The vessel was a Hardangerjakt built on a farm in Stangvik, Norway, during 1889, based on a Det Norske Veritas plan.[1] The hull was long, with a beam of and a draught of .[2] She was sloop-rigged, with a square topsail.[1]
The vessel was originally named Dyrafjeld.[1] Most of her early operations were cargo runs: dried cod from the Hardanger region to Bergen, then returning with general cargo.[1] On occasion, the vessel would haul timber from Riga, Russia.[1] Dyrafjeld was sail powered until 1900, when a 12-horsepower engine was installed.[1] In the late 1920s, Dyrafjeld was sold to new owners, who rerigged the vessel as a galeas.[1] At the start of World War II, the vessel's rigging was removed, and her engine upgraded.[1] The ship continued in the cargo trade, but capsized in 1975 when a cargo of timber shifted.[1] She was recovered, but damaged again in 1986 in a collision.[1] The vessel was laid up until 1977, when she was sold to new owners, who restored her as a galeas-rigged Hardangerjakt.[1] In this configuration, she had a mast height of, and a total sail area of .[2]
The restoration work was completed in 1981, with the vessel renamed Anna Kristina.[1] The vessel sailed on numerous charters, including film work and a two-year deployment to Spitzbergen.[1] In 1987, Anna Kristina joined the First Fleet Re-enactment Voyage: a historical re-enactment for the Australian Bicentenary.[1] Prior to the voyage, she was refurbished with a Volvo engine capable of reaching, along with increased crew capacity.[3] She left England for Australia in May 1987, and sailed with the fleet to Tenerife and Rio de Janeiro. While crossing the Atlantic, at 01:20 on 22 August, First Mate Henrik Nielsen fell overboard while trying to adjust a sail.[4] Tradewind, R. Tucker Thompson, and Søren Larsen converged on Anna Kristina and began searching: first in the immediate area by searchlight, then commencing a grid pattern at dawn.[4] The search was called off at 18:35 with no success.[4] The fleet continued on to Cape Town, Mauritius, and Fremantle before arriving in Sydney on Australia Day (26 January) 1988.[5]