Polar Expedition Day 3

Our position at 5:15 this morning

I wake at about 5am, the boat is moving quite a bit and it sounds like we might be hitting ice.  During the night we would sail north, towards the pack ice in search of polar bears.

I got dressed and sneaked up to the deck for a look-see, my roomie is still asleep.  We are in thick fog, the sea is quite rough, but there is no ice yet.  The fog clears as we head north, and I stayed up watching the birds, the light, and getting the jump on everyone else, first to the coffee pot in the lounge.  The sea has calmed, so we must be getting closer to the ice flow. 

I showered in time for breakfast and we had a quick briefing from Rinie, we would continue to head north eyes peeled for walruses and polar bears.  We start to get into the ice flow, big chunks floating round the ship, sometimes hit by the ship.  It makes quite a noise, and we can clearly hear it in our cabin, and the ship shudders a bit if it’s a particularly large chunk.

Someone spots a walrus, so the ship slows and we edge closer.  There are two, but they are shy, and the hop off the ice and into the water as we approach, and eventually swim off.  Another is spotted, this time a poser, and he sits up, fully lit by the sun on a pristine piece of ice (sometimes the ice is covered in walrus shit, not so attractive) and tilts is head this way and that.  Shutters clicking like mad.

 We continue north, another walrus is spotted.  This one is more lazy, and while we circle him, he very occasionally lifts his head, but is clearly sleepy and not interested in us.  We leave him in peace, and continue north again our search for bears.

We come inside to warm up.  I am wearing a singlet, wool long sleeve stop, thick Kathmandu polar fleece, long johns, jeans, waterproof overpants to cut out the wind chill, wool sox and a thick down jacket, fingerless gloves with full finger gloves over the top, a scarf and two hats.  My body feels warm enough but my hands are cold and my feet feel like solid blocks of ice.  

We have lunch. We continue north, in and out of patches of fog.  The fog is a nuisance, because without visibility, we can’t see polar bears.  There is nothing else much of interest for the rest of the day.  While we are having dinner, the ship hits a few large chunks of ice and then shudders to a stop.  The engine stops.  It’s all part of the plan.  Rinie has heard there are bears in the area, so we will sit in the ice flow and wait overnight, and hope the fog lifts.  We are warned that if they see a bear during the night, they will call us.  We shouldn’t bother with layers, the bear may only be in range for a few minutes so we need to get our ass on deck and freeze if necessary for a few minutes so we don’t miss the bear.  I managed to peel my three layers of pants off in one item, and I lay everything in a pile in order.  It will take me 2 minutes to dress, and all my camera gear is ready to go.  I'm not going outside in my jammies!

Chris sends up his drone and takes some fabulous shots of the ship from the air.  He will share them once we get back to Longyearbyen.

We head to bed at about 10:30pm, and this time I sleep really well.

Meals

Breakfast: (same as yesterday)

Lunch: quaintly described as salty cakes, but they actually mean savoury – baked loaves of olive & anchovy, salmon, and chorizo, supplemented with quinoa salad and pasta salad.  Dessert is cheese (blue cheese, brie and Norwegian caramalised cheese)  & fresh fruit.

Dinner

Starter: smoked salmon with aneth cream (dill and sour cream)
Main: Saute of pork, curry and ginger sauce with mashed sweet potato

Dessert: tiramisu

Number of photos taken today: 250

Our position at 17:16