Ella, a 28-year-old Yachtmaster instructor, is sailing her 1978 38ft Bruce Roberts offshore steel ketch, Yeva, to highlight the dramatic melting of the Arctic ice and to campaign for change. Indeed, her journey is only possible due to the melting ice caps. 

Ella’s circumnavigation will officially start at 66.5°N between Norway and Iceland at the edge of the Arctic Ocean. From there, she’ll sail north of Iceland, around southern Greenland, through the Northwest Passage, across the north of Alaska into northern Russia, where she will cross the East Siberian, Kara, and Laptev Seas. Ella will then sail through the Northeast Passage to Norway before returning to Gosport.

The Arctic circumnavigation is expected to take five months, but could take up to eight months. Ella has been preparing for the expedition for three years, including sailing for several weeks in the Arctic Circle last year.  

Yeva is outfitted with Iridium satellite communications to keep in touch with the shore team and for weather forecasts. Yeva will also carry solar panels, wind and water generators, a watermaker, and a Hydrovane self-steering system. Although she has a diesel engine, Ella is planning not to use this except if absolutely necessary.

Ella is sailing in her 38ft Bruce Roberts offshore steel ketch, Yeva

During her journey, Ella will also carry out research which will help illustrate the impact of climate change. ‘The expedition has been endorsed by the British Scientific Exploration Society, who then put me in touch with the International Seakeepers Society,’ Ella told YM in an interview.

‘I’m going to be doing depth soundings of the seabeds in support of the International Seakeeper Society’s 2030 Seabed project. We have created a lesson plan for school kids with charts of the Arctic Ocean. They can follow where I am and they’ll be able to note what animals I am seeing and the wildlife.’ 

‘The biggest challenge will be sleep deprivation. Last year, I maintained a sleep pattern of 20 minutes at a time. So sleep for 20 minutes. Get up, check it everything. If everything’s cool, nothing’s changed, go back to sleep straight away for another 20 minutes. And as long as I could get four or five hours total in a 24-hour period, that was maintainable for up to sort of a week. I think I’d struggle to do any more than nine or ten days on that routine.’

‘In areas of open water, offshore, I can heave to and get a bigger rest. Again, in areas like the Northwest Passage, when the currents are against you, there’s no point trying to fight them. Some of the currents that are six, seven knots fast up there. So I can anchor for longer rests, but bearing in mind that I have to get up probably every hour to hour and a half at anchor to watch for ice drifting into the bays. 

‘The northeast Passage is surprisingly shallow, way more shallow than I was expecting, a few miles offshore. You’re in 25, 30 metres of water still. So plenty of places to anchor along there too.

‘This journey isn’t about breaking a record,’ says Ella. ‘It’s bittersweet that it’s even possible. But if it helps people see what’s happening to the Arctic and inspires them to act, it will have been worth it.’