Private bareboat charter aboard Bavaria 42 Cruiser Ellinor. From May to September, under midnight sun and northern lights.
EUR 4,200 per week for the whole yacht, up to 8 berths. Bareboat, licence required.
The Lofoten archipelago runs 160 kilometres into the Norwegian Sea, a wall of granite peaks rising straight out of the water. From the road you get postcards. From a yacht you get anchorages that no cruise ship or bus tour reaches: the inner arm of Trollfjord at midnight, empty coves under Reinebringen, the fishing hamlet of Å where the road ends and the sea begins.
Ellinor is a Bavaria 42 Cruiser based year-round in Svolvær. She is set up for the cold, clear waters of Nordland with a diesel heater, full cockpit enclosure, radar and modern navigation. She is chartered bareboat to skippers with a valid coastal licence, and she has sailed these islands every season since 2023.
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A three-cabin cruising yacht set up for the Norwegian coast, with the space and comfort of a boat two feet longer. Comfortable for a group of up to 6, with 8 berths available if needed.
Distances are short. The scenery is not. A typical week covers 80 to 150 nautical miles in mostly sheltered water, with easy day-sails between anchorages.
Handover at the marina in Svolvær, provision and sail across to Skrova, a tiny island community with a working harbour and a swimming beach.
Enter Trollfjord under cliffs 600 metres high, motor to the head, then continue north to a quiet anchorage in Digermulen.
Sail back south to Henningsvær, the "Venice of Lofoten", moored between two islets. Restaurants, bakeries and the famous football pitch on the rocks.
Long day-sail down the outer coast to Nusfjord, one of the best-preserved 19th-century fishing villages in Norway.
A short hop to Reine, spectacular red rorbu cabins under Reinebringen. Optional hike up the ridge for the view every Instagram feed has seen.
Explore the outer villages and turn back east. Anchor or moor in Ballstad, a large fishing port with proper provisions.
Final sail across Vestfjord back to Svolvær. Handover by early afternoon.
Ellinor is chartered bareboat. You need an ICC, RYA Day Skipper, SKS or an equivalent coastal licence, a VHF certificate and real experience of a yacht of this size in coastal waters. One person in the party needs that; the rest of your crew need none at all.
What you do not have to work out for yourself is the ground. Ellinor has sailed these islands every season since 2023, so the handover in Svolvær covers the boat and then the things charts do not tell you: which anchorages hold in a northerly, where the tide runs hard through the sounds, and where to go when the forecast turns. You leave with a cruising guide and a route plan, and I am on the phone for the whole week. That comes with the boat rather than costing extra.
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Midnight sun. Continuous daylight, calm settled weather, empty anchorages. Water 8-11 °C. Peak whale watching in June.
High season. Warmest air (up to 22 °C), longest reliable weather windows. Book early, anchorages busier around Reine.
Aurora and autumn. Nights return, northern lights possible from late August. Fewer boats, moody light, dramatic clouds.
Most charter yachts in Norway belong to a fleet. You book through a platform, you are handed a boat you have never seen by someone who has never sailed her, and nobody at the other end particularly minds how the week goes.
Ellinor is a single privately owned yacht. The same person answers your first email, hands you the keys in Svolvær, tells you which anchorage to run to when the forecast turns, and is on the phone if anything goes wrong at two in the morning. That is the whole business.
She is a 2005 Bavaria 42 Cruiser, completely refitted in 2025 and set up for Northern Norway rather than for the Mediterranean: diesel heater, full cockpit enclosure, radar, proper ground tackle. Everything on board was chosen because we use it ourselves.
Book direct, get a real answer, and sail with someone who cares what kind of week you have.
Owner, Ellinor · Svolvær, Lofoten
No middlemen, no commission. Fastest response by email. Deposit refundable up to 60 days before charter start.
Also reachable on WhatsApp: +372 521 9822
Yes. Ellinor is chartered bareboat, so the person you name as skipper must hold an ICC, RYA Day Skipper or higher, SKS or an equivalent national coastal licence, plus a VHF certificate, and be able to show experience of a yacht of this size. Everyone else on board can be new to sailing.
Almost certainly yes. I accept national coastal licences on their merits: a French permis mer with an FFV grade, a German Sportbootführerschein See, an Austrian FB1 or FB3, an Israeli Mashit 30 or 60, a Polish or Dutch coastal certificate. Some countries do not issue a private sailing licence at all, which is not an obstacle either. Send me a scan early and it is settled in one email.
Svolvær (SVJ), usually via Bodø with Widerøe, or direct from Oslo in the summer season. The airport is a few kilometres from the marina, about seven minutes by taxi. Harstad/Narvik Evenes looks tempting but it is 169 kilometres away and you cannot drop a hire car in Svolvær.
Fuel, usually EUR 100 to 250 a week. Harbour fees of about NOK 350 a night when you tie up, nothing when you anchor. Your own provisions and your travel to Svolvær. That is the whole list: no fuel surcharge, no linen fee, no second cleaning fee.
Ellinor is insured for hull damage and third-party liability, and the excess under that insurance is paid by me rather than by you. For insured damage without gross negligence your liability is limited to the security deposit of EUR 1,000, written into the charter agreement. You do not need to buy a separate damage waiver.
Yes, as crew. Only one person in the party needs the licence and the experience; everyone else can be new to sailing. Ellinor sleeps 6 comfortably, 8 berths in total.