After leaving Longyearbyen harbour we headed out into the Isfjord (Icefjord) from which we could see many glaciers working their way down between the peaks. We made it to the end of the Isfjord around midnight and spotted 'Prince Karl's Forland': an off-lying island with a parallel coast to Spitzberg that created a channel we could follow up towards Ny Alesund. Soon after what would have been dawn (had it been dark) we approached Poolepynten. At Poolepynten we saw walruses and spent an hour drifting next to them while taking lots of photos...
We then continued under a cloudless sky towards a narrow and shallow channel through which we would have to pass. The charts here are reasonable but there are many random rocks and it is common to hear tales of where things were not quite what was expected.
As we cleared the northern end of the Forland we turned into the Kongsfjord and headed toward Ny Alesund is the world's most northerly settlement, a former mining town which is now home to a lot of Arctic research. As we turned into the fjord we were struck by a slight headwind which was driving a lot of 'bergy bits' away from the glacier front towards us. We had to pick our way up carefully with someone on the foredeck to spot any bits of ice.
We anchored up and set about knocking up a G&T, we now had the chance to take advantage of a the main locally produced speciality - ice! We sent off a couple of people in a dinghy to collect a piece that could be smashed up with Dan's ice axe for the drinks...
After this we went for a walk around town - despite the cruise ship moored up, it felt pretty remote and epic. We managed to find the harbour master (the first person we asked gave us a lift to see the man himself even though we had never met him before). Several of the cruise ship people came over to ask about our trip, often explaining that they once sailed but were now too old.
Once the cruise ship had left we set off to walk up to the airport. We saw Arctic Terns and the much photographed train from the abandoned coal mine.
After the walk and the refuelling we picked our way between the icebergs to get a bit closer to the glacier front, and got some shots of the yacht under the fantastic sky and in front of the scenery.
Walrus at Poole Point
We then continued under a cloudless sky towards a narrow and shallow channel through which we would have to pass. The charts here are reasonable but there are many random rocks and it is common to hear tales of where things were not quite what was expected.
As we cleared the northern end of the Forland we turned into the Kongsfjord and headed toward Ny Alesund is the world's most northerly settlement, a former mining town which is now home to a lot of Arctic research. As we turned into the fjord we were struck by a slight headwind which was driving a lot of 'bergy bits' away from the glacier front towards us. We had to pick our way up carefully with someone on the foredeck to spot any bits of ice.
We anchored up and set about knocking up a G&T, we now had the chance to take advantage of a the main locally produced speciality - ice! We sent off a couple of people in a dinghy to collect a piece that could be smashed up with Dan's ice axe for the drinks...
After this we went for a walk around town - despite the cruise ship moored up, it felt pretty remote and epic. We managed to find the harbour master (the first person we asked gave us a lift to see the man himself even though we had never met him before). Several of the cruise ship people came over to ask about our trip, often explaining that they once sailed but were now too old.
Once the cruise ship had left we set off to walk up to the airport. We saw Arctic Terns and the much photographed train from the abandoned coal mine.
After the walk and the refuelling we picked our way between the icebergs to get a bit closer to the glacier front, and got some shots of the yacht under the fantastic sky and in front of the scenery.
Arctic Ice in front of the Kongsbreen
Location:Longyearbyen to Danskoya
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