Sheepish Sea – By Ludvig Holstad

"All Arctic ships are nice," say some guys who stand there and fill her with eyes...

Now she is approaching Kvitneset. In a few minutes the home village will be hidden behind the mountains. – Some 3-4 of the men come up from the cabin as if by chance and stand by the row. A few pairs of eyes stare in the same direction. There lies the village under the three mountain peaks. White and red houses and two large rivers steeply down into the sea. – And the quay and the sea messengers along the beaches. – But behind the glass windows inside the many cabins there are women standing and staring far after them. The ship swung around the cape, turned its stem towards the sea and greeted the first swells. Twelve days later they are up at the 74th degree of latitude, halfway between Jan Mayen and Svalbard. The ship is riding a strong northeast gale, which is getting closer and closer to a storm. They have not yet been inside the ice, and have not tried it either.

They can only see the large ice island as a clearing far to the north in their vision. – The northeast gale met them like a roaring beast as soon as they came up under the ice edge. Now they have been camping here and there for 4-5 days and do not dare to come closer to the ice edge.

It's a rough sea here.

The entire ice edge is breaking up. Large floes of ice are coming in a wild dance away from the weather. And comfort them if they don't keep a good lookout night and day. Towards the end of the fifth day the gale increases to a full storm. It is one of the first days of April and in the middle of Easter weekend. The older members of the crew know all too well what this is like. They have come out for one of those raging Easter storms that are so sadly familiar up here in March and April. Many a ship has gone to the bottom here, in these storms. But this ship is good and she is strongly built and the engine works steadily and steadily.

The first few days they eased a lot of the coal overboard, so now she floats much more easily. - But still, the sea is horribly awful to look at.

The crew on deck and in the engine take their watches and helmsmen and hang on to their posts. But the storm increases to a hurricane and the seas break over the bow and bulwark, time after time. Lord God. – A small wooden ship in the middle of a raging ice sea and now they are in the fifth day of the weather. So this is how an Easter weekend can be in the Vesterisen.

-How was it at home today, really? Were any of the guys dreaming of a small village with sunflowers on the lawn and daffodils in the gardens? - It looked like he was dreaming of something like that, the young fireman, 16 years old and a first-time traveler.

– “If you’re sleeping, boy, watch the guy and don’t fall into the sticks.” – It’s the engineer singing out.

– Up on the bridge stand the skipper and helmsman. Eyes puffy and red from watching and seasickness.

-A bell strikes – changing of the guard – call out the guard. –

It was four o'clock in the morning on Easter Monday.

Then it happened. – A mountain of a sea, – bigger than all the others, came towards them. – “Purr out all men”, – the order was short and stern. It was as if the whole sea rose up around the bow at the height of the masts, – black-blue and merciless. It breaks, -it breaks. – NO! The ship was completely under. The skipper saw only the black-blue seas around him. Everything was lost in the current, the ship trembled with every nod and creak. Those on the bridge clung to each other with all their might. Did she come up to believe?

Yes, – she lifted herself, slowly – so slowly, and the sea washed over the hedge again. But then it looked like this. – The entire rampart was torn apart. Both capes were shattered to pieces. The roundhouse was gone, the booms and forks shattered into small pieces.

The crew came storming up. Hull and cabin were half full of sea, the hold as well and the sea poured into the engine. The ship immediately capsized and drifted on its side. Was there any hope for them now? They had to get a drift anchor out, lightning fast and it had to be lowered so the fire under the steam boiler didn't go out. Every man in furious work. They tore up the storm cleaver.

He is triangular – and strong lines were attached to each corner and pulled together to form a sack. This sack they then lashed tightly to the rope cable, 120 fathoms long, and hauled it out. – The ship turned a little at a time with the bow towards the weather, but there was only a short respite. The claim was great. The thick heavy cable tore up its entire length from top of the mast to top of the mast. – It was a sight to see.

A while in search, and then the thick train broke off and the ship lay across again. The engine had been running and running the whole time and the rudder was undamaged. This was their rescue. – But the seas washed over them, even worse now than when they lay and turned in the weather. Now there was no other choice but to hide away, to land wherever it wanted. They went to the bow and had sailcloth lashed over all the holes for the capes and roundhouses, but it was impossible to seal all the places no matter how much they sealed.

It was impossible to get into the cabin, it was half full of sea, and there was no question of bailing it out in such weather. All 16 men had to fit into the engine room and cabin. They used the jackhammer and made a hole in the bulkhead and got through there. If the days and nights had been hard before, they were worse now. An inhuman struggle, night and day to keep the ship afloat. Now it was tested what was in each individual, not only in physical strength, but perhaps even more in mental strength.

They had no food, and it was impossible to get hold of anything they needed. – Everything in the galley, cabin and cabin was floating in the sea.

But the work was still done with utmost effort. The pumps ran non-stop, but they couldn't get everything out. They had to be hauled away with great difficulty. There was no equipment to help them, the roundhouse went overboard. They got hold of a double drum, tied straps to it and tied a strong line, then one man in the room to fill, then two men to lift and turn. - Up and down - up and down, turn after turn on each man, no one could escape. A bloodbath without measure, night and day by a frozen and dead-tired crew, exhausted by hunger and sleeplessness.

Those who were not in the bilge or on the bridge stayed in the engine room and cabin. There, 9-10 men would huddle together and try to steal a few minutes of sleep, and there, the sea-drenched would put on their clothes. In the end, there was no place for the smell and steam, but what could be done? There you see the men. On the floor and grate and boiler top, there are dead tired men lying. Can they all handle this strain? There is no waiting. There is a bundle lying by itself up on the boiler top. He doesn't want to do any more, strangely. He was the biggest and strongest of them all, but his will failed.

"Dokke sees that it's no use anymore, we still can't do it." There was no other option, they had to take him by force and force him to work. How else would it work if everyone didn't stick together in what they won.

And serious thoughts came to some of them. There lay one of the boys, praying. He was the most cheerful of all and not a little frivolous and rude in his words in the group of comrades. Now a higher power spoke to him so clearly that he lay in a state of crying and fear. – Lord God save us. – The days are passing. A lone battered ship up in the Arctic Ocean was flying southwards. Where did they think Jan Mayen was? Did they get her clear, or were they going to end up in the wreckage there? The swell and the swell made it impossible to see anything. No, they had certainly passed by, and saw nothing of the island. Now they were heading for Iceland. But finally the storm had also broken out. Like a roaring beast it had followed them, all the way up from the 74th and down to the 68th degrees of latitude.

For a total of 12 days the northeaster had raged and for 9 days the skipper and crew did not come out of the boat. For 5 days they had not tasted wet or dared of any kind.

They had now come so far south that they were about halfway between Jan Mayen and Iceland, and then the sea suddenly became calm. There lay this vast plain and they didn't want anything bad. Just long calm swells after a senseless dance. Unbelievable that this was the same sea that wanted to swallow them a few hours ago. Now it was possible to get the boat to dredge enough so that they could get some food of the kind that was there. The first thing they tried was oatmeal mixed in water. Now they also got the grains down into the cabin, and there it was. Cups and dishes, bedclothes and walking clothes and everything that was loose was floating in the sea. Up on the table stood the dog they had with them, whining and wailing and going wild with joy when she saw people again.

Finally they got in touch with other boats, which had also suffered an accident and were on their way home. They got tows on board one of these.

The sea was no longer calm, the weather had changed to a northwesterly gale and they did not dare to be alone on the journey to Norway. Now they were on their way home quickly. It was light and airy after the dance of death. Once they reached Runde they could manage on their own. The engine was churning faithfully as it had always done. It was a miracle that they had managed to keep her going when it was at its worst. ·

They looked towards Breisundet, a motorboat came speeding past. It was a boat from Flø, it turned and came close in. The people on board just stood there staring in amazement at this vessel.

"No, Lord God, what has the dock been up to?" they cried. And they might well have wondered, for the ship was a sight to behold. There was no railing on either side. Only a support stood here and there. The cloak and house were gone, only the empress stood naked on deck. And the rigging? Nothing, two short masts with a few frayed towlines. A bleak sight.

But there Breisundet opens up and familiar mountains come into view. Skolma and Lesten with Sukkertoppen and Eltrane opposite. Spring over the Brandal village and in the middle of April, greening bays and seagulls screaming down on the pier. Here no storm had raged and everything was back to normal.

But there is something or other. People meet and ask: "Have you eaten anything?" No. Their thoughts give them no peace. They have heard about the big storm up in the ice. But no one knows anything. Anxiety is in the air, and in the silent questions. The afternoon is drawing to a close. By a new building out on the beach, a woman is standing, hanging up clothes. They are freshly washed and white. The mountain stands steep and black behind. The northeast has slowed down, only light showers in Breisundet with sunshine every now and then. A man is standing out on a hill and staring, when he comes running and shouts something:

"Nilla, Nilla. Now "Jopeter" is coming for Kvitneset." Yes, indeed they are coming. Oh, thank God.

The ship came in with the beach. A few men had already gathered on the quay as the ship came in. They looked at her, yes, they stared at her. They moved their eyes from one thing to another and quietly welcomed her home. They knew and understood everything.

Then one of the guys on the dock turns around and says, loud enough for everyone to hear: "Oh yes, everyone can see what the ship has been through, but no one knows what the people have suffered."

But those on board, don't they say anything? Not much. It's not easy for these people to show their feelings in words and behavior. They say thank you and reply that he was now somewhat brave, both with storm and sea. But the first voyager had caught sight of something up the road, and he still had to admit that he had never seen the countryside as beautiful as today. A sunny spring day with northwesterly showers and sun occasionally.

Fourteen days later the same ship set sail again on a new voyage up the same Arctic Ocean. Only half of the old crew is with us this time. The other half were put to bed in the large house with its many beds.