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Erling Kagge - It started with sailing
14 March 2025 · 17 min · 485 views
What this video covers
Erling Kagge, a Norwegian explorer and author, recounts his transition from early Atlantic crossings to polar expeditions, emphasizing the role of sailing in his development. In 1983, Kagge and three friends sailed a Vindö 50 to the Caribbean and back, an experience he describes as poorly prepared but formative. During this trip, he met the renowned sailor Warren Brown in Bermuda, who later invited him to crew on the 61-foot *War Baby* for a voyage through the Magellan Strait to Antarctica. This expedition provided the foundational confidence for his later unsupported trek to the North Pole with Børge Ousland in 1990. In 2023, Kagge and Ousland returned to the Arctic, sailing from Longyearbyen to Kvitøya to investigate the 1897 Andrée expedition. Kagge notes that the Barents Sea has become significantly more navigable due to receding ice, allowing passage north of Svalbard that was impossible in the 1980s. He advocates for smaller, simpler sailboats to maintain a direct connection with nature, warning that excessive technology and large vessels can distance sailors from the environment.
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