Scoresby Sound, Greenland

 Scoresby Sound, Greenland

 

Tuesday, August 16, 2022

 

Overnight we continued towards Cape Brewster at the entrance to Scoresby Sound, the largest fjord in the world, stretching more than 300 KM in length.  The sound is named after an English explorer, William Scoresby, who mapped the area in 1822.  The sides of the fjord are surrounded by mountains more than 2000 meters high, much like Princess Louisa Inlet in British Columbia, but on a far greater scale, with icebergs often choking the channels.  We do not know how far into the sound we can go, based on the ice and also the lack of accurate depth data.

 

The area is part of the Northeast Greenland National Park, created in 1974 and larger than France and Spain combined, and has no permanent residents.  The park stretches to the top of Greenland, the northernmost land on our planet.

 

We encountered a large berg shortly after passing Cape Brewster and the ship stopped so we could enjoy the “Caviar on the Ice” gala with the berg in the background.  Proceeding on after lunch we stopped briefly at another spectacular berg just before dinner before stopping for the evening about 70 miles into Scoresby Sound.

 

Caviar on the Ice event in front of iceberg

Since we are still well above the Arctic Circle it never really got dark, instead we had an extended sunset/sunrise that started about 12 PM midnight and ended at 0500 when the sun was again above the surrounding hills.

 

Wednesday, August 17, 2022

 

As the sun fully rose, we were positioned off of Hekla Havn, which had a well sheltered harbor with two sailboats at anchor.  Both left shortly after we started zodiac operations to view the archeological ruins at Hekla Havn.  The ruins consisted mostly of dwelling foundations and food cairns.  There was also a cabin on the far side of the harbor. Seabourn also started dive operations with the two submersibles and Patrick joined the kayak excursion.

 

By noon, expedition operations were complete and the ship proceeded further into Scoresby Sound, passing numerous large icebergs before stopping at Rode O, a red island seeming out of place in the mostly tan and gray rocks.  Positioning the ship off the island, more dive, kayak and zodiac excursions began, looking at a large iceberg graveyard off the island, where the currents move the bergs into shallow water where they were grounded.  Shallow is relative, since some of the bergs were several hundred feet high and were grounded in hundreds of feet of water.

 

Iceberg Graveyard 

About 7pm operations were complete and the ship continued around Danmark Island, weaving past larger tabular icebergs which had blocked the channel just days earlier.  We spent the night in Orefjord, a narrow channel with mountains up to 2000 meters and water depths of nearly 1000 meters and spectacular glaciers everywhere.

 

Thursday, August 18, 2022

 

The ship launched 20 zodiacs and nearly passenger on the ship headed down Orefjord.  Miriam joined Patrick for this excursion, which was intended to take about one hour, but stretched into two hours.  Seabourn Venture followed the zodiacs down the fjord with stunning views of glaciers and peaks on both sides.  Returning to the ship we continued our journey around Danmark Island to the Bear Islands where dive, zodiac and kayak excursions started.  Patrick finally got his first ride in the submersible, going to a depth of 90 meters and slowly ascending along a sheer rock wall with some sea life, many strange jelly fish and a krill layer closer to the surface.

 

Zodiac Tour in Orefjord

First Dive Adventure

Submersible Control Console

After operations were complete, we headed to the small community at the north entrance of Scoresby Sound.  The community of Ittoqqortoormiit is outside the park boundary and has about 370 permanent residents who hunt, fish and have some tourism.

On the way we had a Seabourn Epicurean Event in front of a massive iceberg.  The weather was amazing, no jackets required.

 

Friday, August 19, 2022

 

Patrick took another dive excursion, shallower this time with a maximum depth of 50 meters, but good visibility and lots of interesting life (and garbage) on the bottom.  By the time the dive was over there was no time to go ashore, but from the zodiac the town looked much like the small communities we visited several years ago in Western Greenland.  The simple houses were all painted bright colors like red, blue green and even purple.  The town is ice free only about 2 months a year.

 

As we headed for Iceland, the weather deteriorated, with winds gusting to 50 knots and seas to 5 meters. The ship rode well and we gathered with several other couples for a leisurely dinner in the main restaurant.

 

Saturday, August 20, 2022

 

The seas were still rough as we headed for Patreksfjordur in the northwestern corner of Iceland.  There is a small fishing village of 750 inhabitants, with fish processing facilities, and access by road to high cliffs with some of the largest sea bird colonies in the world.

 

After breakfast we got a surprise call from the medical department and had to be tested for Covid since one of our dinner partners from the previous evening tested positive for Covid and the couple was moved to an isolation suite.  We both tested negative and were advised to just wear a mask in the public areas and get tested again after 72 hours when we return to Bellevue.

 

Arriving at Patreksfjordur the wind and seas were still high, but the ship created a lee to get zodiacs ashore for the included tours to the bird cliffs and fish tasting in town.  Since the bird cliffs were a one hour bus ride each way, we elected to not run the risk of further exposure, since too many guests were either coughing or not wearing masks.  We have seen plenty of fish processing operations so elected to just stay on board and in our suite as we finalized our packing for disembarkation in the morning.

 

Our checked bags have to be placed outside the door between 11 PM and 1 AM for transfer shoreside in the morning.

 

We disembark in Rekjavik at 0900 and have a van transfer to the airport at Keflavik, with lunch on the way for our 5 PM 8 hour non-stop flight on Iceland Airlines to Seattle.

 

 

Jan Mayen Island

 Jan Mayen Island

 

Monday, August 15, 2022

 

After two days of relatively calm seas and overcast skies, and finally sunset and sunrise as we head southwest, we arrived at Jan Mayen Island at 0700.

 

Beerenberg shrouded in mist

Jan Mayen Island has a weather station with about 18 residents and is about 56 KM long.  There used to be a Loran-C station also.  The Norwegians claim Jan Mayen Island as their territory, the furthest west, and almost as far north as North Cape, at 70 degrees 58 minutes North.

 

The weather was not promising, with 1-2 meter swells and 15 knots of wind.  The volcano peak was mostly shrouded in clouds and we only got brief glimpses of the highest peak in Norway and the northernmost volcano in the world and the only volcano in Norway, sitting right on the mid-atlantic ridge.

 

We were positioned in a bay on the northeast side of the island.  There was a sailboat anchored in the relatively shallow bay named Kvalrossbukta.  Seabourn Venture used dynamic positioning and a scouting team was sent out in a zodiac to assess conditions.  Conditions were favorable for landings and kayaking, but not for submarine operations, so Patrick went kayaking and then for a walk on the island.  There were puffins in the water while kayaking, a pleasant surprise, and more puffins nesting in the volcanic rocks, but only visible via a telescope.  We were fortunate to have occasional views of Beerenberg, (Bear Mountain) the volcano, but it was mostly in the clouds.  The black volcanic sands were everywhere and reminded us of Hawaii, only 50 degrees colder.  The volcano last erupted in 1985.

 

Kvalrossbukta - like Hawaii only 40 degrees colder

Our kayaking cove with puffins

About noon the ship had recovered all the zodiacs and set sail for Cape Brewster in Scoresby Sound, Greenland, where we arrive tomorrow afternoon.

 

Svalbard Summary

 Svalbard Summary

 

For the last two weeks we have circumnavigated the Svalbard archipelago and seen some amazing sights.  From polar bears on the beach to polar bears on the pack ice.  Walruses on the beach and swimming close to our zodiacs.  Spectacular glaciers kilometers long, others just a few kiilometers in length.  We have seen the remains of failed attempts to commercialize Spitzbergen, and seen the thriving communities that still exist.  The scenery is magnificent and at the same time is bleak and barren.  The seabirds are everywhere, there are occasional wild reindeer on the shore.  We are reminded of the failed North Pole attempts like the Andree Balloon expedition, with nothing but a solitary memorial on an isolated island to commemorate their needless deaths.  We have seen the reality of life and death on the pack ice.  We have also seen the spectacular feeding frenzy of the fin whales, with the seabirds picking up the remnants.   

What a magnificent experience.

 

We are now sailing SW across the Greenland Sea, headed for Jan Mayen Island.

Last Days in Svalbard

 

Thursday, August 11, 2022

 

The ship arrived at Ny London in Kongfjorden on schedule and Patrick was one of the kayakers who practiced paddling through brash ice coming off the nearby glacier.  Ny London was the site of a failed marble mining operation 100 years ago.  The marble turned out to be so soft and brittle it had no commercial value.  The remains of the mining equipment are still visible.  There a two cabins which are vacation cabins for people who live across the fjord in Ny Alesund, which is primarily an arctic research facility.  We were able to take a guided hike around the island.

Mining machinery at Ny London

 

Following the morning visit, Seabourn Venture proceeded further up Kongfjorden fjord to the end where two separate glaciers meet with a glacier face several kilometers long.  The glacier is very active and was calving every few minutes with thunderous roars.  Guests and some crew piled into zodiacs for up close views.  Patrick chose to kayak around the smaller icebergs and then the kayakers also took a zodiac ride close to the glacier face.

 

Friday, August 12, 2022

 

Our early morning destination at 0700 was Poolepynten, the first location we attempted to visit in Svalbard on the first voyage.  We were looking for a Walrus haulout and this time there were a few on the beach, plus one solitary young male further down the beach.  The kayakers headed even further down the beach to avoid an encounter with a walrus in the water, which could be risky.  We did see some wildlife including wild reindeer and barnacle geese.  Following the kayaking we headed into the beach for a close up view of the walrus haulout before heading to our afternoon destination of Alkhornet, a massive promontory on the channel leading into Longyearbyen where a technical stop was planned for early evening.

 

Solitary young Walrus at Poolepynten

Some of the dozens of fin whales

Alkhornet Promontory

On the way in we spotted a number of fin whales feeding with clouds of seabirds overhead.  The swell was running 3-4 feet, long period, but made beach landings impractical for guests, so the stop was canceled and we headed back out into the main channel and were treated to a massive display of fin whales spouting and lunging through bait.  The ship stopped and we spent over an hour with the veranda door open listening and watching the spectacle, with the whales approaching to within a few hundred feet of the ship.  Fin whales are the second largest of the whales, surpassed only by the massive blue whale.

 

We reluctantly turned back to Longyearbyen for the technical stop and by 8PM had completed the stop and headed southwest from Svalbard into the Greenland Sea.  We will be at sea for two days before arriving at Jan Mayen Island, belonging to Norway.  It has a weather station and used to also have a Loran-C station. 

Return to the polar ice pack

Svalbard – second edition

 

Monday, August 8, 2022

 

After the late departure from Longyearbyen, we sailed for Gravnesodden, Svalbard near the northwestern tip of Spitzbergen Island.  The distance is not large, about 173 NM, but we have a partial day at sea before we arrive.  As we sailed north, the weather turned gray and rainy.  The morning was taken up with the mandatory AECO briefings and a bio-security inspection of all our outerwear going ashore.  There was also a repeat of the kayak operational and safety briefing.  There are a lot more people on this voyage, very noticeable in the Discovery Center and all the restaurants.

Internet service once again was non-existant deep in the fjords.

 

Gravnesodden is on Magdalenefjordet and was the site for whaling operations beginning in the 1600’s.  There are the remains of blubber furnaces and also 134 graves, hence the name Gravnes.  There is also a hunter’s hut we can visit.  Patrick will be kayaking once again, but the temperature is predicted to be only 35 degrees, so much colder than two days ago.

 

The kayaking turned out to be warmer than expected, with sightings of barnacle geese, arctic terns, fulmars, glaucous gulls, and guillamots, and even a pin tail duck.  Ashore we visited the remains of blubber ovens from the early whaling era and could view the cemetery where 134 men died during the early years.  Many of the remains are now gone due to the permafrost floating the remains to the surface where either weather or polar bears destroyed them.  The area where the graves were located is fenced off and protected from visitors, but photos can still be taken.

 

It was a busy evening, with the Captain’s welcome reception, the first formal night of this voyage, and then dinner.  We found out there are only 192 revenue passengers on board, compared to 148 on the first voyage.  The USA has the largest complement accounting for 134 guests.  The crew numbers 249, from 45 countries.  In addition, there are a number of contractors still on board to address technical issues should they arise.

 

Tuesday, August 9, 2022

 

Seabourn Venture cruised overnight in calm sea conditions to Texas Bar and Monocobreen.  The final approach was in dense fog.  We passed a Hurtigruten expedition ship anchored further out in the fjord, as well as a sailboat, which eventually anchored at Texas Bar in front of our ship.  Landings were delayed due to the dense fog.

 

After about one hour, the fog cleared enough to go ashore and do Kayaking.  Today Patrick kayaked with a crew member and departed from the beach for the first time.  Weather was calm, but still a little foggy, so the excursion to Monacobreen was cancelled and the ship headed for the far north.  We arrived at 81 degrees north about 2130 but did not immediately enter the pack ice.

 

At midnight we were at 81 degrees 45 minutes north and then headed back southwest looking for the edge of the pack ice.

 

Wednesday, August 10, 2022

 

Patrick was up at 0530 and in the bow lounge as Seabourn Venture entered the pack ice.  At 0600 we were out on the bow when a polar bear was spotted having just freshly killed a bearded seal.  The ship stopped and we were able to view the gory aftermath as the polar bear first stripped the blubber from the carcass and started to work on the flesh.

 

Proceeding further into the pack ice, we all searched for more polar bears, but none showed up.  At noon the ship stopped for the “polar plunge” where a number of brave souls jumped into the 29 degree water north of 81 degrees.  Patrick passed up the opportunity once again.

 

Continuing south, the ship stopped once again as another polar bear was on the ice and then, unbelievably, a third polar bear was on the ice with a fresh kill, so once again the ship stopped and we all got the opportunity to observe the rather bloody feeding scene.

 

The ship is now out of the pack ice and headed south for an encounter at Ny London in the morning and 14 July glacier in the afternoon. 

 

  

Svalbard Adventure Part two

 August 6, 2022

 

Today we had two landings, once in the morning at Gnalodden, Hornsund and the second at Burgerbukta, Hornsund.  These two locations are in the southernmost fjords in Svalbard and are characterized by high cliffs, seabirds and tidewater glaciers.

 

Gnalodden was our first stop and Patrick kayaked in the morning.  The kayak tour started out windy and choppy, with winds to 25 knots.  We headed down the coast, going with the wind, dodging the occasional iceberg and a number of submerged rocks where the waves were breaking.  Fortunately we did not have to paddle back upwind since our escort boat picked us up in the lee of the last point before the open ocean.

 

Returning to the landing site we were able to go ashore where there was another hunter’s hut and a massive seabird colony on the cliffs above us.  Some people were attacked by skuas protecting their territory, but Patrick’s bright orange drysuit was apparently not a good target.  There was a overhang with unique acoustic properties, when entering, all noise stopped and you could not hear the birds at all.  Leaving the overhang, the sounds of the seabirds returned.  The vegetation was the usual moss and lichens.

 

Returning to the ship we had lunch as the ship traveled the short distance to Burgerbukta and a large tidewater glacier that was calving.  Patrick headed back out on a kayak tour, one of only 6 people that showed up.  We paddled under partly sunny skies and glassy calm seas among the iceberg debris from the glacier.  Near the end of the tour we came upon a bearded seal sleeping on an ice floe and were able to just sit quietly only a couple of kayak lengths away.  We also just sat in our kayaks with our eyes closed and listened to the sound of the air bubbles escaping from the bergs all around us.

 

Returning to the ship, most guests hurried with their packing before the final briefing and crew farewell, as well as watching the video the ship produced for each guest.  The video is on Onedrive in the cloud, and we will have to wait until we return to download it.

 

The Seabourn Venture set sail for Longyearbyen where we will be alongside the pier for disembarkation and embarkation.  The 28 in-transit passengers will be going on a bus tour in the afternoon, staying out of the way of the new guests.  We will be masked up for everything once again since we have been in a relatively safe bubble for the last 10 days.

 

The tour was short, but the museum was worth the visit.  Since it was Sunday, the stores were closed until 3PM, so no shopping.  We drove by the entrance to the Svalbard Global Seed Bank, but were not allowed to approach.

 

The ship departed 1 ½ hours late due to lost luggage, but we finally left at 1830.  Our destination tomorrow is Gravenesodden, where we hope to see more wildlife.

To the Far North

 Svalbard Experience

 

After a very good dinner in the main restaurant and a long day of activities, we decided to forgo the post dinner program and get some much needed rest as Seabourn Venture continued the journey to Svalbard

 

Sunday July 31, 2022

 

Under overcast skies we approached the Svalbard Archipelago.  The seas were relatively calm, nearly flat as we detoured to pick up a pilot near Longyearbyen.  Our destination today is Poolepynten, on Prins Karls Forland where we hope to go ashore near a walrus colony for photos.  Patrick is also going to do some kayaking in addition to seeing the walrus colony.

 

It is possible to track the ship on AIS at sites like marinetraffic.com, since the protected Svalbard archipelago is highly regulated and patrolled, with numerous AIS base stations.  Similar to the southern polar regions, group size ashore is limited to 50 people at a time, so we will go ashore in color groups that were assigned on embarkation day.  The first color group changes each day so every group has a chance to be first.

 

We arrived at our destination, but alas there were NO walruses, so the ship headed east to Spitzbergen Island to a large tidewater glacier in St Johnsfjordern where will have zodiac tours and a kayaking session.  Patrick elected to do a kayak tour, and when arriving at the site, proceeded 

 to enter the kayak.  Patrick was immediately requested to exit since a polar bear was sighted on the beach headed for the kayaks.

 

We followed the bear and the rest of the ship’s zodiacs followed in behind when they heard we had sighted the bear.  We had a lot of time watching the bear before we finally headed back to where the kayaks were anchored and the bear reappeared behind us.

 

Monday, August 1, 2022

 

Texas Bar and Monacobreen

 

Satellite cover is poor especially deep in the fjords, so we have little coverage except at night while we are moving from place to place.

 

Going all the way to the northernmost tip of Spitzbergen, at about 80 degrees north, we then headed back South and anchored in front of Texas Bar at 79 degrees 36 Minutes North.  We are now about 650 miles from the North Pole.  The weather was overcast, calm winds and a temperature of 45 degrees.  Patrick kayaked in the morning and then went ashore at Texas Bar, named after a hut with a row of bottles.  The hut was originally built as a hunters hut and has bunks, etc.  The tradition is to bring two bottles and only take one drink, so the bar continues to grow.  It is really isolated.  There was actually a sailboat anchored in the next bay, which left partway through the morning.

 

Just a few miles further south is a large glacier named after Prince Albert 1 of Monaco.  This afternoon’s activities include zodiac tours and another kayak excursion.

 

When we arrived at Monacobreen there were actually 5 glaciers in a ring around the ship and the kayaks toured around the eastern portion of the bay.

 

 

Tuesday, August 6

 

When we awoke, Seabourn Venture was steaming north towards the edge of the pack ice.  It was very foggy and the the ship carefully approached the pack ice, with visibility only a few hundred yards.  This was at a latitude of 80 degrees 45 minutes north.  Altering course, Seabourn Venture skirted the edge of the pack ice and finally penetrated a band of ice at 81 degrees north.  We continued north and after breaking through pack ice for a few miles, stopped at 82 degrees north, further than any other Carnival Corporation ship.  We had signed up for wine tasting at 1430 and it was a unique experience to be tasting wines as the ship crunched through the ice.

 

Captain Alex opened up the bow platforms, normally reserved for crew docking and anchoring, to passengers and crew as we moved through the pack ice at 2-3 knots, shoving the ice flows aside or splitting them apart.

 

At a little before 1700, Captain Alex stopped the ship and we drifted for the night in the pack ice at 82 degrees North Latitude, only 480 NM from the North Pole.  Celebrating with our second formal night of the cruise.  Spectacular!!!  We will spend the night in the pack ice and start looking for polar bears.

At this latitude we have no satellite coverage, so no internet.

 

Drone Photo of Seabourn Venture parked in the pack ice

At midnight a female polar bear approached the ship.  A quiet announcement was made and many guests and crew heard it and got great photos and videos of the bear, until it was spooked by some kind of noise from the ship.  Miriam and I slept through the announcement, along with the ship’s photographer.  We were fortunate to have another guest airdrop their iPhone video to us so we have some record of the encounter.  We will have another chance later in the voyage.

 

About 0815 we headed through the pack ice back to Svalbard for the rest of our trip.  We had drifted 3 NM further north during the night, so we were 477 NM from the North Pole.  The sound of the ship pushing through the ice floes was like a constant roll of thunder.  When we hit larger floes the ship would shudder.  Seabourn Venture was able to make 3-4 knots through ice 2-4 feet thick with floes up to 150 feet in diameter.

 

At noon the ship stopped and launched 2 zodiacs for the polar plunge event.  Any guests and contractor were able to participate.  It was not our event!

 

Continuing SE, we are headed for 2 smaller islands to the east of the main Spitzbergen Archipelago.  The first island is Storoya, where we finally spotted walruses and more polar bears.

Walrus Haulout on Kvitoya Island

 

The second island is Kvitoya Island (or White Island), since it almost entirely covered by a glacier.  There is a monument there to the ill-fated Solomon Andree Balloon expedition to the North Pole.  Their remains were not discovered until 1931 since this island is seldom visited.  The balloon expedition only made it to 83 degrees 50 minutes North before the design flaws became evident that forced the team to land on sea ice and make their way to Kvitoya where they perished.