The whaling adventure in Svalbard is a tale of courageous and adventuresome men and their dreams of wealth. The everyday life was a life in blubber and oil with the hunting of whales, the flaying of whales and the boiling of blubber into oil. In Europe the oil was used in soap and for lighting, but also in the preparation of textiles and leather. The baleen was used in the corsets and sunshades. Whaling in Svalbard up to the middle of the 17th century took place near the coast and inside the fjords during the summer. The hunting was based around whaling stations on land where the whale blubber was boiled into oil in large copper boilers. In the beginning the land stations had a temporary feel with simple makeshift blubber cookers on the beach. The work took place in the open-air and the accommodation was in tents. Gradually several of the stations acquired a more permanent look with solid houses and workshops and brick-built try-works that could be re-used year after year. The ships that sailed north each year had between 4 and 6 small shallops that were used in the hunt actual. Each of these boats were crewed by 6 men. In the front of the boat sat the harpooner. Aft sat the mate and between these two 4 oarsmen operated. When the whale was sighted it was imperative to row up as close as possible. It was important to achieve a direct hit with the harpoon. Long lines were attached to the harpoon. These ran out at great speed as the whale dived under the surface after it was first hit. Martens (1671), describes this as a trip where Â‘the whale swims like a wind with the boat such that it whistles in the earsÂ’. It was vital that the line was able to run free. If the line were to shag the small boat could easily be dragged under. If the boat was not aligned to the direction of the whaleÂ’s flight it could easily be capsize. The chances for surviving in the ice-cold water were slight. Several small boats engaged in the hunt and would harpoon the whale in turn as it surfaced to breathe. In the end the whale would be exhausted from blood-loss and from dragging along all the small boats. The boats could then come in close to the leviathan, which was then finished off with lances. The whale was towed to the shore or to the side of the ship where the blubber-cutters cut off long strips of blubber with their knives. On land the strips of blubber were cut into smaller and smaller pieces on cutting-benches. Finally, it was placed in copper boilers on the try-works and boiled into oil. The boiling whale oil was cooled in large vessels filled with water, which, at the same time, removed the impurities from the oil. Afterwards the oil was to be poured into barrels and ferried out to the ship to be stored in anticipation of the end of the season and the homeward journey.