04 August 2010; Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen.

When I reached the bridge at 0500 in the morning, I was met with very hazy weather which turned within 15 minutes into a dense wall of white fluff. For the approach to the port of Longyearbyen it does not crate much of a problem but in the scope of things to come, tomorrow’s sightseeing, I was not very happy with what I saw. However after an hour of frequent whistle blowing, which advised all the guests in the balcony cabins that the bridge was wide awake and working the fog dispersed and the Isfjorden opened up in front of us. This is a very wide and deep fjord and deserted in the early morning. Later in the day it will be a different story as it can be full of sailing boats, canoes, fast crafts and scenic contraptions that are moved around. But even scientists have to sleep on occasion and therefore things tend to be reasonably quiet at 5 am in the morning. We had very good visibility after clearing the fogbank and we could see the dock from miles away and it was nicely clear of boats.

Antarctic Dream. File photo.

Summertime in Longyearbyen tends to be a very congested period. Lots of small and larger expedition ships; some full of scientists, some full of very focused tourists and then there are a lot of sailing yachts that spend the summer around Spitsbergen and come into this port to stock up on food. Water they normally make themselves from melted snow. All these floating objects, ranging from highly skilled professionals to those that should not be on the water at any time, congregate in a mile wide area near the shore where the docks are located. That means that I want to be early to get the ship into position for approaching the dock without having to race through all these ships and boats. This time it was reasonably quiet and there was only one ship, remotely in the way, the Antarctic Dream. A bright red cruiseship/expedition vessel that specializes in ice cruising. In the (our) winter months it sails down under in the Antarctic and in the summer months it comes up North to the Artic. Built as a pilot boat for the Chilean government in The Netherlands in the late 1950’s it was converted a number of years ago to carry 78 tourists on ice-expedition cruises. While on such a cruise, she discovered an uncharted rock somewhere in Antarctica recently and ran aground. Luckily all onboard were saved and she is back in operation. Today she was floating in the harbour, waiting to load fuel oil and later embark guests.

Longyearbeyen from portside bridge wing.

I had to hover near the dock for about 40 minutes until the linesmen arrived and was then docked shortly after. In the early afternoon the sun came out and as the northerly breeze continued to bring cold air into the port (The glaciers at the North side of Isfjorden act as a natural A.C system) visibility remained excellent.

The clear border between clean sea water and muddy Glacier water upon leaving the port.

We were on the way again just after 5 pm for my sightseeing plan; having a look at the coalmine at Barentzburg. I did that for the first time last year and as the response was so positive, it was good enough reason to go again. The only other thing to do is go looking at a glacier and we will get that in Magdalena fjord tomorrow. So between 7 and 8 pm. we sailed in Gronfjorden and had a good look at this coalmine that had it’s heyday in the Stalin period and still looked like a remnant from the Cold war. It is the last of three such mines on Spitsbergen that is still operating and it looked rather sad and neglected. Still it is an opportunity not to be missed, as you seldom get the chance to see something like this and certainly not from the comfort of your chair on a cruise ship during cocktail hour.

I was out in open waters again by 8 pm. so the show in our Showroom At Sea could start on time and without interruption. Tonight it was Classical music by a Russian Pianist, who left the USSR behind in the “good old days”.

Tomorrow I will be at the entrance of Magdalena fjord at 6 am. and in the fjord by 07.30. so when the majority of guests wake up they will be surrounded by soaring mountains and white glaciers. The weather looks good, overcast and not too much wind. It should be a grand sightseeing opportunity. After that, hopefully North to the ice………….

I could not resist including this photo taken by Chief Officer Ane Smit. Showing the Prinsendam ready for its dash to the pole, as noted on the Truck in the foreground.