Join us for the next crossing?

This is the last crossing MV Fram will do without passengers- and this is due to the preparation for the ship yard in Germany in April. But why not join us for one of the future crossing? From autumn onwards we are going to take also you with us! See the sunshine, the possibility for relaxation, reading, writing, knitting (!), painting... and just forgetting everything?  It will be an unique experience, with a very small lecture team here on board to entertain with the one or other occasional lecture and activity.

Are you interested? Then go to our website www.hurtigruten.com or talk to your travel agent. We will be very happy to welcome you on board!

Once on board, you might meet at the reception:

 Name: Erman Robregado

Position: Receptionist

How long have you been working for Hurtigruten?

8 years.

How many times have you crossed the equator with a Hurtigruten ship?

7 times.

What do you like best about equator crossings?

The baptism of the polliwogs by the shellbacks.

The warm weather and the games.

What are your jobs during the crossing? Is it a big difference to the normal routine?

A bit different in one way because we will be doing inventories of all the items in the shpo. But we are always around if the officers or crew need something from the reception.

Is there something you always bring with you on board?

Pictures of my familly.

No birds in sight

Do you know the feeling when you know that something is different to normal journeys with Fram, but it takes a moment that it kicks in what it is? We realized it today- no bird in the entire vicinity! Only blue sky, sunshine- and ocean, ocean, ocean all around us. The coast of Brasil is around 180nm away.
MV Frams current position is S26,15; W043,00. Temperature a nice 26C, wind 19m/s and the distance to Las Palmas is 3676nm.

Slowly one topic is becoming the topic of the day and you can hear the following question all over: "Have you been here for the baptism?" And the poor soul who has to deny it! Why- you will read about it in a few days when we are crossing the equator!

And our person of the day is:

Name: Renato Cruz

Position: Bosun

How long have you been working for Hurtigruten?

2006 until now.

How many times have you crossed the equator with a Hurtigruten ship?

6 times.

What do you like best about equator crossing?It is a time full of surprises and you really feel the spirit of the sailor.

What are your jobs now during the crossing? Is it a big differenc eto the normal routine?Do some maintanance. It is quite a difference to normal routines.

Is there something you always bring with you on board?Pictures of my family.

Couting, counting, counting

No, we do not mean the counting of nautical miles...We know that it will be quite a while until we see land again. But only having the ocean around is also very tempting- so they say...

No matter where you looked today, it was busy everywhere. Little teams met up constantly during the day with our chief engineer Stian to get appointed to the areas that needed to be counted...   And so the day passed- attached you find a few pictures of the "lucky" ones that were counting the deepstore where among other things we store the beautiful blue explorer jackets! And also thanks to the deck department for helping out!! They moved 8.5tones of equipment alone in this store during two days and decided to skip the gym today :-)

For today, we introduce a very happy, always smiling member of the MV FRAM Crew:

Name: Jose Betita

Position: Cabin Steward

How long have you been working for Hurtigruten?

Since 2003- I started to work on MV Nordnorge.

How many times have you crossed the equator with a Hurtigruten ship?

12 times

What do you like best about equator crossings?Foods, baptism, games and relaxation.

What are your jobs now during the crossing? Is it a big difference to the normal routine?

General cleaning of all passengers cabins. Yes, this time we have to clean more thorougly because the cabins are empty.

Is there something you always bring with you on board?

My baptism certificate - if not, you will be baptaised again!

Yes, that is correct... it is now 18:00hours local time and we have 4.347nm to go until we reach the pilot station at Las Palmas. We are at 33,38S, 52,17W; outside temperature 23C and a wind of 12m/s.

For sure the one or the other thought that crossings are time for relaxation, reading, sleeping for the entire crew... Well, we have to disappoint you. Especially on this crossing everyone is extremely busy- when we are in Las Palmas in the end of the month, we have the Leightship Weight Survey.  This survey takes place every 5 years on a passengers vessel. By "lightship" it means the weight of a fully equipped ship without stores, spare parts, fuel, water etc... It means that every single item has to be weighted! And we mean- (nearly) every item: starting with personal effect, bedding in store and laundry, outside chairs, our Polar Circle boats, landing equipment, products from the shop, provisions, library books, passengers jackets- to only name a few.... We have a few days to count it all- so that is quite a big task...

In the next days, we would like to continiue with the crossing tradition of introducing crew members that are on board with us right now. Lets start today with:

Name: Arild Hårvik

Position: Captain

How long have you been working for Hurtigruten?

Since 1975

How many times have you crossed the equator with a Hurtigruten ship? Never

What do you like best about equator crossings?

Calm sea and sun

What are your jobs now during hte crossing? Is it a big difference to the normal routine?

First 7 days Lightship weight survey control; next 7 days "decision support system"- some route planning and preparing for ship yard.

Is there something you always bring with you?

My "submarine tie pin"

Farewell

Today when we arrived in Buenos Aires just around 07:30am- it was already 21C and quite humid. Luckily we were not here yesterday when it just rained all day long! Group by group, depending on excursions everyone left the vessel to take the shuttle to the terminal building and then from here further on... Some went to the El Tigre Excursion, others took transfers to the hotels or have private arrangements. Buenos Aires is always worth a visit!

Here on Fram, it is now7pm, the sun sets, we have left Buenos Aires. Only crew remains on board and all passengers have disemarked. Now the busy crossing starts!

In the name of the entire crew and expedition team on board of Fram we would like to say thanks to all passengers that have cruised with us! Not only on the last trip, but also on all previous voyages! Thank you very much for following the blog and we do hope that in this way you have memories coming back from your voyages- or that you are looking forward in cruising with us in the future!




MV Fram team at West Point together with Mike



Rolling Home

Our trip is coming to an end and we realize that we have been doing a journey in time which represents a jump of around 40 millions years. Yes, because that’s the timespam in which Antarctica has been separated from South America. Our time machine, the Fram has brought us safely from this marvelous detour into the frozen past of “terra incognita”. We have fought the waves, the cold, the ice, the rain, the solitude and the distance and now we are back after 18 days which seems to be like months. The amount of images, views, impressions and pictures we have gathered during this time seems to be a freight of sensations and feelings that can feel a whole life and last forever.

It is impossible to escape the sensation that we have been very privileged to have had the chance to live such an experience, to have enjoyed the friendship of our shipmates, to have savored the tasty meals from our chef, to have been challenged in our curiosity by the lecturers and to have experienced the permanent dedication of the crew and the expedition leader. Antarctica and this trip has given us many lessons and probably one of the most important ones is to have gained the awareness that we have benefitted as a group, the same way that Antarctica has been protected by a group of countries. None of us could have gone on his own to this great continent, this was only possible by the contribution form each one of us.

Now is time to begin to organize our belongings, to settle the first impressions and slowly to say good by to our cozy and adventurous home, the Fram, for the last weeks . While we walk through the ship and say farewell to the different decks, we noticed that we - all of us - also have filled this place with life. The Fram is finishing successfully it´s fourth season in Antarctica and we were there.

If we see the car deck now, we realize how vivid and lively it was when we were hurrying to put our mudboots because another fascinating landing was waiting for us, another island to be discovered, another penguin rookery to be seen and explored. Yes, we will miss these activities, the excitement and the anxiety of getting out to discover the new world that was waiting for us as we visited Antarctica, South Georgia and the Falkland/Malvinas Islands.

THANKS VERY MUCH FOR THIS WONDERFUL TRIP TO THE END OF THE WORLD AND WE WISH YOU A GOOD JOURNEY BACK HOME.

Yet another sea day as we are smoothly sailing towards Buenos Aires.

The trip is coming to an end and today we were confronted by our Hotel Manager with cruel reality: we all need to enroll into a fitness studio or a weight-watching program as soon as we come home!
Here are the shocking figures of what we consumed during the voyage:
- 200 kg of cheese
- 600 kg of potatoes
- 1,200 kg of fish and seafood
- 1,500 kg of meat

- 5,000 eggs
- 900 litres of milk

- 1000 litres of beer (yes, more beer than milk…!)

…and last but not least: 130 cakes…!

Now, we all know that what comes in, also have to come out. And therefore: at least 2,5 km of toilet paper had to be used…

Nevertheless, one thing is for sure: the consumption of seasickness tablets was considerably lower than on most of our voyages!

Fotos by Anke Timmerberg

It's Getting Warmer!

As we move westwards and a little north, the water and air temperatures slowly but steadily begin to climb.  The temperature range of this trip will be between 40˚ and 50˚ C.  We had temperatures of less than -10C in Antarctica and we will likely have between 27˚ and 29˚C in Buenos Aires.  For those of us that live and work on board Fram is a welcome change after a long season in Antarctica.

Today was our first full day at sea on this last leg of our journey.  We had a gentle swell pushing us on the stern quarter for most of the day. Ideal sea conditions for relaxing and enjoying the various programs we had on offer.

Crew participating in a fire drill.
Photo © Annke Timmerberg

As usual on sea days we had a full slate of lectures in both English and German.  At 10:30 the crew participated in a drill.  It was interesting to see them go through their paces dealing with an  imaginary fire.  It was obvious that they had rehearsed similar scenarios many times.

In the late afternoon waffles were served in the Observation Lounge. 

Charity Auction
Photo © Annke Timmerberg

The winning bidder for the ship's flag.
Photo © Annke Timmerberg

At 16:30 there was a charity auction also on deck seven in the Observation Lounge.  There were three items up for auction.  The first item to be auctioned was the ship’s flag signed by the officers and the Expedition Team. The 2nd item was a beautiful painting done by one of the crew members, Peter.  Peter is the 2nd cook and a very talented guy.  Yesterday he was dancing in the crew show!  The funds raised from the sale of the painting would go to the Crew Fund.  The Crew Fund is used to purchase things like bicycles for the crew or perhaps taxi rides when in port, a karaoke machine, play station, etc. In general the Crew Fund enhances the quality of life for crew members when living on Fram.  The marquee item to be auctioned was the Master Chart of this voyage which featured every landing we made on our 19 day grand adventure.  The proceeds from the flag and the chart would go to The Save the Albatross Fund and the South Georgia Heritage Trust.

The winning bidder for the master chart of our voyage.
Photo © Annke Timmerberg

At 22:00 our Captain gave an entertaining presentation in the Observation Lounge entitled From Antarctic to Arctic:  Life in Lapland.

ALL SORT OF COOKIES AND CARACARAS

Hummm......early morning wake up by the wake up master Anja and out of the vessel before 7 AM to visit Carcass Island.  Carcass Island is located on the northernmost part of the Falkland Archipelago and is one of the places that is rat free.  There are many birds, extremely tame on this place and particularly worth to mention the Cobbs Wren an endemic species to the Falklands/Malvinas. Which is not rare here but rare elsewhere.  This area is a great place for birding here we observed birds like the Blackish Cinclodes, the Magallanic Oystercatcher, Steamer Ducks, Ruddy-headed Geese, etc. Some went along the shore line while others went for a hike up the hills but at the end almost everyone converged at the Carcass settlement for a cup of tea and a fantastic assortment of cookies. Yammi, Yammi, Yammi.

Cookies eaten by the Dutch party-Photo: Anke Timmerberg

Striated Caracara - Photo: Anke Timmerberg

As soon as we departed the sky became dark and rain came along. We did the landing at the right time. Then we started the move northward to Buenos Aires. The rest of the day we went to some lectures and the other activities offered on board.

Blackish Cinclodes - Photo: Anke Timmerberg

Sun and sensational



Striated Caracara
Photo by Anke Timmerberg



Rock-hopper penguin
Photo by Anke Timmerberg



This morning at New Island we were greeted by Peale’s dolphins that frolicked around our polarCirkel boats. At the landing we were greeted by inquisitive Striated caracara’s plus bright sun and warm 10°C or 50°F temperatures. On our easy stroll along the pathway through the grassy hills we saw upland geese and a few of the non-native rabbits. The gently rolling hills gave us no clues as to the surprise that lay ahead. Our walk stopped at a cliff edge and on the steep, rocky, guano-covered slopes below us there was a large and crowded rookery. Hundreds of Black-browed albatross, Rock-hopper penguins and Imperial cormorants were nesting or molting here. Needless to say 100’s of photographs were taken.

The perfect weather stayed with us throughout our afternoon landing at West Point Island. There is a full moon tonight and as a result the tide was exceptionally low when we landed at the Settlement pier. Four hours later when we departed the water level had risen by more than a meter or three feet. The rise in water level caused the Expedition team to continually shift our landing site “up” the pier as the tide rose. Needless to say this temporary rise in sea-level did not bother the pairs of Steamer ducks and Kelp geese paddled by the pier throughout our time ashore.

Full moon at West Point Island
Photo by Anke Timmerberg

Most of us walked for about 30 minutes to reach the rookery on the west side of the island. Along our way across the island we noted the differences in the vegetation that result when sheep are allowed to graze in one area and are fenced out of other areas. This rookery was just as large as the one we visited earlier in the day.

Our walk back to the landing pier had a memorable detour. The Napier family opened their cottage to us and put out a fabulous spread of cookies and cakes plus tea and coffee. As our day ashore ended our “sweet-tooth” was more than satisfied and the full moon cleared the horizon on its way overhead.

Nature in and around Port Stanley

Today we arrived in the early morning hours in a very calm Port Stanley. After the disembarkation procedures we divided into different groups, depending where you wanted to go: to the nature treck along the coast into the area of gipsy cove, to the penguin rookeries of bluff cove lagoon behind Stanley or just to go into the city and follow the historical path which leads you to the many places loaded with events and stories of the whole islands and the port.
The time passed too fast, the day was wonderful and while walking, no matter where it was, in the city, close to it or farther away, the bird wildlife was always present. All of us were very fortunate to have been able to observe from closer distance these magnificent shore birds like the Falkland flightless steamer duck, or the Magellanic oystercatcher, or the upland geese, and so on. Nature extended into the inner core of the city itself. The city is on the other hand and extension of British culture and its tradition as you can see from the pictures we took while strolling along its streets.

 

This time of the year is the beginning of the fishing season for the Patagonian toothfish and also for the squid. Therefore it was no wonder to see how fishing vessels were unloaded in the jetty with the priceless catches from the surrounding waters of the islands. There was a mood like being in the harvesting period, when everybody is happy to gather around the yielded crop = fish.The islanders which are called kelpers were very friendly to all of us and so were the few magellanic penguins which still remained in the breeding sites next to Stanley. It was a very calm summers day, with very little wind and a rather pleasant temperature. Our departure in the afternoon was accompanied by many flocks of seabirds and an spectacle of lighting.

Tonight we are sure that we are going to sleep very well with the fresh images of a wonderful day in our memories.

Greetings from the South Atlantic

One more seaday! We took advantage of the sun in order to gather for some photo-shooting on deck 7. Today’s blog shows the results: pictures of some of our passengers who want to say hello to family and friends back home.

 And finally, here comes the expedition staff sending greetings to Karin, the other expedition leader of MV Fram who is currently enjoying her well deserved vacations:

Ok…

Not quite…

After another try…

Here is the correct wording :-):

 

“The Fog Horn”

The Fog Horn

One day many years ago a man walked along and stood in the sound of the ocean on a cold sunless shore and said, "We need a voice to call across the water, to warn ships; I'll make one. I'll make a voice like all of time and all of the fog that ever was; I'll make a voice that is like an empty bed beside you all night long, and like an empty house when you open the door, and like trees in autumn with no leaves. A sound like the birds flying south, crying, and a sound like November wind and the sea on the hard, cold shore. I'll make a sound that's so alone that no one can miss it, that whoever hears it will weep in their souls, and hearths will seem warmer, and being inside will seem better to all who hear it in the distant towns. I'll make me a sound and an apparatus and they'll call it a Fog Horn and whoever hears it will know the sadness of eternity and the briefness of life." 

Ray Bradbury 

Photographing albatross from the Observation Lounge.
Photo © Jessica Arnold.

View from the bow.

View from the stern.

During the first half of our day we were graced with the presence of avian royalty.  Wandering and Black-browed Albatross soared effortlessly about the ship as we made our way steadily west and a little north towards our goal of the Falkland Islands.  It would take two days to make this crossing.  After a couple of days of intensive landings in South Georgia these two days are a welcome respite.

View from port.

View from starboard.

 The second half of the day featured featureless seas.  We sailed in a void.  Wherever you looked the view was the same.  Port, Starboard, Bow, Stern. Up looked the same as out, but down was different.  Looking down, you could see the sea that supported us.  There was no sun to gauge direction.  For all the casual observer could tell, we might have been cruising in circles. 

But the fog made being inside Fram that much more inviting.  Now was an opportunity to review the thousands of images taken over the past two weeks.  The gym was busy all day as was the sauna.  The lecture rooms were full in the morning and in the afternoon.

As we approached the later evening hours the seas dropped further imbuing a gentle motion to the ship that would rock us to sleep.