Jens Erik and Dorthe Kjeldsen : Nordic Couple in the Midst of Seafaring Adventures

Jens Erik Kjeldsen, 63-years-old and Dorthe Hegelund Kieldsen, 66, are a native couple of Groenland who have set out on a long adventure at sea in their boat Kigdlua, meaning the burning fire. They have sailed to around forty countries, including a long stop-over in Mauritius since four months now. 

Jens Erik Kjeldsen is a judge in the Criminal Civilian Court. He has taken a long vacation leave to embark on an extended sailing journey around the globe. He is accompanied by his wife Dorthe Kjeldsen, who is a retired psychiatrist nurse in Groenland. As a young man, Jens had worked both as a sailor and a carpenter. He had a job on a trip boat and got the opportunity to travel to and visit many countries. For four months now, they have anchored at Caudan Waterfront and are exploring our paradise island Mauritius. In one week, they are all set to return to Groenland by navigating close to South Africa.

Jens Erik likes all the countries he has visited but Dorthe’s personal favourite is  Rodrigues Island. “The peacefulness that we experienced in Rodrigues is out of this world. There is very little noise and pollution in that small island. The people are extremely generous and friendly,” she says. What has fascinated her more in Rodrigues is the Sega dance. She even danced for hours with the Rodriguans and enjoyed it, too. 

A film company called Deluca Film is producing a documentary based on the Kjeldsen couple. The company follows the couple during their voyage and stays along with them in any country that they desire to visit. One documentary called “Peitersen Og Nordvespassenger” was released in January this year and was the most viewed. In Mauritius, Erik had stayed at the A. G. Jeetoo Hospital for 22 days and the company had come to do an interview with the Dr. Nawoor, director of the hospital, about Eric’s sojourn at the hospital.

People are really nice. The world is far from what you witness in the media. Till now, whichever country we have visited, everyone has treated us with outmost respect."

They have not seen their own home since 15 months now. It’s been a long journey, but for the sailor, if they have each other’s company, they can take any risk in the world. “Some relatives occasionally come to visit us in a country, if we get the permission for a stop-over. Actually, my sister and brother-in-law, my cousin and a friend have come to Mauritius to visit us and they are currently staying at Flic en Flac,” declares Dorthe. Her children had met them when they were in the Philippines. Moreover, their main interests lie in meeting new people and befriending them. “People are really nice. The world is far from what you witness in the media. Till now, whichever country we have visited, everyone has treated us with outmost respect,” she continues. 

Two striking adventures

Last September, in the middle of the ocean between Alaska and Hawaii, far from the world, Erik and Dorthe came across a storm at sea. “We were both on our own. It looks like that we were living in a Hollywood movie.  The storm hit us, and we were hurrying out of the storm zone. Water has overflowed into our boat and the ship was full of sea water,” remembers Erik. In the morning when his wife woke up, she was literally in water which had overflown in Kigdlua. But despite the odds, fear did not grip her; instead she helped her husband to suction the water out of the boat. Huge waves had shattered the glass. “We thought it would be our last day, but fortunately, we came out of it alive,” narrates Eric.  Eighteen days later, they landed in Hawaii, which was yet another episode for the couple. They had intruded in the port of Hawaii at night and in the morning when they woke up, they were surrounded by coastguards and police officers. After investigating their boat with sniffer dogs, they were escorted out of the island.

Another adventure they lived through was when they were sailing in the middle of icebergs in Groenland with the cameraman for their documentary. All of a sudden, the man heard a scream in the middle of the sea. He inquired with the couple if it was the cries of a seal. They headed immediately in the direction from where the cries for help were coming.

What they saw was a young girl floating in the ocean with a gasoline pail. “We immediately pulled her aboard and my wife gave her fresh clothes. It was like a miracle. She had stayed three hours at sea in a climate of 17 degree Celsius but was still alive.” Johna, the young girl, was feeling much better after around four hours. She then told her story about how she had witnessed four persons dying including her boyfriend. She was the sole survivor. “A helicopter came to recover the corpses and we left her at Ilussat with her family and she was taken to hospital. Some months later, she called to thank us and informed us that her story was part of our documentary. She was happy that now, the world will believe her story,” recounts Dorthe.

Life on the boat 

During an emergency, they have three types of equipment to signal distress at sea. One is the EPIRB, an emergency transmitter, the second is a satellite phone and the third is In-reach, a SOS phone. “However, as far as we can, we rely on our own. These emergencies are the last resorts.

For every petty thing, you can’t send emergency signals, then what is the need of adventuring alone in the ocean if we can’t withstand obstacles and surmount them with tact,” explains Erik. Concerning their nutrition, they carry mostly canned food, rice, flour and the bare minimum to survive. Also, they have 500 litres of water reserve to drink and bath in the morning.

Their main source of fresh food is fishing. They live in three small rooms: A bedroom, a kitchen and a small library. There are no forms of entertainment like television or watching movies on YouTube, nothing at all. They use a solar panel and a wind generator to produce electricity in the boat for their daily use. “All that we have are the sun and the ocean. If you ponder enough about what you can find in the ocean under the sky, there is a whole world to explore out there,” they conclude.