First full day crossing Denmark Strait
Sleep wasn’t good on our first night – we sailed in the aftermath of a storm, and the swells and wind were quite marked, with some bow-slapping in the small hours, resulting in a tossing and turning bed. Also, with a cabin far aftwards, the engine noise seemed quite loud.
The ship time having moved back, we were awake early, with Lynne faced with trying to join a work conference call from an empty Explorer Lounge, and me heading off to explore the gym. Which was a delight! Hotels with gyms are always perfunctory with a few treadmills and cross-trainers, often not working. This one, was as good as it gets without being a proper gym! Most important for me was floor mats, a ‘guided’ squat rack and a good selection of dumbbells.
The following cabin shower was petit, but excellent, and having concluded gym and work call, we repaired for breakfast. This was enhanced by the choice of various types of pickled herring (sill), which appeals greatly to my Swedish roots.
A slow morning after a disturbed night and early start, included a ship’s briefing in the lecture area, and concluded with a bracing exploration of the decks. Definitely a case for the old ship adage: one hand for you, the other for the ship.
We are now well into the Denmark Strait and internet is distinctly tricky, with some occasional access (slowly) available, but some things not possible at all. So, with the hope of some future connectivity, I left Lynne in the cabin to watch a streaming lecture on whales, while I took up position on the ‘photographer’s table’ to open laptop and update this blog.
After dinner we were “invited” to the captain’s reception in the lounge, where we were handed a glass of prosecco to salute our journey. Out of 167 passengers, there were something like seventy Germans, forty-four from the UK, ten French, two Swedes, one Austrian and ten from Australia! The best part of the evening was chatting to Andrew and Angela, two fellow passengers from Jersey.
Just before midnight we were roused from deep sleep to hastily get dressed and make our way up to deck 7…. No, not an emergency, but a sighting of Northern Lights. I confess it was rather bracing with the heaving deck and piercing wind – but it was worth the midnight experience, if not the wait for the sky to explode!
