“We would like to practice a high line rescue onto your vessel”. The words from the helicopter crew would
have been quite exciting if we were in the Solent on the way to Cowes. As it was, we were in Isfjord on
Spitsbergen in the high Arctic, which made the request a little surreal! After giving our consent, we were
instructed to hold our course and speed and the chopper moved into position off our starboard quarter.
The exercise went very smoothly; this clearly wasn’t the first time that these guys had surprised a cruising
yacht with this request. When the winch man was safely on the aft deck, he shook hands all round, said his
thanks and left us. As the sound of the aircraft had receded, we were once again left in the peaceful fjord,
surrounded by snow capped peaks and glaciers. >
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