Farmhamna sits on a peninsula in Forlandssundet, with a hunting territory stretching from Trygghamna and Alkhornet in the south to St. Jonsfjorden in the north.

The Brunner family — a Ida, Jan and their young daughter — have lived here since 2024. Reindeer hunting is the backbone of the operation: thirty animals must be hunted, butchered, hung to ripen, and transported to Longyearbyen in the two busy months of autumn. In summer they protect eider duck nesting colonies on nearby islets and collect down by hand.

Everything here is done the old way. There is no running water, no road, no neighbours. What there is, is a wood-fired sauna, a family who knows this place deeply, and an invitation to spend a day seeing it for yourself.

We arrive at Farmhamna in the early evening of day one. Dinner is waiting at the station — a meal made from what the land and sea around Farmhamna provide. After dinner, the evening is yours on board Ylva: the hot tub gets fired up, and you fall asleep to the sound of water against the hull.

Day two belongs entirely to Farmhamna. After breakfast on board, we go ashore to spend the morning at the station. What happens during that time depends on the season and the day's work: there may be down to clean, fish to prepare, or equipment to tend to. The family shows you around, answers questions, and lets you take part in whatever is happening. At midday, lunch is served at the station using the same local ingredients as the night before.

In the afternoon, the family guides us on foot from Farmhamna south toward Steinpynten — ten kilometres of reindeer country, clifftop views, and a coastline that sees very few footprints. Ylva sails ahead to meet us at the end of the hike. We spend the second night anchored at Trygghamna, and sail back to Longyearbyen on the morning of day three.