Friday 6 June 2014

A Day at Sea is a Day at Ease

I can not begin to describe you how lucky we are on this crossing of the Denmark Strait. This waterway is usually a nasty one, and can easily compete with the infamous Drake Passage down south between Patagonia and Antarctica.
Not today. Hardly we feel the ship moving, a steel-gray flat-calm sea is carrying us towards Greenland on a south-westerly course. A gentle breeze and blaming temperatures complete the comfort. It is difficult to imagine that right here we could as well face 12-meter waves and violent storms at the same time of the year.
Everything is so soothing today! The lecture program is entertaining and the information briefings bring everybody up to speed. The captain receives visitors on the bridge to explain the ships systems, books are read high up in the panorama lounge, from where the occasional whale is spotted throughout the day. Our musician Michael provides ear candies with his guitar playing and singing, the meals are taken slowly - we do have time.
Seabirds come to pay us a visit only once in a while, as they love stronger winds, the horizons stretch all around us. We are in the middle of a friendly ocean.
Tomorrow we will reach the longitude of Kap Farwell, the southernmost part of Greenland. The question is: Will we be able to see it? The bridge informs us about the latest ice report, and it seems that there is a long ice field embracing Greenland’s South right now, which would force us to take a detour.
There is only one way to find out - let’s go and have a look.

One thing is for sure: Tomorrow will be an ice day!