the

Logbook
A Sea Story
The Logbook
(Blog)
 SARSEN
The Log Book
The Voyage "Taking her Home"

ETD Phuket Thailand 24th June 2014

ETA Floro Norway 12th August 2014
Distance from Phuket Thailand to
Bergen Norway is approximately 8600
Nautical miles
Start the engineS, and "FirSt SurF” aFter a 4
year period alongside at
Ao Po Grande Marina Phuket, departure
Phuket Thailand on June 24th 2014, Bon
Voyage “” Farewell Phuket””

• We experienced some nice seas across between

Phuket and Colombo, the picture tells the story,
three shades of blue
• The voyage was planned with 3 stops along the
way
• Colombo SriLanka, Cairo Suez Canal, and Malta.
• Phuket to Colombo Sri Lanka, we stopped for
refuelling and to collect the 3 armed guards
• We then proceeded across the Arabian Sea and
in to Gulf of Aden and then up through the Red
Sea to Suez
• SARSEN was under the command of Captain
Augustin Tokic Master Mariner; (pictured) we
also thank him for his great navigational skills
and got us all here safe and sound at journeys
end in Norway.
SARSEN’s Last Day in
Phuket after a 4 Year
stay.
• Aon and the crew ready to heave up and
secure the Stern Door, after receiving the last
Taxi Boat
• Aon having some fun jumping off SARSEN
while in Phuket Bay..
All Ahead Full,, Captain Stig ready to
send us on our way.
We felt SARSEN could feel she was going home, as during the night before we
departed she had swung around on her anchor and in the morning we noticed the
current had turned her and was facing her bow out towards the opening of the
roads towards the open sea, ready to go. I don’t know but sometimes it really did
feel like SARSEN had a personality of her own.
The first night out to sea with SARSEN was the beginning of a great voyage that was
yet to come, the seas were choppy but she had a nice slow roll that was comforting,
laying in the bunk I could hear the faint murmured humming sound of her main
engine pushing us through the sea, I could also hear a faint swishing sound of the
sea being forced away from her hull. My cabin was on the boat deck Port side and I
often used to step outside on deck during the day or night and stare out to sea, The
sea air was wonderful and the sounds of SARSEN pushing through the sea was very
nice too, a “Swishing sound” it made and as well the funnel just behind me . I could
hear the main engine humming away and thumping noise coming up through the
funnel, when these two sounds combine it is a sound that you can only hear on a
ship nowhere else.
Photo, another day over and a new night at sea begins
This vessel seems to have her own character
At sea, sometimes we could feel a sense that she knew she was heading back to her
homeland Norway. Every now and then you could feel her lurching forward
something similar to a race horse ready to jump out of the starting gates.
“In harm’s way" The HRA (High Risk Area) we are here image taking the 3 Armed
Guards on board at Galle Sri Lanka
• For me, this voyage has been a real privilege
and a great experience, when I first went to
sea as a galley boy onboard a Swedish ship
"Migolina" in 1970, it was a feeling of
adventure, surprises, and yearning just
bulging with excitement, and today 44 years
later I am still at sea and still have the very Great Honor
and Privilege
same feeling as I did 44 years ago, I hope I
never lose this feeling. See Migolina here
pictured, she was the same color blue with
white striping same as SARSEN. As well this
was the very first ever, for Sugar to go to sea,
she loved it as well.
Sarsens Early Years
• SARSEN is a 44 year old real classic original ship with teak, brass and
chrome in immaculate pristine condition You can feel SARSEN as soon as
you step aboard, the smell of teak oil, varnish and rope. SARSEN is 70
Meters Long and 14 Meters beam; she was built in Bergen Norway in
1970

• SARSEN has never really worked before in her 44 years of serving, she
started out in 1970 named M/V G O SARS and operated as a seismic
fishing research vessel owned and operated by Institute of Marine
Research a subsidiary of the Norwegian Government, no expense was
ever spared on her upkeep and she was kept in a perfect condition, until
she was sold in 2003. After being replaced with a new vessel M/V GO
SARS-2
• Her new owner Mr. Fred Moir also felt a great passion for this vessel as
well, as soon as her first saw her he felt something was right about her
and decided to buy her, he renamed her SARSEN and thus began a 10
year love affair where Fred also pampered her and kept her in great
condition, SARSEN spent her time with Fred going on worldwide
voyages which included 3 trips to Antarctica, this was made possible
because SARSEN is an Ice Class vessel and capable to sustain the
environment that is Antarctic and Arctic.

• Here is SARSEN seen pictured in Norway when she was a Research

Vessel for Norwegian Government, and another Photo of her down in
Antarctica when Fred Moir owned her and went with her to Antarctica on
three different occasions.
Reaching Suez
Canal
• The Guards getting ready to have a practice firing their
weapons prior to reaching the Red Sea, in case we
experienced any unwanted victors, (Somali Pirates )
• After transiting through the Red Sea and meeting with
the Floating Armory Avant Guard, the guards passed over
all their Weapons and stayed onboard with us for the
next few days until we reached Suez Canal, We all felt a
sigh of relief after we knew we were now out of Harms
way. Pictured Oleg The Guards Mission Team Leader and
myself sitting relaxing at Stern, Oleg and I still stay in
touch to this day, he's now an Advisor to Afghanistan Air
Force.
• We spent my Birthday there on arrival in Valetta Malta
and Captain Stig came out to visit us and kindly bought
me a beautiful bottle of wine to celebrate my Birthday
with. (Many Thanks)
• Captain Augustin let us have a Steer on Sarsen when we
were going though Mediterranean Sea. Sarsen used
“Hand Steering” for most of the Voyage.
"Riders on the Storm", big Monsoon
seas in Arabian Sea, 6 to 8 meters
• Here image, Aon, Somchart and Bao removing the razor
wire, you can see the happiness in their faces, a relief to be
out of the HRA and free from harm.
• We stopped at Longitude 19 Degrees in Red Sea to make
rendezvous with the floating Armory vessel “Avant-garde”
so the armed guards could hand over their weapons, this
was for us a great feeling because this gave us the sense
that we were in fact now out of the HRA and thus we could
now relax a little with a lot less tension.
• After transiting through the Suez Canal we headed to
Malta where we took on fresh provisions and refuelled
again
• From Malta we headed West across the Mediterranean
Sea and went through the passage at Gibraltar and
entered in to the open seas of the Atlantic Ocean, from
here we steamed up to Norway, passing through the Bay of
Biscay which was surprisingly calm seas when we passed
through, as normally the Biscay is notoriously famous as a
“rough time” with very unfriendly seas, I myself have
passed through Biscay about 10 times and always
experienced rough seas here, but this time on SARSEN was
the first time for me to experience Biscay having calm seas.
We then proceeded up through the English Channel; saw
the beautiful White Cliffs of Dover as we passed through.
Last Leg of the Voyage
• From Malta we headed West across the Mediterranean
Sea and went through the passage at Gibraltar and
entered in to the open seas of the Atlantic Ocean, from
here we steamed North up to Norway, passing through
the Bay of Biscay which was surprisingly calm seas when
we passed through, as normally the Biscay is notoriously
famous as a “rough time” with very unfriendly seas, I
myself have passed through Biscay about 10 times and
always experienced rough seas here, but this time on
SARSEN was the first time for me to experience Biscay
having calm seas. We then proceeded up through the
English Channel; saw the beautiful White Cliffs of Dover
as we passed through. Here pictured White Cliffs of
Dover and the Beautiful Blue Sky in Floro Norway
welcomed us for Sarsen’s “arrival home” We used to site
in these Recaro Viewing seats on the Bridge “Watching
the World Go By” Here pictured is Sugar enjoying he
experience.
• We Arrived in Floro Norway on 12th
August 2014, a beautiful Summer Day
and Norway is a beautiful land. I was
last in Norway in 1973 so it was really
great for me to revisit this beautiful

Floro Norway.
country.
• Standing out there on SARSEN’s
beautiful back deck while we were
steaming through the crystal clear
Norwegian Fjords was a wonderful
experience.
Buddhist Flag on
Forward Bow Flag Pole
• As it was Monsoon Season when we were crossing Arabian
Sea we spent ten days of just heavy seas and SARSEN was
being battered the whole time, She's is very solid and the
huge seas which were between 5-7 meters were not
bothering her at all, every now and then, we would get a
huge pounding and the sea would crash against her, an
almighty very loud “thump” and she would shudder, but
she's so strong and just really “shook it off”
• If you zoom in on the photo you can see some of the
wooden trim around Forecastle have been torn off during
the heavy seas we experienced, but yet the Thai Buddhist
flag which was only thin silk, was never damaged or torn
off, it remained fully intact. ?? You can see in the photo
the Buddhist flag tied there on the Flag Pole, as the seas
became rougher and rougher. The Thai crew said that
Buddha was with us. Maybe he was.
Georg Ossian Sars
•
Georg Ossian Sars (April 20, 1837 – April 9, 1927) was a Norwegian marine and
freshwater biologist.
Georg Ossian Sars was born on April 20, 1837, in Kinn, Norway (now part of Flora),
the son of Michael Sars and Maren Sars; the historian Ernst Sars was his elder
brother, and the singer Eva Nansen was his younger sister. He grew up in Manger,
Hordaland, where his father was the local priest. He studied from 1852 to 1854 at
Bergen Cathedral School, from 1854 at Christiania Cathedral School, and joined the
university at Christiana (now the University of Oslo) in 1857. He indulged his interest
in natural history while studying medicine; having collected water fleas in local lakes
with Wilhelm Lilljeborg's works, he discovered new species, and this resulted in his
first scientific publication Georg Ossian Sars had a good memory and excellent
drawing skills, and illustrated some of his father's zoological works.
Sars was a founding investigator of ichthyoplankton. In 1864, he was commissioned
by the Norwegian government to investigate fisheries around the Norwegian coast.
One of his first discoveries was that the eggs of cod are pelagic, that is, they inhabit
the open water column He continued to receive the patronage of the government
throughout his career. Sars' primary research focus was on crustaceans and their
systematics. He described many new species in his career, including in his magnum
opus, An Account of the Crustacea of Norway He was awarded the Linnean Medal in
1910 Georg Ossian Sars never married, and died on April 9, 1927 in Oslo He is
remembered in the scientific names of a number of marine invertebrates, as well as
the journal Sarsia, and the flagship of the Norwegian research fleet, the RV G.O. Sars.
It is a strange and ironic coincidence that we have come to the very birthplace of Mr.
Georg Ossian Sars here at Floro Norway; I have seen the statue of G O Sars up in park
here in the township at Floro. It would seem as if SARSEN has really come home
Below image Mr. Georg Ossian Sars
Shipyard STX
Westcon Floro
Norway
Our Crew remained onboard SARSEN in the Shipyard for
3 Months, it was a great place and great experience
During this period Captain Stig kindly sent me to
Helsingborg Sweden so I could visit the Triton Head
Office and I stayed there at Captain Stig’s home in
Morup, with his lovely family for 7 days.
During this time I travelled with Captain Stig to
Stockholm where we visited the beautiful Pocket
Passenger Ship MV Birger Jahl. She was in the Drydock
and Captain Stig’s Company Triton Shipping hold
Technical Management from Stockholm I travelled
directly back to Norway and back to SARSEN.
After being onboard nearly 6 Months its
time for us to go home.
We All leave SARSEN knowing full well we
had experienced a once in a lifetime Farewell SARSEN We Wish her
chance to sail in such a beautiful ship and New Owners a very wonderful
do this wonderful voyage. Opportune years ahead with the beautiful
windows like his are not always open, and
we for sure were very privileged. Now 3 Ship Safe Seas and Following
Years later I still wonder how SARSEN is Winds.
doing. She is still to this day at he Shipyard
in Floro Norway.
SARSEN New
Career.
• Sarsen has had a really great career, she started out as a
Government Fishing Research Vessel. She had been pampered
and Drydocked every year, she was always well maintained
and kept in great condition.
• Then after she was purchased by Mr. Fred Moir from
Australia, as Fred also loved SARSEN, he kept her ell
maintained and converted her to a Super Luxury Expedition
Yacht, as SARSENs Ice Class Vessel, and Fred wanting to take
her to Antarctica, which he did so three occasions. Now Fred
had decided to part with SARSEN.
• New Owners from Russia are planning to convert SARSEN back
to a Research Vessel, she will be State of the Art Equipped.
DP-2 (Dynamic Positioning ) SARSEN now just entering her 3rd
Year at the Shipyard in Norway, Please see her photos here.
The End of this voyage BUT The beginning of another. The
Journey just starting. AS Sugar and I ride off in to The
Jungle.