Waterwoman of the week - meet Veronica Skotnes
Community
Apr 17, 2025
Knife threats, slashed mooring lines, and she still sailed on
Over the next few weeks we're going to be highlighting incredible women around the world from our community. Mariners who are blowing the doors off the accepted 'norms' in boating culture, who are pushing the limits and not asking permission from anyone. Here's Veronia. An Arctic solo sailor.
Meet Veronica
She fell in love with sailing at just seventeen, crewing on a schooner from Northern Ireland to Norway—a voyage that sparked years of adventure across Europe, the Atlantic, and eventually led her to Svalbard. There, she took deck officer classes to deepen her navigational skills and push further into the world she’d come to love.
Among her proudest achievements: publishing her first book about sailing in the Arctic, and completing a transformative journey along the full length of the Norwegian coast with friends—a voyage that would shape everything she does today.
As a solo female sailor, she’s encountered both powerful support and unsettling resistance—including one man who, believing women didn’t belong at sea, threatened her with a knife and slashed her mooring lines. But through it all, she’s only grown more determined.
Today, she continues to share her story through writing, art, and now—an upcoming film project that promises to bring her unique perspective to a wider audience.
Get caught up on Veronica's adventures; in a way never possible before SeaPeople: Interactive logbbooks.
Some of our favorite pictures from Veronica's travels documented in SeaPeople:
