06 August 2010; Ny-Alesund, Spitsbergen.

From the “Top of the World” we sailed slowly south towards our next highlight of the cruise Ny-Alesund also on the island of Spitsbergen. It is located on the banks of the Kongsfjorden about a 100 miles North of Longyearbeyen as the crow flies. The “Kongs” or Kings fjord was created by a glacier system called the Kongsbreen which is very big. So large in fact that it looks like an ice plateau that flows around mountain peaks and gives the impression that there are several separate glaciers. This glacier reaches the waterline and thus there is ice calving off and floating to open waters. Normally not much of a hindrance as the fjord is very wide but in foggy circumstances you can still bump into little bergs. As we have been having fog banks in the early mornings, there would be a good chance that this would happen today as well and that complicates dealing with little bergy-bits of ice.

Ny – Alesund as seen from the Bridge.

A very good reason to arrive early again is to have the time available to proceed slowly and cautiously. Indeed the sea just in front of the entrance was fogged in but it cleared while the ship was coming closer so we could sail in without delay. Local rules decree that no tender can come ashore before 0800 hrs. I do not know why that is, maybe the scientists do not want to be woken up early, but the rule was there and thus had to be obeyed. I was allowed to prepare the ship as long as the first landing was not before 0800 hrs so we aimed for 0805. I had studied the chart of the fjord before and it posed a challenge in the fact that the banks of the fjord rise very steeply and then go straight away to very shallow water. No place to put your anchor down and have enough space for a 200 meter ship to swing around in the wind and current. The only place I could have dropped the anchor was prohibited as somebody had decided that that was the best location to pull power cables across the fjord to the other side. Thus I had to hope for wind blowing away from the glacier behind Ny-Alesund to keep the ship away from the rocks while it stretched behind the anchor into deep water. It was not to be; it was wind still but also the sun was coming through and that was very nice. Well, having no wind made it easy in a certain way; we just floated freely. I kept one engine on line to stem the tide, the out flow from a local river and the out flow of the Kongs glacier. These three currents made the Prinsendam spin around its axis very slowly. Something I had never seen before. Drifting away yes but being caught by a different current each time so that the ship turned 360o that was a new one.

That lasted until 10 am and then the wind picked up over the glacier and I used the bow thruster to keep the ship near the tender dock. Another local rule is on the shore, not to walk off the regular paths as the tundra moss is too fragile to walk on. So I had arranged for our Traffic Control crew (normally in action during boat drills) to be ashore to prevent the guests from going astray. Although I had explained on the stage last night what guests were expected to do, there is always one……………. To ensure that the ship keeps its happy explorers in check, the shore side authorities require the captain to sign a contract that stipulates the rules that the visitors have to adhere to. As I do not sign contracts I cannot keep, I put Traffic Control ashore (also required under this contract) to help ensure compliance.

The Main Street in Ny-Alesund.

The sun came out nicely and with little wind, it was not as nippy as it would have been otherwise. Reports flooding back to the ship, indicated that everybody had a great time, as something like this you will never see again in your life. We sailed at 2 pm and we will now spend two days at sea, racing back to civilization, email the internet and face book. I expect to get the signal back sometime tomorrow. I wonder how many of all onboard are having withdrawal symptoms from not being able to go “on line”. I am just bracing for after the weekend, when our head office reopens and all the emails penned up in the servers come flooding out.

Supposedly the most northern hotel in the world. The settlement also has a Pub (closed today) and a General Store which did a roaring trade.

All photos by roving reporter Lesley Schoonderbeek