Hi, this is Captain Syvertsen. I would like to tell you a little about my life and work, and a little about how and why I became who I am.
My family has always lived near the sea, and most of us, both women and men, still have strong ties to the sea. For generations, the men were fishermen and sailors. Both my father and grandfather told many stories from the sea. The stories my grandfather told about his father and his father made a particularly strong impression on me.
My great-great-grandfather, my grandfather’s father, was forced to go to sea at the age of 10 due to poverty at home. After four years, he came home after spending two years aboard a brig and then two years aboard a barque. “So he had four years of sea experience at the age of 14,” my grandfather said.
After many years as a sailing ship captain, my great-grandfather Edvard Syvertsen decided to go ashore and establish the company A/S Syvertsen & Co. Among other things, the company was involved in importing on its own ships and had several vessels. A large old boathouse was also part of this, and the top floor of the boathouse became my “fantasy world” during my childhood and youth. There were lots of strange things there, and I could just dream away
At that time, we experienced the world as being much bigger than it is today. That’s why the harbor was an area with an almost magnetic attraction for me. I have fond memories of trips to the harbor with my grandfather. He knew most people and could name the quays and ships, and not least where the ships were going.
When I was seven or eight, I was determined to go to sea as soon as possible.
The boys in the family were expected to go to sea for a trip or two. According to the older generation, this was to learn good manners and a strong work ethic…
I had a good childhood in the fifties and sixties.
