hao in the Tuamotos and after talking to...
Amanu an unspoilt South Pacific paradise
When you sail off the beaten track you always hope that you’ll find someplace truly special and our search can stop, because we’ve found the perfect unspoilt South Pacific paradise and it’s called Amanu. Amanu was our first stop in the Tuamotos after sailing from...
Testing nuclear weapons in paradise
You would think that your place in Hell would be assured, if you had been busy testing nuclear weapons in paradise. When I say South Pacific, most people think of atolls with small sandy islands covered by palm trees, surrounded by vibrant coral reefs and an abundance...
Trekking in Gambier
Who would have thought that trekking in Gambier could be as much fun as it was? We were certainly surprised at the different options we had. Gambier is a great mix of the Marquesas with its soaring peaks and Tuamotos with its sandy atolls. We did a bit of diving, but...
Fixing the boat in exotic locations
There is a well known saying: Sailing around the World is a sexier way to say that you’ll be fixing you boat in exotic locations. Though Stella Polaris is in great shape, components and parts are subjected to the rigors of long distance sailing, salt water and...
Green bananas are the new potato
I´ve just realised that bananas can be used when they’re still green! In fact it's not a stretch to say that green bananas are the new potato, it`s just a matter of being creative. My favourite dish, so far, is french fries, and it is hard to tell that it is made of...
Secret of the black pearl
When we sailed inside the reefs surrounding Gambier, we saw houses on stilts dotting every bay. We thought they were hotels or villas, but they turned out to be instrumental in helping us unlock the secret of the black pearl. Between the islands, we had to steer wild...
Passagemaking
We are now halfway between Easter Island (Rapa Nui) and Pitcairn and this is as good a time as any to talk about passagemaking. For us passagemaking is whenever we do a sail involving overnights and you move a substantial distance. On this passage we’re sailing around...
The mysteries of Easter Island
After a strenuous sail we were eager to unlock the mysteries of Easter Island (Rapa Nui in Polynesian). Easter Island is the inhabited island, the second furthest away from civilization. When you consider that the nearest civilization (over 2000 km away) is Pitcairn...
Amazing Galapagos
After 6 days of sailing from Panama, we could finally see some mountain peaks of on the horizon. We had reached the isolated group of volcano islands we know from BBC documentary by David Attenborough; The Galàpagos Islands. The 5 of us onboard were really excited and...
Checking in to Galapagos
Galapagos is truly a rare gem on our planet and that’s why we really wanted to sail there with Stella Polaris. We had heard rumors that checking in to Galapagos could be a nightmare, but we didn’t let that deter us. The process for us was as follows: Before you arrive...
Solar Panel Install
After having sailed with Stella Polaris for 8 months we now have a fairly good idea of how she works. We’ve discovered elements that are great and other that are not. We’ve also settled on particularities we need to change. There are a few things you need to have...
Welcome to the jungle
The stunning 365 islands of San Blas offer many possibilities to free-dive, relax on beaches and bask in the sun in jaw-dropping scenery, but if you want to do a hike, you need to head inland and for us it was a great welcome to the jungle....
Crocodiles in San Blas
We’ve now spent 4 months enjoying San Blas and much to our surprise crocodiles are a bit more prevalent here than we first thought. When we came to San Blas we read that they only stayed close to the mainland, in the rivers there, but have since discovered that they...
Visitors in San Blas
San Blas is the closest thing you get to paradise in the Caribbean and we’ve been lucky to be able to share it with a good group of visitors spread out over the months we’ve been here. With the visitors we’ve been able to explore the islands, the snorkeling spots, and...
A ”small” change of plans
When we left Norway we had a straightforward plan: fly to Trinidad and get Stella Polaris ready for adventure. From there we would sail to Panama, go through the Panama Canal and then sail south stopping on Easter Island, before heading to Patagonia, Antarctica, etc....
Visitors from Norway in San Blas
This was the first time we were getting visitors from Norway in San Blas, and safe to say we were looking forward to it. Bente, Maren and Frode met us in Shelter Bay Marina, just outside Colon. We hadn’t been gone from Norway for more than a little over 3 months, but...
A taste of Colombia
“If you haven’t drunk our coffee, you haven’t been to Colombia”, I was told by our guide Jose. So in spite of not being a big fan of coffee, I got a taste of Colombia and enjoyed it. Not enough to become an actual coffee drinker, but enough to appreciate the couple of...
Sailing to Colombia
Sailing to Colombia took us 53,5 hours from when we lifted anchor in Spanish Water on Curacao, till we were securely tied up at Marina Santa Marta in Colombia. This meant that we averaged 6 knots in a nice downwind sail. The area around the north coast of Colombia can...
Drone Crash
When someone asks you if you want collision avoidance on your drone, answer yes, if not I foresee a drone crash in your future ... You might not fly into your mast, but you WILL crash ... sooner or later. Take my word for it! I'm now saving up for a new drone, this...
A week on Curacao
You don’t need an engine to get from Bonaire to Curacao. You could float there in your bath-tub if you so desired, because you have wind, waves and current helping you along. We checked out from Bonaire on Friday evening and let go of the mooring Saturday morning...
Relaxing on Bonaire
After the month of working non-stop on the boat on Trinidad and the strenuous maiden voyage, we needed to kick back and enjoy ourselves. Relaxing on Bonaire is the perfect remedy and a great way to forget about time. Bonaire is a wonderful place to come with a...
The maiden voyage
The day had finally come to leave Trinidad for our maiden voyage. We had finished all the pressing projects, had provisioned and were eager to get on our way. The final thing on our list was to check out. We planned to check out at 15:00, because if we were checked...
On the hard in Trinidad
When the plane touched down on Trinidad, Margrethe and I knew we had a lot of hard work ahead of us. I guesstimated that we would need the rest of the month to get Stella Polaris ready, but hoped we would finish faster. Having your boat on the hard in Trinidad usually...
The adventure begins
The adventure begins when there is no turning back. The doors closed. The stewardesses walked down the aisle checking that our seatbelts were fastened. Then we pulled away from the gate. All I could think was: what have I forgotten? As far as I could discern I hadn’t...
Sailaway Party
When we first started talking about having a sailaway party, we guesstimated that somewhere between 30 - 50 people would be a realistic headcount. We talked about having it at a few different venues and after some deliberation, decided to go all in, and both get a...