A deep rumble is filling the ship in the morning, heads are lifting during breakfast, people stop reading and look around. But not to fret, this is just a necessary growl of the bow thrusters to better get around one of the many, many icebergs that we meet on our way back through the Vaigat Sound.
MV FRAM is one of the most manoeuvrable ships in the business, using two Azipod propulsion engines that can swivel full circle. Together with the tunnel thrusters we can literally turn on the spot, go sideways or in any required angle.
A useful feature in these waters, where you sometimes have a surface ice coverage of 8 out of 10...
Approaching our destination for the day, the glacier Eqip Sermia, we have not so many reasons to be optimistic, the whole fjord seems full with ice. But our captain shows determination beyond measure and - ever so slowly - we get closer and closer until, like a miracle, the huge glacier appears on our port side.
Point of fact, it is two glaciers we see, both having a very wide collar made of brash ice. Just a few hundred meters further inland they both will join their Big "Mother", the Greenlandic Ice Cap.
Just before we get to our favourite beach the conditions improve even further, hardly any wind, free passage to the landing site, and surprisingly few mosquitoes. Oh, and did I mention the perfect blue skies...??
