Skipper, S/V Sørvær
MajaNilsen
“There is always a harbour. You just have to want it enough.”
- Based in
- Reine, Lofoten
- Guiding since
- 2012
- Languages
- Norwegian, English, German
- Leads
- Lofoten Under Sail
About Maja
Maja’s father fished out of Reine, and her grandfather before him. She had her skipper’s licence at 24 and has taken the Sørvær, a 1936 gaff ketch, through every fjord of Lofoten in 20 summers.
She buys the cod herself from the quay at Å, insists on a hot supper every night regardless of wind, and runs a five-minute safety briefing that has never been interrupted by a guest. In winter, she works on the Hurtigruten coastal ferry as a pilot.
The Sørvær carries eight guests and three crew. The boat has twelve sails, and Maja knows each by name.
Slack water at Moskstraumen
“Everybody wants the whirlpool,” says Maja. “There is no whirlpool, or not today. There is a very strong tide, and if you time it wrong the boat sits still while the engine screams.”
She has timed it right 61 times. The sixty-second, in August 2025, came three minutes early, and the guests watched the sea slow down and go flat like a sheet pulled tight.
Leads
Lofoten Under Sail
8 days, Jun to Sep, from €3,980
