While weather-bound for nearly a week in Cape Verde aboard their 43′ jakt, DVINA, author Anne Nygren and her husband, Leif Erik, devised a plan to return to their home in Norway, build a cruising catamaran, and ship it to the South Pacific. Leif Erik modeled an early version of the boat aboard DVINA. The plan came to fruition in 2019 with BAREBARE’s arrival in Tahiti.
In February 2015, my husband, Leif Erik Irgens Ellingsen, and I were weather-bound in Cape Verde in our little ship, DVINA, a traditional gaff-rigged 43' jakt anchored by the barren island Sao Nicolau. It had been blowing a gale for almost a week. One of our three anchors had failed, and we did not dare go ashore. It had, in fact, been almost a week since we had last left DVINA, and life on board was getting dull. We were halfway into a yearlong cruise and having a fantastic time. The trip was fun, hard work, and full of adventures. We had met like-minded people and had fascinating experiences.