Svalbard Expedition Monday

It is 10°F when we wake in a south fiord of Spitsbergen Island. It has snowed overnight but there is dense fog.

When the fog clears, Resolution is impaled in the ice and we are invited to take a hike on the ice, complete with an alcohol-fueled hot chocolate bar.

We are walking on the sea ice. 300 feet of seawater beneath us. Notice the open ocean water just of the stern of Resolution.

Cruising through our next fiord, we sail past the most majestic scenery of the trip. It is bright sun and there is a continuous chain of mountains that are fully covered in snow. There is a fast ice sheet between us and the mountains while we are cruising through a foreground of open water.

Someone has cancelled their igloo experience and we have the port igloo. If only it were a cozy warm snow igloo rather than a cold glass igloo hanging off the 8^th deck of a ship inducing a ship’s motion wind chill.

The ship's hotel manager, Sebastian, gives us an igloo briefing. It is not heated! There are hot water bottles in the bed.

How good is the service on this ship? On the way to the igloo, we pass by the bar. It is very busy after the crew show is followed by dancing and partying to a live band. Unable to hail a bartender, an officer takes our order with a promise to deliver it to the igloo.

Not too long after CHENG (the ship's Chief Engineer) and the assistant expedition director arrive to deliver the drinks. The high-class bartenders remain about 15 minutes for a chat.

Svalbard Expedition Sunday, Part 1

Awake to -7°C (19°F) and winds greater than 20 knots. We are going ashore in an area with reindeer. The reindeer run to us, take a short sniff, and run quickly away.

We hike to the top of a small hill. Resolution appears to have beached herself but money in on dynamic positioning.

In the afternoon the wind dies and we launch kayaks. Sue partners with CJ. He wears his snowboard helmet with GoPro. Unfortunately, the slippery jacket causes him to constantly slip into a horizontal. It is not a comfortable time.

Our naps, essential after hiking and kayaking are interrupted by a polar bear sighting. For the next few hours, the ship slowly creeps on this bear that they detected from an infrared smear across the bow.

Svalbard Expedition Sunday, Part 2

It is a bear with a recent seal kill. We spend hours creeping up on it through pack ice and shore fast ice. At the start only the IR camera and longest binoculars can see the bear. By the time we back out of the ice, it is visible to the naked eye.

There are people on deck with mega-cameras. CJ gets a decent tiny look with his Nikon. Eventually he takes images off the television screen that is projecting on the large screen in the lounge.

The ship approaches for so long that we can eventually see it with the naked eye and CJ can get great shots with the zoom on his Nikon. Great images are captured from CJ's camera and projections from the bridge screen.

Svalbard Expedition Saturday

We are WAY up there! This is a flat image. The latitude lines are curved on this map. We are well above Greenland, Canada, and those islands to the east.

We wake to -15°C and the sounds and hull shuddering of Resolution pounding through pack ice.

80° 44’ 4.381”N, 16° 30’ 13.359” E. Both have apparently been quite soothing for sleeping since the morning wake up call rousted us from sound sleep in spite of the noise and vibration.

The day is spent unsuccessfully searching for polar bears. We make a long run driving through the ice north before abruptly turning to the west and south. By day’s end, there have been numerous walrus, some have seen seals, but no polar bears.

During the afternoon debrief and captain’s introduction of crew, we are surrounded by sea smoke and sea fog. It must be a unique occurrence. Sven Lindblad is standing next to CJ and races outdoors to get pictures. He returns exclaiming that in all his years travelling to the Arctic, it is the first time he has seen such a phenomenon. It is also a first for our guide, Bud with 30 years travelling to the Arctic. Also standing with CJ is our experienced ice captain who is Norwegian. He is one of the few who have seen sea smoke.

The decision is made to turn south.

Resolution

We are met on the brow by the entire ship’s staff where one member breaks off to escort us to our cabin. Our luggage has been delivered. The room is marvelous and we quickly unpack and stow four suitcases under the bed.

The first order of business is the obligatory abandon ship safety drill.

The second event returns us to the lounge for a briefing by Bud, our expedition director.

Some of Resolution’s personnel were on Orion for our Antarctica cruise. Were CJ’s exploits on Orion really that notorious? Why does the entire bar staff on this ship already know him?