We woke up at 11am fresh from the midnight Polar bear sighting and set off on what would prove to be an epic day of adventuring. As we lifted the anchor I looked out across the fjord in the sunshine (missing for the last couple of days) and was reminded of the parting words of Arne (from Boreal Yachting) as we left Longyearbyen - 'respect the wild places'. The power of the glaciers, the icebergs that we had to weave between the huge scale of the scenery, the remoteness of our location - now only 620 miles from the North Pole was awesome.
As we headed out over the fjord I was struck by the familiarity of this to the mountains of South Georgia, but without the hurricane force winds.
As we prepared to head off on a walk around the 'Reinsdyrflya' (reindeer land) we looked at the maps and saw the official advice:
So again we geared up with the polar bear defence equipment and set off...
Making headway over land was a challenge. The first, and primary difficulty, was stopping taking photographs for long enough to put one foot in front of the other. The second problem was that the Reindyrflya (the location of our first walk) proved very boggy. Ultimately however the first group made it someway up a hill, for a nice view, spotting some reindeer (which give the Reindyrflya its name) and the second group had a nice walk along (and partially across!) a river
We stood at the river deltas from the glacial run off, and I advised the crew that surely this was all so stunning that 'if you're not happy with this, then you should not have come'!! Luckily they were all happy they had come.
As we started the process to get everyone back to the yacht the sun was getting to a lower point in the sky and one could almost believe it might set if you didn't know better. Raymarine knew better of course and told us that the sun would set at 25:22, which might sound stupid but not as bad as it telling us that the sun would rise at 120:40 - insightful.
Once everyone was back on board we headed up to one of the most staggering sights in Svalbard the glacier font of the Monacobreen 5km wide glacier, so huge that when the crew guessed how far away it was the average answer was 3 miles when it was over 10 miles. We only made it to within 2 miles but already but it didn't fit in the photos.
In front of the glacier we spotted a bearded seal hauled upon an iceberg, we hoped it might lure in a polar bear but there was no sign of those, only the tremendous cracking of the glacier behind him to keep us on our toes.
After this we headed off to what is surely the world's most Northerly bar - the Texas Bar, a cabin at 79deg 36 mins. You have to bring your own drinks but the view is great back across the Monacobreen.
With the sun never setting it seems the body can keep going for far longer without feeling tired - the second landing party got back from the Texas Bar at 0430! The means that evenings often stretch out longer than expected (we have several times ended up serving dinner at 10 or 11pm when at anchor when not paying attention). It also leaves endless scope to play 'Guess the time' with anyone who has just woken up! Joy was the winner at this having thought it was half 4 in the afternoon, when it was actually 9pm!
Appendix 1
For those wondering what you can do to keep warm, Adam as the coldest person on the trip has set out what he wore to prepare for a watch in middle of the night at Tun Garment Factor 29:
- 1 pair Canary Wharf city socks
- 1 pair merino wool skiing socks
- 1 pair sailing boots (Arthur's)
- 1 olive green knee length alpine hiking socks
- pants (M&S)
- 2 x synthetic leggings
- 2 x skiing sallopetts
- 1 x sailing salopettes
- merino wool thermal top
- t shirt
- lycra tech top (JCBC)
- Svalbard stash
- RAB polar fleece
- RAB primaloft jacket
- quiksilver skiing jacket (Zaki's)
- Fairview sailing jacket
- pair outerreach mountain gloves (inner and outer glove set)
- get high in macau buff
- nepal style sherpa hat
- Uvex cycling sunglasses
.... And he didn't even go outside!!!
As we headed out over the fjord I was struck by the familiarity of this to the mountains of South Georgia, but without the hurricane force winds.
As we prepared to head off on a walk around the 'Reinsdyrflya' (reindeer land) we looked at the maps and saw the official advice:
'Bow to the forces of nature in Svalbard and shoulder the responsibility for your own safety'
So again we geared up with the polar bear defence equipment and set off...
Making headway over land was a challenge. The first, and primary difficulty, was stopping taking photographs for long enough to put one foot in front of the other. The second problem was that the Reindyrflya (the location of our first walk) proved very boggy. Ultimately however the first group made it someway up a hill, for a nice view, spotting some reindeer (which give the Reindyrflya its name) and the second group had a nice walk along (and partially across!) a river
We stood at the river deltas from the glacial run off, and I advised the crew that surely this was all so stunning that 'if you're not happy with this, then you should not have come'!! Luckily they were all happy they had come.
As we started the process to get everyone back to the yacht the sun was getting to a lower point in the sky and one could almost believe it might set if you didn't know better. Raymarine knew better of course and told us that the sun would set at 25:22, which might sound stupid but not as bad as it telling us that the sun would rise at 120:40 - insightful.
Once everyone was back on board we headed up to one of the most staggering sights in Svalbard the glacier font of the Monacobreen 5km wide glacier, so huge that when the crew guessed how far away it was the average answer was 3 miles when it was over 10 miles. We only made it to within 2 miles but already but it didn't fit in the photos.
In front of the glacier we spotted a bearded seal hauled upon an iceberg, we hoped it might lure in a polar bear but there was no sign of those, only the tremendous cracking of the glacier behind him to keep us on our toes.
Bearded seal at the Monacobreen
After this we headed off to what is surely the world's most Northerly bar - the Texas Bar, a cabin at 79deg 36 mins. You have to bring your own drinks but the view is great back across the Monacobreen.
A beer at the Texas Bar
With the sun never setting it seems the body can keep going for far longer without feeling tired - the second landing party got back from the Texas Bar at 0430! The means that evenings often stretch out longer than expected (we have several times ended up serving dinner at 10 or 11pm when at anchor when not paying attention). It also leaves endless scope to play 'Guess the time' with anyone who has just woken up! Joy was the winner at this having thought it was half 4 in the afternoon, when it was actually 9pm!
Appendix 1
For those wondering what you can do to keep warm, Adam as the coldest person on the trip has set out what he wore to prepare for a watch in middle of the night at Tun Garment Factor 29:
- 1 pair Canary Wharf city socks
- 1 pair merino wool skiing socks
- 1 pair sailing boots (Arthur's)
- 1 olive green knee length alpine hiking socks
- pants (M&S)
- 2 x synthetic leggings
- 2 x skiing sallopetts
- 1 x sailing salopettes
- merino wool thermal top
- t shirt
- lycra tech top (JCBC)
- Svalbard stash
- RAB polar fleece
- RAB primaloft jacket
- quiksilver skiing jacket (Zaki's)
- Fairview sailing jacket
- pair outerreach mountain gloves (inner and outer glove set)
- get high in macau buff
- nepal style sherpa hat
- Uvex cycling sunglasses
.... And he didn't even go outside!!!
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