When the Sea Whispers

An interview with Thorgerdur “Bettina” Fridriksdottir – the guide from Iceland

– You’re from Iceland and now work as a guide on the BRIM boat here in Bodø. How is it to meet tourists from all over the world, seeing this nature for the very first time?

– It’s like opening the same book on a new page every day. The questions are always fresh, and curiosity shines in people. Some want to talk; others just want to listen to the sea and the landscape. Every group has its own pace, its own rhythm, like shifting winds.

– What do guests onboard wonder about the most?

– Life between mountains and fjord. “Who can live here?” they ask, pointing toward Landegode or Mjelle, toward the small houses coloring the landscape. “Does anyone live there now, or is it all abandoned?” They fall silent when they hear that people do live out on the islands around Bodø, that everyday life can mean blue seas, white foam-crests, and a long narrow road to the store. They want to understand how people can live so far from town, what workdays look like, what holds a place together when distances are long.

– And the nature?

– It always takes them. Mountains rising like stories. Birds writing quick sentences across the sky. When an eagle appears, the whole boat becomes an exclamation mark. If we see whales, every gaze turns childlike, full of wonder, with wide smiles and pointing hands. But even without the spectacular, nature is enough. A gray day has its own shine.

– You say, “gray day.” Many of us who live here dream of bright sun. What do you think?

– I love days that are gray and mysterious. A bit of rain, a bit of wind, a restless sea. Then everything feels closer. Fairytales settle in the fog, and trolls are easier to believe in when mountains appear and disappear again. Sunshine is lovely, but it’s often the shifting weather that gives the landscape its voice.

– Do people you meet see the potential you see?

– Maybe not always. When I first came to Bodø, I didn’t fully see it either. But then I went out to sea, and the tours here are just incredible. The first guests I ever had onboard were blown away by the landscape. When we dock at Kjerringøy and they approach the old houses, they see more than timber and boathouses; they see traces of hands, lives, choices. They feel “back in the day” in their bodies.

– You say you love this job?

– Because I learn something every day. About Northern Norway, about human lives and animal lives, about plants leaning the right way in the wind. I know a fair bit, but the sea has more chapters than I can ever read. Sharing the learning along the way is a gift.

– What are the similarities between Northern Norway and Iceland?

– Many. I have family near Oslo, but I grew up in Iceland, and I feel more at home in the north than in the south. The language, the words – there are expressions here that live in Iceland too. The culture, the fishing, the way people relate to weather and distance. And dried fish, of course! That was my favorite snack as a child. When I smell it, the sea feels even closer.

– And Bodø as a city?

– Nature is the great stage, but the city is becoming more and more exciting. Down in the center there are so many new places opening up. I often talk about Svenskebyen, where history lingers in the walls. Just yesterday, some guests wanted to walk there after the tour, simply because the story pointed them that way in our conversation. That’s how it works. You must show what you have, point a little, and dare to be visible. Then people find their way.

– If you had to give one sentence to someone arriving in Bodø for the first time?

– Come as you are, and let the weather set the pace. Ask about the people, listen to the birds, look for the houses clinging to the ground. You don’t need blazing sun to understand this place – you need movement. When the waves lift us up and take us down again, they write a greeting into the fjord, and you get to read it out loud.

The boat drifts away from the Kjerringøy pier like a thought finally spoken. The rain sharpens the contours, and the mountains step forward again as old storytellers. Bettina sets the course. Further into a gray day lit from within, back toward a city becoming clearer with each tale told. And somewhere in between, where tourist and landscape meet – begins the journey everyone came here to take.

FACT BOX – The BRIM Boat (Bodø)

Home port: Ramsalt Quay, Bodø city centre.

The experience: Quiet, nature-based boat trip with a guide, mountains, birdlife, and coastal culture up close.

Area: Along the coastline outside Bodø, including cruises to destinations such as Kjerringøy and Nordfjorden. The trip also takes you along the beautiful shoreline with landmarks like Landegode and the beaches at Hovdsundet and Mjelle.

Departure & duration: Varies by tour and season – see website for updated times.

Website for booking and information – click here