Ove Joensen

Ove Joensen's boat Diana Victoria in its boathouse in Nólsoy (May 2008). Ove Joensen (3 December 1948 – 24 November 1987 ) was a Faroese seaman and adventurer, the first to row from the Faroe Islands to Denmark.

Early life Ove Joensen, born in 1948 in Tórshavn, Faroe Islands, was the son of a fisherman and after moving to the Island of Nólsoy had a seafaring career.

Ocean crossing In 1984, inspired by Colin Quincey, the first man to row across the Tasman Sea between New Zealand and Australia, he built his 30-foot boat Diana Victoria at Nólsoy, to row the from the Faroes to Copenhagen in Denmark. On his first attempt later that year the boat was damaged when visiting a ship. Diverting to the Shetland Islands, he was towed in from Eshaness by the Aith lifeboat. The following year Joensen's attempt was defeated by adverse winds after he had again reached Aith.

Joensen finally succeeded in 1986, when he arrived in Copenhagen on 11 August 1986 after 41 days rowing alone. Thousands of people greeted him, both in the Danish capital and on his return to Nólsoy. There is also a monument to him next to the whale bones that form an ornamental entrance to the village, and another in the village of Aith, Shetland Isles. Joensen is buried in the cemetery of Nólsoy, overlooking the sea.

Personal life Joenson had 3 children, Christina, Sharlotte Rose, and Bo.

Literature Kirstin Didriksen, Ragnhild Joensen: Ove, Egið forlag, 1989