Interview: Time and again in the Arctic: two sisters on an extreme cruise
Kristina Müller
· 01.01.2020
Astrid and Ulrike Ewe have already crossed the Arctic Circle several times in their wake. The sisters from Braunschweig, two passionate ocean sailors, are always drawn to extreme waters.
They have already sailed to Spitsbergen, circumnavigated Scandinavia, visited Iceland, Greenland and the islands of Franz Josef Land in the Arctic Ocean, which belong to Russia.
"It is attractive where it gets lonelier and rougher" (Ulrike Ewe).
It all began with a one-year sailing holiday from 2004 to 2005, during which the Ewes circumnavigated the Atlantic (YACHT 4/06). They bought the boat for this together: the articulated steel yacht "Luna", an 11.35 metre Orca from Van de Stadt built in 1982 with four berths. Their home harbour was Orth on Fehmarn.
With the rock-solid yacht and their partners at the time, they sailed the barefoot route to the Caribbean. But on the way back, they chose a challenging route across the North Atlantic - and took a liking to sailing in rough waters.
Since then, physics and maths teacher Ulrike, 50, and environmental engineer Astrid Ewe, 49, have repeatedly set off on extraordinary long-distance cruises. In between the long journeys northwards, the "Luna" has also repeatedly sailed on long voyages in the North Sea and Baltic Sea, for example to Finland and Scotland.
The two sailors have received several ocean sailing awards for their trips, which they always take friends, acquaintances and relatives on, most recently the TO medal in autumn 2019.
YACHT spoke to Astrid and Ulrike Ewe about sailing in the ice, the compatibility of long journeys and normal jobs as well as the requirements for their next ship for new trips.
