In the autumn of 2011 Erik Schouw-Hansen and I were discussing our next adventure. In 2010 we had sailed together to the Shetlands—Erik crewed aboard my 31′ sloop on the first leg of a voyage from Norway to the Caribbean and back. We were both born and raised on the west coast of Norway, so for our next trip it was natural to look westward across the North Sea to the Shetland Islands. We wanted to try something new and settled upon rowing a small, open boat across the North Sea the following summer. We set mid-June the following year as our deadline to be ready for departure, and from that point we would wait for favorable weather conditions.In Norway the faering is well known, and has proven its seaworthiness over many centuries. It was a natural choice for us, and we set our sights on finding one suitable for the crossing. After asking around, I heard about a newly built Sunnmørsfæring that would meet all our requirements. I called the owner, Leif Reidar Røv, and to our good fortune, he was enthusiastic about our adventure and was more than happy to lend us his boat. In the early spring we put a fresh coat of oil on the boat while preparing for the crossing. After we launched it, the seams tightened up as the wood swelled, but the boat still took on some water during the trip.
Henrik Yksnøy
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Years ago, we visited the Norsk Sjøfartsmuseum [Norwegian Seafaring Museum, now known as the Norsk Maritimt Museum, or Norwegian Maritime Museum] in Oslo, and saw on display a rather unobtrusive faering, black with tar, honoring two Norwegians during WW II in German-occupied Norway. They had rowed this faering to the Shetlands to escape the occupation and to join the overseas Norwegian Resistance (if memory serves me right), or at least to join the fight against the German occupation. They were blown in a circle by a gale. I’m not sure how they navigated, probably by compass. And here these two young fellows have done it again! Henrik’s exciting, well-written article fleshes out what the dry museum card describing that long-ago trip couldn’t, for what nevertheless was an amazing exhibit. Thank you for a wonderful story!
What a great saga and a tribute to youth. Thanks so much for sharing. We built an Iain Oughtred designed 16.5′ faering. It is pleasure to row and sail. Rowing this boat across the North Sea truly staggers my mind. As both my boatbuilding friend and I are at an age when we do not want to go into the water we have installed two outer inflatable 7′ sponsons that fit under the gunnel. They have saved us twice during some heavy sailing. Can you send some more information on your Faering design?
JL: Can you tell or show us more about your inflatable sponsons? I have a 14′ sailing Whitehall and have thought of mounting something similar and would love to learn more about yours.
Seriously epic trip. Thanks for writing about it!
Henrik, an amazing adventure, well related! Thanks for sharing your story. Knowing what you know now, would you have deployed the sea anchor when the storm first started blowing you off course? It sounds like it might have saved you exhausting effort, provided a more comfortable situation in the storm, and lost you less ground, but I don’t want to take the wrong lesson from your experience if there’s something I’m missing.
Hi Dan,
Sorry for my late response. I experienced that when using the sea anchor, the stern is not always facing the wind and the waves all the time, as the boat have a tendency to turn sideways occasionally. And due to the conditions, we preferred to control the boat ourselves. I am not sure why the boat behaves like this when using sea anchor, but I suspect that we did not have a long enough rope attached to the sea anchor.
Love this article, with the boat being original, lovely lines. I have just built from scratch an Aylse skiff with the purpose of rowing across the North Atlantic from New York to Scotland, which I have also modified for this venture next May.
(Re Duncan Hutchinson) You made it! https://www.energyvoice.com/other-news/197650/oil-worker-completes-atlantic-rowing-journey-in-wake-of-rescue/
Thank you. Inspiring.
What a story! Well, as a fellow Norwegian (half Norwegian, with my childhood spent in Molde on the west coast of Norway), I’m very proud of what you have achieved. I sometimes dream of paddling from Lerwick on the Shetland Islands to Molde as tribute to Dad, but, as a 77-year-old, it maybe a little late!
Thanks for sharing this. Really inspirational.