The next destination of our journey was Ny-Ålesund, a settlement that probably holds the world record for having the most "world's northernmost" records. It was once nearly abandoned but is now inhabited by more than a hundred scientists year round. It lies just 120 nautical miles from Longyearbyen. Our progress, however, was slow. We struggled with headwind and head sea in Isfjorden and when we turned north outside the fjord, we faced even more headwind and difficult sea in the sound of Forlandet. There was a strong breeze, but we were just sailing back and forth not really getting anywhere. It had blown the cap off my head into the sea, too, and I didn't have a spare. In 20 hours we only got 20 miles further. It was unstimulating the first time to see the same landscape from the beginning till the end of a four hour shift, then get four hours of rest, and return to the next shift and be greeted by the same view. The second time it was downright frustrating. It was time to set the iron sail. To go by engine is less pleasant, but it does at least ensure some progress. Bente and Karl-Peter had to be in Ny-Ålesund the 28th to catch a flight back to Longyearbyen. There were only 30 hours remaining.

Near its northern mouth the sound is very shallow. There is a reef which has depths between 1 and 3 metres, except for a passage with 4 metres of water. The wind had increased to near gale and the sea was rough. We were still going by engine, but had some sail up which helped to stabilise the boat. Then we shut down the engine for a moment for an oil refill. After that we soon realised that we were making much less progress, and found that we couldn't get the propeller going though the engine was running fine. We had to go on by sails alone.

The wind direction was better, but conditions were still difficult. The wind force was near gale, it had begun to snow, visibility was poor, and the sea was even rougher. Most waves were just a couple of metres in height, but they were going in all directions and sometimes they accumulated to steep, pointed waves 3 or 4 metres high. Snow and spray stung our faces. Ny-Ålesund, however, was only a few hours away.

In Ny-Ålesund we performed the quickest anchoring of the trip. We sailed into the harbour, dropped anchor, and crossed our fingers for the anchor to hold. It did. It was too windy to use the dinghy to tow the boat to the quay, but it was possible to get ashore. And we made one trip ashore on that day.

It seemed likely that we would have to stay in Ny-Ålesund for a while. We had learned in Hornsund that the engine is essential to navigate through ice, so we did not want to go anywhere before it had been repaired.

Ny-Ålesund didn't seem to be a bad place to be stuck.