The hunt of the "Ekvator Certificate"

At 09:20 the "bing-bong" of the PA system sounded, and "Radio Ekvatorrrrrr" were transmitting a very important message to "ALL CREW". If you were not able to produce the one and only accepted evidence of your prior baptism over the Ekvator by 19:00 today, you are doomed on the day of judgement, which in this case is very close. It is the day we cross the Ekvator. You will be pabtised after the terror-regime passed down by generations of sailors. For those of us who have done it, we are in no hurry to do it again. A slight panic in more than one corner (especially the galley according to ships rumour) emerged after the message were transmitted, some went desperatly to their cabins to see if they had it. Others called thousands of miles to get there husbands and wifes to roam around and find this important document. The picture above shows the result of both methods used to retreive it. How many actually did not have the document by 19:00 today, will be reveiled in the blog on the day of judgement. So keep following us:-) 

The weather is beautiful, there is no other word to describe it. Temperature 29 degrees celsius, a comfortable 21 at night. We have had barbeques on deck every evening, how lovely is that?!! The lounge on deck 7 is a cool oasis after being outside for a while. One of these comfortable seats can be your on a crossing in october for approx 500 NOK per day included all meals. 

Todays interview is:

Name: Rune Andreassen

Position: Captain

How long time have you been working for Hurtigruten?
25 years

How many times have you crossed equator with a Hurtigruten Ship?
6 times

What do you like best about equator crossings?
Nice summer weather, and baptism of new crew that never have crossed before
and those who have forgot their certificate. You will never forget your first crossing

Is your job different when the ship do crossings?
I have more time for paperwork and planning of the operation ahead.

Which tasks do you have during the crossing?
Preparing for the next season in Europe/Greenland/Spitsbergen. Planning for the itineraries
for 2013, follow up with the ships management all maintenace and preparations conducted on the crossing. I am also judge for the FRAM Olympic games starting today, and will be going on for more than a week after duties.

The days seems all the same now

The days comes and goes, and they all seem the same now. The chores and the view do not change much. Although the position on the screens do tell us that we are on latitude 29 south now. It is getting considerble warmer day by day. No birds today John, we think we will see more when we approach the brazilian coast in a couple of days or so. We are looking. As you see from the first picture it looks quite inviting to take a plunge in the jacuzzies onboard. They are really nice!

Our Navigation Officer Clyde always seems to be busy on the bridge during his watch hours, although his view is a bit more monotonous than usual. Our medical team spends their spare time puttig together this large puzzle.

Todays crew interview is with
Name: Clarice Tabanao

Position: Receptionist

How long time have you been working for Hurtigruten?
5 months
How many times have you crossed equator with a Hurtigruten Ship?
2
What do you like best about equator crossings?
The games, and the time to relax
Is your job different when the ship do crossings?
No
Which tasks do you have during the crossing?
Inventory of the shopstocks, inventory of the office supplies and tidy up reception area

She will shine

Today was the first day our crossing tasks commenced "full force" after leaving Buenos Aires. All hallways and outside on decks were filled with water hoses, buckets, cleaning liquids, you could smell soap in every corner. A bit bumpier and windy today, resulted in a brisker walk on deck for those of us who do our daily excersice walking deck 5-6-7-8 for an hour or so.

We have arrived at 30 degrees south now and our average temperature is 26 degrees celsius during daytime. Quite comfortable to be onboard at the moment.
A message to our resident ornithologists and birdies. Our own John Chardine sent me a mail today saying "Karin, please have a look out for the tropical bird on the trans-atlantic crossing" Aleksander and I will do so, and promise to post pictures if we see any bewinged friends on our way.

Tonight as we are blogging the Fram Olympic games have started on deck 7, individual events first tonight with darts and table tennis. On my way from the lounge to do this blog the crew asked me to extend a heartily greeting to all you family members who follow us on the blog.

We will present one crew member every day for the duration of the crossing. We have some standard questions which they all will answer

Todays crewmember is Maria Luisa Nagasawa, Leading Stewardess.

How long time have you been working for Hurtigruten?Since 2004 (7 years)
How many times have you crossed equator with a Hurtigruten Ship?
14 times
What do you like best about equator crossings?
Baptism, weather, but do not like to sit too much in the sun, barbeques on deck, Olympic games onboard
Is your job different when the ship do crossings?
No
Which tasks do you have during the crossing?
Clean all passenger and crew cabins, make them shine and spotless. Organise all lockers and do inventory

And then there were no land in sight

Another season in Antarctica is over, the 9th on a row since we started expedition voyages in 2002. Thousands of pictures and impressions of a landscape and atmosphere have been taken, it is hard if not impossible to explain for anyone who has not been there what those photos really show. So if you are reading this blog and have a wish of seeing something spectacular and unlike any other journey, a visit to Antarctica should be on the "bucket list".

 After saying goodbye to colleagues who have been working for months at end, a deserved vacation was well deserved. Peter, Frieda, Bob, Julian, Manuel, Petra and all staff members from the entire season, thank you, thank you for your passion, knowledge and your enthusiasm you bring to this product. Anja & Karin (Expeditionleaders FRAM)

The days onboard on a crossing is quite different from the rest of the year. We have plenty to do, but the pace is somehow slower and relaxed. Imagination runs wild with us sometimes too, as the picture of our new state of the art sound system proves on this picture. Chief Purser Aleksander created a sound room in reception area by using 3 plastic boxes on a wobbly chair, faced his ipad to the microphone of the PA system, turned it on, and voila sound system "extraordinaire".

Here you see Aleksander viewing his new invented sound creation from his office on deck 4. As you see the attire is also less formal on a trans-atlantic crossing. Uniform has been replaced with sneakers and jeans, but as Aleksander so elequently put it, "the work is still the same".

And finally… our voyage comes to an end

The storm calmed down during the night and we could enjoy our last day of the voyage in calm and warm weather conditions. Many of us took the opportunity to sit and sunbathe on decks 5 or 7. Passengers in short sleeves – this is a quite unusual sight on board FRAM who spends most of the year in polar regions!

Creativity Contest

We had the final lectures and also the big final of the famous Creativity Contest. During the voyage, passengers painted, knitted, cut and invented many different items related to our trip. Stories about penguins were written, games with wildlife scenery created, several cartoons composed and even an Antarctic song was sung. Amazing to see how many talented people we have had on board! Manuel as the contest director distributed prizes to all participants: a pin (with a penguin), another pin (from Hurtigruten), a pen (again from Hurtigruten), a hat and a bag!

Then, the Captains Farewell Cocktail took place in the Observation Lounge. After the Captain’s speech and toast, the MV FRAM Choire gave a final performance for all guests. We also learned that we are all going to receive a special “Storm Certificate” for being in yesterday’s hurricane!

The evening concluded with a barbecue on the outside deck and a final quiz with the expedition team. Now we are in the Río de la Plata and will soon arrive in Buenos Aires, our final destination.



Chef Eduardo

All crew on board of FRAM hope that you have enjoyed our trip, that you will long remember the fascinating places and animals we got to see and that you have a safe travel home. Farewell and maybe Welcome Back soon!




Our photographer Simon did a great job to get us all in one foto!

 

Hurricane Day

Today we had an unusual wake-up announcement shortly after 7 this morning. Our captain advised us about FRAM being in a hurricane, Beaufort 12. Most of us had already noticed the strong rolling during the night. Breakfast was served in plastic dishes in order to prevent breaking of glass. Despite the storm, many passengers showed up and most of them were in good mood.

For safety reasons we had to cancel all programs for today. But it was exciting to watch the waves, the lightening and the storm outside.

Calm and Collected

Today we are at sea heading northwest on our transit to Buenos Aires. There are only a few small wind waves from an easterly direction and the FRAM is motoring along quite smoothly with a gentle following wind.
Lectures filled our day and we learned about Life at Port Lockroy, Rounding Cape Horn, Krill, most enjoyably how Penguins have infiltrated our culture, our comics and our clothes.
Two events in the Observation Lounge brought us together today. First we had the ships auction, where the ships flag and the Captains chart of the voyage were bid on by our passengers. The funds collected are passed directly to several non-governmental organizations such as the Antarctic Heritage Trust, the South Georgia Heritage Trust and BirdLife International. Our second event was a wildlife identification quiz where our passengers had to identify species of animals (and humans!) on 28 different photos shown as a slide show.
We conclude the blog of today with a series of pictures of the crew show that took place some days ago in the evening. You will see the great variety of hidden talents we have amongst our personnel!

Elmer juggling

The Philippine's national dance Tinikling performed by Justin,
Sherry Ann, Eric, Elmer, Michael and Barry

Erman: he is not only an excellent singer but also a great presenter of the show

Pineappleman Alfred

Ballroom dancers Justin and Gilbert

The Bawakis Dancers: Peter Ryan, Mervin, Erwin, Elmer and Roger

The famous MV Fram Sexballs: Barry, Roger, Ray, Resty and Peter Ryan

And finally the Russian Maids: William, Henson, Chino and Michael

New Island – where newly hatched albatross sit on million year old rocks

Our last landing started during sunrise in the early morning

New Island is a stop the Expedition team always looks forward to visiting. First there is the friendly greeting by Tony and Kim Chater and their two children (described by Tony as -- quite wild) and Georgina Strange and George who is originally from the Channel Islands. Then there is the easy stroll across the island to the large albatross, penguin and cormorant rookery.

The rocks that underlie this rookery are old. They were deposited 310 to 400 million years ago as seafloor sand dunes off the coast of what is now eastern South Africa. Today these rocks are hard sandstone layers and they form irregular steps and inclines for the penguins to clamber up to breed and feed their young during summer time. The Albatross have it a bit easier as they land (often awkwardly) among their hungry, nearly full grown chicks.

New Island is the home to over 40 species of birds. The Island was formerly a whaling station and later a sheep farm, now it is a Conservation Trust and all the wildlife is protected. No agricultural species are found there, other than the adults plus a few wild children. It is a special place and we are pleased to visit it today and again in the future.

Birdlife and biscuits non-stop

Wow wow wow!!! Today we were overwhelmed by the fantastic variety of bird species living in the Falkland Islands and by the hospitality of the farmers we visited.

Our first landing took place at Carcass Island. Many of us took the chance to walk along the white sandy beach with crystal clear blue-green water. Small little birds called blackish cinclodes and locally known as the tussock bird approached us curiously so that we could almost touch them. In addition, we were able to get many full format portraits of the big striated caracaras which were loitering around and not shy either.

To complete our bird list we could also see the famous steamer ducks, crested ducks, several species of geese (kelp geese, ruddy-headed geese, upland geese), Magellanic oystercatchers, turkey vultures, cobb’s wrens (endemic to the Falklands!), rock cormorants, austral thrushes and many others.

When tired of beach and birds, we could refresh ourselves with a cup of tea in the farmhouse of the McGill’s who had been baking delicious scones and cookies since 4 o’clock in the morning.

It was very difficult to leave this marvelous place, but luckily our afternoon destination was equally attractive. We landed at West Point, another offshore island in the Western part of the Falkland archipelago. Here, our program consisted in a 45 min hike across the hilly landscape (good to stretch our legs!) towards a big rookery. Another penguin colony? - you may ask. And yes! – is the answer! We could finally watch the beautiful rockhopper penguins with the yellow crest and the shiny red eyes. But not only them! Hundreds of black-browed albatross breed in the area as well. At this time of year their almost fully grown chicks are sitting on the nests waiting for the adults to provide food. Much to see and observe!!

It was certainly another highlight of our trip and again, after our hike back, we were treated with more tea and more cakes!

Summertime in Port Stanley

The weather in the morning did not seem to be very promising. The Falkland Island’s coast was hidden in fog and drizzly rain when FRAM approached Port Stanley. But… luckily it did not last too long and finally the sun managed to come through and we could enjoy a truly nice summer day. Well, summer for us, who come from Antarctica and to whom 17°C or 55° F seems almost tropical!

Throughout the day, we joined one of the several excursions or explored Stanley and surroundings on our own. In the city we had the chance to visit the cathedral, go to the very interesting and varied museum or to enjoy a good pint of beer in one of the very British pubs. We also found plenty of souvenir shops that offer penguins in all colours and shapes: on stamps, on mugs, as necklaces, as cuddly puppets, as backpacks, on socks, underwear… and even toilet paper!



Now FRAM has set sails again and some dolphins accompanied us for a while as we were heading westwards to some smaller islands which we plan to visit tomorrow.

Magellanic Penguins... a new species of penguin!



Diddle-Dee and Bolax - vegetation at
long last!



The typical Upland Geese



A typical sea day on FRAM



Some passengers sort their photos or
chat with friends...



... others study the information
on our board...

...shopping is also an option...

...and playing games is popular, too!

Today, once more, we have the opportunity to see how life on board our ship is perceived by our guests from Port Lockroy:

"The ‘Port Lockroy Girls’ (aka Hen and Nikki) have been thoroughly enjoying the company of fellow FRAM passengers. It’s been wonderful talking to everyone onboard and sharing the first experiences of visiting the outstandingly beautiful island of South Georgia. It is also our first time visiting the Falkland Islands, which is tomorrow! There is a real buzz about the ship with people recalling the amazing sights of the last few days, and looking ahead to further wildlife adventures.

Meanwhile, on board Fram during the sea days we have been getting to know people from lots of different countries; a large number are from Germany and Great Britain, and also passengers from North America, Australia, Japan, Norway, France, Italy and South Africa! It is such a lovely atmosphere here, helped by the fact that the buffet dinners (on days where there are landings), allow for everyone to change tables and mix together. As always, the food has been spectacular – we are particularly amazed at how the salad stays so fresh and crispy!

The friendly and expert Expedition Team have been working hard at ensuring we are fully prepared for our time ashore – with fascinating talks just today on geo-politics and the abundant wildlife of the Falkland Islands, so that we can recognise various species, learn more about the background of the islands, and make the most of our time here.

We have had a spot or two of sunshine today, but mostly calm waters and the fog has descended. The seabirds, including many black-browed albatross, have been circling the ship, and Manuel and Petra have been capturing and releasing some of the smaller birds that have decided to take a ‘rest’ on board Fram! Expedition Leader Anja has hinted at sunshine for our time in Stanley, together with a potential balmy high of 15 degrees Celsius! We are all looking forward to stretching our legs in the ‘Big Town’ and departing on various excursions. "