The Moskstraumen Crossing 2016

The second and final swim of the ‘Into The Maelstrom’ expedition took the brothers across the mighty Moskstraumen…

This was an 8km point-to-point crossing between the islands of Vaeroy and Mosken. On a bad day, the central whorl of this whirlpool can span a diameter of around 40–50 meters (130–160 ft) and fierce tides bring the northerly Norwegian Sea currents into a storm-induced flow to create currents of up to 12 mph.

The brothers crossed the Moskstraumen in 2.31 hours. They became the first people to make that 8km crossing and landed safely in the dry fingers of the Lofoten Islands. Granted the Norse weather gods had been kind to them and despite the odd strong current they were blessed with Arctic waters that were glassy smooth. And yet the chance of an orca sighting was a constant concern - several had been seen in the maelstrom six days earlier. The brothers also had to dodge warbling blooms of lion’s mane jellyfish and survive the numbing 9°C water. 

The awe-inspiring beauty of the Lofoten Islands made it all bearable, as well as the usual encouragement of their motley support team: Luke, Dave, Sils and Beth, as well as Knut Westvig of Stella Polaris and Therese and Lars of Aqua Lofoten Coast Adventure AS. 

The brothers would also like to thank: WWF-Norge, Visit Norway, Visit Bodø, Visit Lofoten, Visit Northern Norway, Bodø Nu, Torghatten Nord, Thon Hotel Nordlys, Alpkit, Chillswim, H2Open Magazine - Open Water Swimming, Dagsavisen, Dagbladet