Arista Holden, captain and longtime seamanship instructor for programs such as Outward Bound, the National Outdoor Leadership School, Atlantic Challenge, and the Wooden Boat School, will present on her recent 800-mile round trip voyage to the Norwegian Arctic in an open boat. She will also talk about her work as Head Trainer for the team representing the USA in the Atlantic Challenge International. Arista is a Lincolnville native and got her start in sailing Penobscot Bay out of the Rockport Boat Club.  

“Starting from Rissa, Norway, in the Trondheim Fjord, a crew from the Fosen Folkehøgskole (folk school) and myself made our way up the west coast of Norway to 100 miles past the Arctic Circle in a 42-foot fembøring, a type that represents the last evolution of a thousand-year Viking boat lineage. In the mid-1800s, thousands of these boats were used to fish cod in the Lofotens during the winter months before returning, their crews perhaps richer, to the Trondheim region in the spring.” 

The Atlantic Challenge International Contest of Seamanship will take place on Loch Neigh in Ireland, where 14 teams from around the world will convene to showcase their maritime skills and create an international community in the spirit of friendly competition.

The USA team is training on Greens Island in Penobscot Bay where team members camp in tents and live in the absence of electricity. For two and a half weeks, twenty individuals become a tight-knit team with event-specific training on the water in Bantry Bay gigs.

 This presentation is the sixth in a series of eight hosted by the Camden Yacht Club and is free of charge and open to the public. Donations at the door will be gratefully accepted, to benefit the non-profit Camden Area Youth Seamanship Program (CAYSP). For more information, please contact the CYC office at 207-236-7033 or visit our web site: camdenyachtclub.org.