Visitors
We’ve been fortunate to have had excellent visitors on Stella Polaris. Some came for a long period, some for shorter, but all of them were awesome and we were fortunate to share the journey with them. Here they are:
Devin
4 days in November 2017, Brisbane to Sydney
Devin and I first met in 2010 when he was preparing to sail from Panama to Galapagos. Our boats crossed tracks a number of times that year in the Pacific for some epic meet-ups. Devin is without a question the person I keep most in touch with from that Pacific crossing (with the exception of my brother). Devin swung by Norway for a visit in 2015, so the time was right to meet up now in his newly adopted country: Australia. Him and Simon met us as soon as we made landfall, guided us up the river Brisbane river and helped us to the nearest pub for a proper christening. The Brisbane stay was sensational and to top it off, both him and Simon joined us for the sail to Sydney. It was excellent to have him along for the last leg with Stella Polaris.
Simon
4 days in November 2017, Brisbane to Sydney
I first met Simon when I threw a party on AI in 2010, where showed up and spread joy. We’ve kept in touch ever since. Simon is an outstanding guy and a real laugh. Him and Devin met us as soon as we made landfall in Oz and ensured that we had a fantastic time in Brisbane. He not only made us feel very welcome, but also showed us around properly and introduced us to fine Aussie catamaran craftmanship. He joined us for the last sail with Stella Polaris, going down the east coast of Australia for what was a fast and very enjoyable sail, made much more so by his presence onboard.
Frode
49 days in July-August 2017, Tahiti to Tonga
25 days in July-August 2016 in San Blas, Panama
Frode has a great skill-set to be a very valuable crew member: he’s a merchant marine deck officer, has worked as a boatbuilder and is an electrician, on top of that he enjoys making food. He is also a firm believer that gin and tonic will keep the mosquitoes away. He had ample chance to improve his free-diving skills while sailing with us, which were evident in the San Blas video. He will always be remembered for his signature dish: ”Barrakunagrateng”- fishgratin made with barracuda, topped with crushed Kuna-bread.
Andrea
17 days in June-July 2017, Fakarava to Tahiti
Andrea came onboard with no sailing experience, but ended up steering the boat towards Tahiti in the darkest hours in choppy seas. She brought the cardgame Dutch Blitz, which the girls seem to have a genetic predisposition to dominate. She also introduced us to “Would you rather…”, which gave us a lot of good laughs and taught us things we both did and didn’t wan to know about each other. After feeding the fish our meal scraps from the transom, Andrea became more and more confident in the water and were buddies with the sharks of Fakarava by the time we sailed to Tahiti. We will miss her smile and laughter.
Kolbi
17 days in June-July 2017, Fakarava to Tahiti
Kolbi is the Bartender with capital B, who can disguise panty dropping amounts of alcohol in sensational drinks. Andreas and Kolbi were room-mates 18 years ago and every time they meet it’s like no time has passed. Kolbi found his inner caveman when hunting for coconuts, building fires on the beach and snorkeling with nerve-wrecking number of sharks in the south pass on Fakarava. His relaxed demeanor and great sense of humor spread good vibes and ensured that everyone had tons of fun.
Camilla
120 days in January-May 2017, Panama to French Polynesia
Camilla has a passion for photography and brought a serious bundle of camera equipment onboard Stella Polaris. This has given her a strong back, because where ever we walked she brought her heavy camera backpack. Camilla is an avid surfer and freediver, so she was in her element in the Pacific. Camilla is helpful, smiling and very easy to be around. She was quick to get her sealegs, but unfortunately pancake batter does not share these skills and once in rough seas she was covered from her chest and down while trying to make breakfast. Camilla was the queen of risotto, and she makes really good vegetarian dishes.
Helge
120 days in January-May 2017, Panama to French Polynesia
Helge was a welcoming addition to the Stella Polaris crew, because he combines sailing experience with the ability to never get seasick. He kept his spirits up no matter what the conditions were, and continued churning out great tasting pastas and curries. Helge can be a liability to his sunglasses (he broke 3 pairs) and himself (he cut his toe and needed stiches in Panama and cut his finger in Galapagos) both incidents kept him out of the water for over 3 weeks. When injury-free, he is a keen surfer and freediver, superb in the water when anchoring and was always the first person to get cool underwater selfies.
Erica
23 days in January-February 2017, Panama to Galapagos
Erica spent a week helping us provision for the Pacific and was happy when we finally sat sails and headed out to sea. Erica is a proven sea-woman (she works on cruise ships) and she must have a good link to the sea Gods, because when she was onboard was the only time we have experienced flat seas offshore. Erica is a lively and lovely girl, easy to like, and always happy to help out.
Sigrunn
6 days in December 2016 in San Blas, Panama
Andreas’s mom came to visit us and was the first one to travel both in and out of San Blas with the transport over the mountains. It worked like a charm. Mom was very happy to see how we lived and what we were doing, so that she can relax knowing we are safe wherever we sail. With only 6 days onboard, we did a whirlwind tour of San Blas and were lucky enough to spot a big crocodile when we did a dinghy trip up Rio Diablo next to Nargana. Mom brought us Christmas presents, so we were able to celebrate the Holidays with a flavor of home.
Christian
13 days in November-December 2016 in San Blas, Panama
Christian is a croc hunter and a power tanner. Fortunately for the San Blas crocs we didn’t see any of them, but we did see a lot of sun, so Christian was able to do a reverse Michael Jackson. Andreas and Christian have been friends for nearly 30 years, so there was never a quiet moment onboard. Christian made everyone laugh and will be remembered for both: “Jæææææævlig sjef” and “Det e jag, Dr. Alban”. Andreas and Christian were also able to bring Al-Qadim to life in San Blas, unleashing their inner nerds. This was hopefully the first of a string of visiting childhood friends.
Anne Marie
6 days in November 2016 in San Blas, Panama
Anne Marie tends to be in areas when mother nature shows its appearance, i.e earthquake in Greece, so of course she came to Panama when the hurricane Otto came close. Anne Marie brought the game Skipbo onboard, and she made some awesome dishes. Especially the veggie-burgers where she had to pill every single bean before using them. Anne Marie loved to swim, snorkel and explore islands, and she really had an eye for details.
Runar
6 days in November 2016 in San Blas, Panama
Runar loves music and was our DJ onboard. He enjoyed his coffee with Baileys in the morning, and had a number of fun stories to tell around the coffee table. Runar was a little sceptic to sail with people he didn`t know very well, but he ended up having a great time onboard Stella Polaris. The sailing trip had been a “velsignelse” (blessing), as Runar jokingly would have said it.
Hanne
12 days in November 2016 in San Blas, Panama
Hanne came to Panama for a 3 week retreat in warmer climate before ski season sets in back home. She was the quiz-master onboard, and she made some extremely good vegetarian dishes. She brought the book “Hungry student. A vegetarian cooking book” which has become our favorite book while in remote areas with no meat available. Hanne left us with salty hair, and a nice and fresh tan.
Per Christian
12 days in November 2016 in San Blas, Panama
Per Christian is a previous skijumper from Trondheim, and he showed some of his skills by backfliping of the boat. He is also a fisherman, but unfortunately he was not able to pull in any big ones this time. We were surprised (and a little happy) he didn`t bring “Lævva livet” med Åge Aleksandersen onboard. Per Christian was onboard during rainy season, and the weather Gods decided to dump a serious amount of rain during the 12 days.
Elisabeth
12 days in September 2016 in San Blas, Panama
Elisabeth is a chef extraordinaire and a mermaid. She made some out-of-this-World dishes onboard and was fantastic when it came to preparing food and lobster. Elisabeth has plenty of sailing experience, having crewed when Andreas sailed from Panama to Tahiti in 2010. She has close to mermaid like skills in the water and enjoys freediving and exploring the life underneath the surface.
Torger
12 days in September 2016 in San Blas, Panama
Torger is an artist, a thinker and a surfer. He came to us straight from a freediving course in Norway and was keen to hone his skills. He got an enjoyable dose of freediving, and even got a bit more than he bargained for when we met a bull shark while snorkeling the outer reefs on the Hollandaise islands. Torger was instrumental in making Splendor the most popular board game on Stella Polaris.
Maren
14 days in July-August 2016 in San Blas, Panama
Maren was our creative chef, able to recreate dishes she saw in food programmes while flying to Panama. She will be remembered for some mouthwatering use of available food resources, in particular the breakfast pancakes with cottage cheese and corn, that has since become a breakfast treat. Though she normally works with numbers, she showed a keen ability as a hairdresser and now has a second profession to fall back on.
Bente
14 days in July-August 2016 in San Blas, Panama
Bente has the biggest smile in the Caribbean sea. Her good mood is contagious and she kept us smiling the entire time she was onboard. She’s also a hard worker, always happy to help out with whatever needed doing. Our torn to bits flag got a second life thanks to her sewing skills. She was also the queen of sunbathing and was able to overcome some fears of the deep blue sea and spent more time in the water than ever before.