SEADREAM'S BLOG

Captain Dyrnes

Captain Johan Dyrnes
A Man with a Dream

How many of us ever fulfill our youthful dreams? It is estimated—on Google of course— that less than ten percent of us ever do. But the new Master of SeaDream II, Captain Johan Dyrnes, did just that.

Johan Andrew Dyrnes was born fittingly in a small fishing village known as Dyrnes (named after his family) located on the island of Smøla, just off the west coast of Norway. There was never any doubt that the boy’s future would be at sea. His grandparents were fishermen, his father a ship’s electrician and several of his uncles were sea captains.

“When I was only six years of age my grandfather gave me my first boat,” he recalls today. “It was a 13 foot, wooden rowing boat. My father and my grandfather built it for me. In that small boat I learned to respect the seas that are so much a part of the lives of Norwegian children”.

“A few years later my father built my second boat. It was a slightly large rowing boat with a mast and a sail. It was one of many that I sailed in my youth. This one my father built in the basement of our house. When he completed it he had to knock out a concrete wall to get it out of the basement. Our house still has those scars today”.

“Sometimes in the early spring when it was not possible to sail my boat, my friends and I would try to sail small ice floes that broke loose from the mass. We mounted sails on them and that was great fun”.

Johan went to primary school on Smøla Island and then went to Maritime College in Kirstiansund, Norway, to train for his career at sea. Today, to his amusement, he recalls his first seagoing adventure which took place on a Norwegian coastal steamer carrying salted fish from the Lofoten Islands near the Arctic Circle in Northern Norway. “I was assigned to the galley and it was my job to cook for the crew. I had no previous experience and radioed my mother from the ship each day for recipes and cooking instructions”.

It was in 1986 that young Johan Dyrnes began his career aboard cruise ships and began the exacting work necessary to become a Captain. He joined the Kloster Cruises (Now NCL). Later he served as an officer with Radisson Seven Seas Cruises, Seabourn Cruise Line and most recently with Fred Olsen Cruise Line. Meanwhile, he gained the rank of Captain and when the chance arose to join SeaDream yacht club he jumped at it.

We asked Captain Dyrnes to comment how he feels about his new position as Master of SeaDream II:

“I love smaller vessels. It appears to be imprinted in my psyche. On a small ship there is the opportunity to engage with guests and crew on a close, personal level. The atmosphere is intimate and relaxed. The service is highly personalized”.

“A small ship can go in to bays, harbors and docks that are inaccessible to medium or large ships. It is simply wonderful to sail in to small, less-visited ports”.

“I am not saying a small ship is better than a bigger one. Small ships simply provide a different experience. I have truly enjoyed my time on all of my previous ships and am grateful for all the wonderful memories. But at this point I welcome a different pace and perspective and a new chapter in my life,” he concludes.