Norwegian Cruising Guide: Volume 4 – Svalbard & Jan Mayen / 8th Edition – Update 2017 – Republished 2026

Norwegian Cruising Guide, Volume 4: Svalbard & Jan Mayen is a practical pilot-style cruising guide for yachts and small craft sailing in the High Arctic.

This volume covers Svalbard, Bjørnøya and Jan Mayen, including Southwest Spitsbergen, West Spitsbergen, Northwest Spitsbergen, North Spitsbergen, Hinlopenstretet, Nordaustlandet and Jan Mayen.

Written for real cruising use rather than armchair reading, the guide provides practical information on approaches, anchorages, shelter, holding, hazards, shore access, chart references, local restrictions, wildlife considerations and places of interest.

The Norwegian Cruising Guide series has been developed over many editions and remains a specialist English-language cruising resource for Norway, Svalbard and Jan Mayen.

Volume 4 includes:

• Arctic anchorages and harbour notes
• Approach and pilotage information
• Chart and Den Norske Los references
• Notes on shelter, holding and sea conditions
• Wildlife, cultural heritage and landing restrictions
• Practical comments from visited anchorages
• Planning maps and photographs
• Coverage of Svalbard, Bjørnøya and Jan Mayen

This is a working cruising guide for sailors preparing to cruise in remote Arctic waters. It is intended for onboard reference, passage planning and anchorage selection.

Hans Jakob Valderhaug and Eli Husum, the Guide's Norwegian authors, live in Oslo. Both are passionate and highly accomplished skiers and hikers-something that quickly becomes evident from their photographs and from the places they choose to explore.Hans Jakob Valderhaug and Eli Husum, Norwegian Cruising Guide authors, experienced sailors and high-latitude cruisers along the Norwegian coast and SvalbardFor more than forty years, Hans Jakob has cruised the Norwegian coast, from the Swedish border north to Svalbard. Since 2002, he and Eli have shared their accumulated local knowledge through the Norwegian Cruising Guide, contributing not only detailed cruising information but also insight into Norway's culture, landscape and history.Each season, they visit, document and photograph a remarkable number of harbours and anchorages. Their early cruising was done aboard their Hallberg-Rassy 31 Anna, and since 2013 they have continued this work aboard their Koopmans 39, also named Anna, extending both the range and depth of their coverage.

Daniel and Kathrin Gerber are full-time cruising sailors with more than twenty-five years of experience under sail.Much of their sailing life has been spent in northern waters, both offshore and along the exposed coasts of England, Scotland, Ireland and the Faroe Islands. From there, they crossed the North Sea and discovered the long, intricate coastline of Norway-along with the generosity and quiet competence of the people who live and work there.In 2025, after two seasons sailing in northern Norway, including Svalbard, and a winter spent living aboard their Bavaria Cruiser 46, Polaris Helvetica in arctic Norway, based in Finnsnes close to the island of Senja, an unexpected opportunity arose. When the chance came to take over the publication of the Norwegian Cruising Guide from Phyllis Nickel and John Harries, it felt like a natural continuation of their own journey.