13th - Embarkment

Woke up at around 0700 and as I couldn’t fall back to sleep I went down to the reception to report my power issues. Apparently it was a known problem; the main switch turned on by the entry card was getting worn so using a second card solved that problem.

I checked out at 1030 and handed in my bag which would be delivered directly to the ship after noon. With a specified time for embarkment at 1600 I spent my time walking around Longyearbyen. It’s a small town and it’s limited how long you can keep walking around before you get bored. Back at the hotel before 1500 and spent time on the wifi before the bus arrived to take us to the harbor. The ship was not able to dock due to local circumstances so we were loaded onto zodiacs which then in turn brought us to the ship, the MS Explorer.

Longyearbyen as seen from the church. No, really. This is it.

Santa's mailbox.

As mentioned earlier I had a spot in a twin cabin and the second resident turned out to not only work for the travel agency I bought the trip through, he was actually the one who sold me the trip, and also my future trip to Antarctica.

My home away from home.

Yup - the ship, MS Expedition, was originally a Danish car ferry (Kattegat). It sailed between Grenå and Hundested for 8 years before bouncing back and forth between several other operators until G Adventures bought it in 2008 and converted it to a cruise ship for use on their tours in arctic and antarctic waters.

At 1800 we had a safety briefing and -drill and a presentation of all the staff. There are surprisingly many naturalists, it seems very impressive. Half through we were informed that a young blue whale had been spotted and the rest of the presentation would be postponed until after dinner. People rushed outside and we had had our first sighting. It didn’t breach much but it was clear it wasn’t a seagull. Some of us also managed to spot a minke whale.

The staff. From left to right; Dr. Julia Lindow (Ass. Expedition Leader), Sarah Auffret (Expedition Leader), Thomas G. Smith (Firearms Master), Guy Esparon (Naturalist), John Kernan (Biologist), Diego Punta Fernandez (Staff Assistant/Naturalist), Jacqueline Deely (Photographer), Kevin Closs (Musician), Terence "Scobie" Pye (Zodiac Technician), Jonathan R. Green (Geologist), Truls Kuhle (Staff Assistant/Naturalist), Wayne Brown (Staff Assistant/Naturalist), Carol Francis (Historian), Phil Hunter (Staff Assistant/Naturalist). Not present; Dr. Susie Newton (Ship's Doctor)

The best shot of the blue whale.

Afterwards dinner was served, an impressive 4 course dinner.

After dinner we were given parkas included in the trip. They are amazingly nice, clearly not something cheap G added to the tour in an attempt to score some cheap points.

Right now it’s 2200 and it’s clear as day. There is a wakeup call at 0730 tomorrow but if the crew sees any wildlife throughout the night this till be notified over the PA system. Nice! From now on my jacket and camera bag will not leave my side; I want to be able to at any time go out on the deck and photograph without freezing.

A puffin was circling the ship for a while during the evening.

The view from the ship when exiting the fjord.