May 1st, 2019.


Eagle-eyed visitors to Newhaven will have spotted and admired the bright yellow lifeboat named Stødig at the mouth of the river Ouse. Owned by two architects, Guylee Simmonds and David Schnabel, both 28, it is now ready to embark on an adventure of a lifetime, up the coast of Norway to the Arctic Circle. Accompanying will be Shackleton, Guylee’s Duck Tolling Retriever.

Previously a 100 person survival lifeboat, bought from CalMac Ferries in Scotland and delivered by low loader, Guylee and David have spent over a year converting it with considerable local support and a range of sponsors. They are also raising funds for the healthcare charity Health Hope Action.

From Newhaven, Stødig will cross the Channel and then skirt the Dutch coast, passing through the Kiel canal into the Baltic. Travelling up the Danish then Swedish coasts past Copenhagen and Göteborg, they will then cross the Skagerrak, south of the lower tip of Norway and on up to Bergen. The lifeboat will then follow the route of the famous Hurtigruten ferry, passing up the fjords for over 1500 kilometres to Tromsø.

Stødig is equipped with solar and wind power, a composting toilet and generous space for equipment and guests. The unsinkable lifeboat has been the architect’s spacious blank canvas for conversion into a utilitarian expedition vessel from which they will explore Norway’s beautiful and remote coast.

For full details visit arctic-lifeboat.com 

A short film introducing their project is available HERE.