I’m an enthusiastic PBO reader and have been inspired by articles about people undertaking real adventures.

I decided to go for it myself and plan a voyage to the west coast of Svalbard in summer.

My boat is an old Rustler. She’s safe and seaworthy. My crew and I are sensible and cautious.

We don’t have high latitude experience but confidently sail anywhere in the British Isles.

I’ve read extensively on the subject and my view is that Svalbard is actually a lot safer and less adventurous than you might first think.

The west coast of Svalbard is warmed by the Gulf Stream, and there’d be permanent daylight during summer.

The longest passage is four days and I would carefully pick a weather window.

From a practical point of view, it seems a realistic option for a British cruising crew with a seaworthy vessel.

But the problem is insurance.

To assist in my search for insurance, I am:

• Building more relevant experience so I can demonstrate to insurance companies that I have the necessary skills.
• Planning a charter holiday with friends and family in the Norwegian Lofoten Islands.
  It’s well into the Arctic Circle and looks to be a very beautiful area.
  Charter boats are readily available and I’ll get some relevant experience as skipper as well as have a brilliant time with my friends.
• I have been able to arrange insurance to single-hand my own boat to the Azores and back.
  That will build useful miles and credible experience.
  It will be another great experience. My wife will meet me in the Azores and we’ll have a great time.
• I’m going to book myself on one of the commercially available sailing trips from Iceland to Greenland.
  Organisations such as Go-West Sailing in Scotland offer such trips.
  This will add miles and useful experience sailing in Greenland.
  And I’m sure it will be great fun meeting lots of like-minded people.
• And I’ll be doing the RYA Yachtmaster Offshore and Yachtmaster Ocean qualifications.

Once I’ve done all this, I think I’ll have lots more miles, more qualifications and a much stronger sailing CV.

More importantly, it’s going to be huge fun building this experience!

I haven’t had much success with specialist yacht insurers because there just doesn’t seem to be a mainstream market for sailing to the Arctic.

I just think they lack the data with which to make a meaningful assessment of the risk.

I have a good friend who is the director of an insurance company and he is now helping me identify the right contacts in the Lloyd’s insurance market.

My plan is to build the experience of the skipper and crew, get the boat in tip-top shape with a new survey, then carefully write a proposal for consideration at
Lloyds.

I’m told this is quite likely to generate an offer, but is also likely to be quite expensive given that it’s a bespoke approach.

If it works, then my insurance arrangement will be as follows:

• Third-party cover for the boat via a bespoke policy from the Lloyds market.
• Skipper and crew each taking out the Yachtsman Insurance policy from Topsail Insurance.
  This covers medical repatriation, search and rescue costs and medical treatment.
  I’ll be taking the risk and going without insurance for the hull.
  In the unlikely event of any damage to my own boat, I’ll cover the costs.
  But I’d be insured for third-party risks, medical risks and search and rescue.
  I also looked into firearms rules for polar bear protection.
  My local police firearms licensing team have been a delight to work with, as have the Norwegian authorities.
  Seems this bit of the plan is very easy with lots of very professional, helpful people providing simple guidance.

I hope this helps anyone considering doing the same.

Martin Frobisher

Mollie Magrath, boat and travel account manager for Topsail Marine & Leisure Insurance, responds:

As Mr Frobisher has found it can unfortunately be very difficult to source yacht insurance for higher latitude sailing – many insurers will not consider this coverage.

However, our Yachtsman’s Travel policies can cover both sailing and non-sailing trips within these areas.

The Yachtsman’s policy can cover trips away from home for up to 12 months away, and we can insure you for travel worldwide, including to the Arctic and Antarctic.

With no offshore restrictions for sailing, our policy is designed with sailors in mind.

The policy can include the following benefits:

• £5,000,000 emergency medical and repatriation expenses, inclusive of medical evacuation if deemed necessary.
• Up to £25,000 search and rescue costs.
• Up to £5,000 cancellation and disruption coverage for prearranged trips (with extension available for higher cost trips).
• Up to £7,500 charter deposit coverage, to insure against the loss of a charter deposit.

We can quote for sailors aged up to 85 years of age, and resident in the UK, Channel Islands, Gibraltar, New Zealand and Australia.

Sailing in the land of fire and ice and beyond: sailors share their high latitude cruises

Peter K Poland talks to two boat owners whose production vessels have been pressed into service in chilly Arctic waters

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