Dear Coast, from Isak Hals

Isak Hals is on shore leave between sailings when we meet him in Stokmarknes, his hometown and the birthplace of Hurtigruten.

Built across the Arctic islands of Hadseløya and Børøya in the Vesterålen archipelago, Stokmarknes lies at the edge of the blue-green sea, with cloud-topped mountains lining the horizon in every direction. On the waterfront, the modern Hurtigruten Museum has been built around our ship DS Finnmarken from 1956, preserved like a ship in a bottle.

Stokmarknes is forever connected to the history of Hurtigruten. It was from this small town that our founder, the shipping pioneer Richard With, changed the future of the Norwegian coast, establishing a quick and reliable voyage linking northern and southern Norway.

That route, which continues today, was Hurtigruten.

But, as much as Richard With was a visionary, he couldn’t have created Hurtigruten without the support of the people of Stokmarknes and the people of the coast as a whole – people like Isak Hals and his family.

Since Hurtigruten began, every generation of Isak’s family has worked on a Hurtigruten ship, down to Isak today.

In fact, it was Isak’s great-great-great-grandfather, William Dahl Hals of Stokmarknes, who Richard With asked for financial support to start the ‘fast route’ in 1893.

Paul Emil Hals, one of the sons of Isak’s great-great-grandfather, even sailed on Hurtigruten’s maiden voyage on DS Vesterålen with Captain Richard With. Paul would later become a captain himself.

Isak’s grandfather would also become a much-loved Hurtigruten Captain. Isak’s father, Eivind Eliassen, would go on to work on MS Lofoten in the 1970s, and Isak’s older brother Daniel works on MS Trollfjord.

When we’re in Isak’s home going through the family tree of all the members who have worked on Hurtigruten, Isak’s mother, Ellen Hals, smiles as she tells us she suspects that there’s saltwater running through the veins of this sea-faring family. We think she might be right!

After spending time with Isak and his family, we walk back with him between his home and Stokmarknes port. It’s easy to imagine Isak’s father, grandfather, and the generations that came before walking these same streets season after season, year after year, generation after generation, passing Stokmarknes’ painted wooden buildings on their way to ‘the office’.

From photographs shown to us, we imagine Paul Emil Hals in 1893, perhaps moving through the winter snow towards the port, wearing a smart bow-tie, a heavy overcoat, and a Captain’s hat decorated with three stars above his carefully combed moustache.

We see, too, Isak’s grandfather, Fredrik Sandborg Hals, proudly dressed in a navy double-breasted jacket with eight shiny brass buttons and gold Captain’s stripes, greeting locals as he makes his way to the waiting ship.

We also picture Isak’s grandmother, Haldis Hals, taking this same path to the port, to meet Fredrik as he sailed through Stokmarknes. Back then, he would be away at sea for several months at a time, so the few hours he was in Stokmarknes each week were bittersweet for both of them.

After a long and happy career with Hurtigruten, Fredrik would later retire, passing the torch to young Isak.

Of all the generations that worked for Hurtigruten before him, Isak states it’s his grandfather, Fredrik, who inspired him the most. In the 40 years Captain Fredrik Hals spent at sea, 34 of them were with Hurtigruten, starting on MS Vesterålen in the 1960s and finishing on MS Richard With in the 1990s.

Fredrik retired the year before Isak was born but Isak fondly remembers walking that familiar route with him into town to watch our ships sail into Stokmarknes.

Sometimes, if it was a ship that Fredrik used to work on, or where he knew some of the crew, Captain Hals used to take the young Isak on board to drink coffee and catch up with old friends. These were very important moments for Isak.

“I listened a lot to the stories that my grandfather told me,” Isak says. “He influenced me quite a bit. He and also my brother, and my uncle who works at sea. They have all made an impression on me, and of course the crew I work with.”

“Working on some of the same ships as my grandfather worked on and seeing why he enjoyed the job so much is fun. I still meet people that worked together with my grandfather and uncle, even though it's been many years since they worked here.”

When he was in primary school, Isak would run down to the harbour with his friends to catch a glimpse of the Hurtigruten ships as they sailed into Stokmarknes. “I’ve talked about working on board Hurtigruten since I was a little kid drawing ships, so it's fun to have accomplished the dream I had,” he says.

Now, Isak’s nephew is the latest member of the Hals family to fall under the spell of our ships. He visits the Hurtigruten Museum in Stokmarknes with his uncle whenever he can.

Maybe one day, when Isak’s nephew is older, he’ll continue the family tradition and join as a crew member on board one of our ships. Then, he will wear a modern Hurtigruten uniform and walk the same path to Stokmarknes port that so many of his family have taken.

When that time comes, we will happily welcome another member of the Hals family into our large Hurtigruten family, with all the joy and beauty that comes with sailing the Norwegian coast year-round.

We truly thank Isak and all members of his family who have served the Norwegian coast side by side with us all these years. Here’s to you and all those like you – the ones with ‘saltwater in your blood’.