21 September Thursday

An early wake up allowed me to get some beautiful eerie photos before the fog rolled in.  After breakfast, back to the cabin to suit up for the zodiac.  As we were going to be out longer today, I added thermal pants and thermal vest to yesterday's ensemble.  We set out for Iceberg Cemetery, with Kasper as our guide and driver.  As you would expect, the scenery was surreal and stunning.  After about 10 minutes, fellow passenger Ramsey asked if we could cut the engine for a couple of minutes to soak up the silence and solitude.  Kasper obliged and it really was a magical experience, floating among the huge icebergs, just taking in the beauty.

However, when Kasper tried to start the outboard, it did not cooperate.  I was on the zodiac with Kasper yesterday and he noted then he was always given the manual outboard as he was the only one who could start it.  All other drivers had electric start.  Kasper tried many times for 10-15 minutes before admitting defeat and radioing for assistance.  He was super embarrassed about the whole thing, and of course the other drivers and passengers had a good laugh when they arrived.  At first we had another zodiac start to tow us back to the ship, however the lead guide suggested each of the other zodiacs take on an extra 3 passengers and continue the tour. 

So my friends, I have now completed an at-sea transfer from one zodiac to another, in Arctic waters, during light snow.  I am both impressed and amazed  that I did not end up in the water.  With the two boats side by side, it's just a simple matter of sitting on the side of one boat, lifting your legs and swinging up and over to the next boat, then shuffling your bottom over.  The degree of difficulty in lifting and swinging legs was significantly increased given I was wearing three layers of  pants and huge boots.  Anyhow, I made it! There's something left in the core muscles after all.  I'm not quite certain how Kasper and the zodiac were eventually recovered, but the poor man kept saying This is not dignified :)

We then set off for Red Island with an opportunity to walk up the steep snowy slope for a 360 degree view of the iceberg alley.  At this point I decided not to push my luck any further and chose to return to the Plancius instead of the trek.  I had already taken a squillion photos and was pretty cold, so a return to the lounge for hot chocolate was the perfect choice for me.  I sat in comfort and reviewed today's photos, deleting lots and very happy with the ones I kept.  You will all benefit as I'm sure that by the time I do get to post pictures, I will have reduced the numbers even more.  It's pretty near impossible to stop taking shots though :)

We are currently sailing through Rodefjord and aiming for another outing around 4pm at Rypefjord.  This will be another wet landing, and a couple of hours trek,  Each trek group (fast, medium, slow) has two guides, front and back, armed with rifles in case of polar bear attack.  As you do.  Encounters with the bears are very rare and the guides have a number of other options to scare them off, with rifle as last resort of course and not used to date by this expedition company.  

Each evening we have a Recap of the day's events and an overview of plans for tomorrow.  I suspect Kasper and Ramsey are dreading the recap!