Polar evening with Tormod Jensen at the Ishavsmuseet on February 21st.

Arctic Ocean veteran and engineer Tormod Jensen from Kvaløya near Tromsø was a trapper on the M/K Forland in 1958. Tormod Jensen has 22 trips to the Arctic Ocean, summer and winter fishing.

On Friday, February 21, he will visit the Ishavsmuseet in Brandal to give a lecture.

The first year he went on a summer fishing trip to Svalbard was when he was 15 years old, in 1957. The following year, in 1958, he traveled with the MK "Forland" from Tromsø. The MK "Forland" was built in 1938 and was 63,5 feet long.

The trip started from Tromsø on June 26, with a stop in Tromvik before heading to Storfjorden west of the Tusenøyane Islands in Svalbard.

There were 7 men on the crew this trip. They were met by a lot of ice in the area that made fishing difficult. As the ice loosened, harbor seals and polar bears were caught. A female was shot and 2 live polar bear cubs were taken on board and placed in cages on deck. When they sank, they had 15 sacks of down, 27 polar bear skins, and 180 harbor seals. As the ice loosened, the MK "Forland" passed through Heleysundet, or Orm-hølet as the fishermen called it. On the morning of July 19, a large iceberg drifted and hit the MK "Forland". The foot of the iceberg had entered the engine room and the vessel was completely destroyed. There was no time to send out a distress signal, and the vessel was abandoned.

 A grueling journey across the land ice began, during which the lifeboat was dragged across the ice for 17 hours. Here was a cabin that Tormod was familiar with from the previous year. They stayed in that cabin for 11 days before trying to go north into the Hindlopen Strait. They showed that there was a research station here. Due to the ice conditions, they had to turn back to the cabin. They planned to row south through Heleysundet. The rowing lasted from 15 to 29 hours. Food was scarce, they shot 2 reindeer and a seal. The steward had brought with him 2 cases of beer and 50 kg of halibut flour. He used beer as a leavening agent when baking bread.

 You can find out more about how things went after they arrived at Sørkapp on the polar evening at the Ishavsmuseet on 21 February.

After the lecture, dinner will be served as usual, and this Friday the museum invites you to a real "cod feast". This Friday, fresh cod with scallops, roe, liver, etc. is on the menu.

Registration to the Ishavsmuseet tel 70092004 email webjorn@ishavsmuseet.no for those who want dinner.