Another harbour day in Longyearbyen

Back from another week-long trip around Northern Spitsbergen. We had a lot of good weather, but still too much ice in Hinlopen and around Sjuøyane, so some landings had to be cancelled and the ship had to be rerouted several times.



But nobody seemed to mind, least of all the captain who is remarkably "ice-happy" and cooperative. The group, a mix of Irish, British and Dutch with a couple of other nationalities (Russian, Australian, South African, Swiss, Belgian... forgot any?) were a happy bunch and the only remarkable problem we encountered was another ship that had taken our spot on Fuglesangen - not exactly a first, but definitvely strange to see how Svalbard logistics starts to resemble the Antarctic IAATO bureaucracy more and more, the forms, the "all-ship schedule e-mails" etc.

We finally received the compressor and brand-new scuba tanks (although I will not get too excited until they are actually loaded and stored onboard the vessel). So in fact I will need to rush back to the ship and install and check everything...

Next post in approx. one week.

First Arctic Diving Trip 2007 - some pics and comments

You can find a recently updated selection of Arctic Summer pictures here. The trip started with a minor logistical hickup - the diving bottles and the compressor had not been transferred from the other vessel as planned, and the new equipment that had been bought and shipped as replacements did never arrive in Longyearbyen -but thanks to several helpful contacts in Longyearbyen and Ny-Ålesund, we managed to get everything necessary together within a hectic few hours. Thanks again to the Longyearbyen Dykkerklubb, University Center (logistics department), Norwegian Polar Institute, and Kings Bay a/s.

We had a great trip with 14 divers from the Netherlands, Ireland, and Great Britain, and we managed to get two really good iceberg dives as well as one dive north of 80° N (off Lågøya).

Brilliant weather and plentiful wildlife, experienced divers and a good team of expedition guides (thanks to Martin, Monika, Mick, and Mike) made sure that this trip turned out just great!

In a few hours, Monika, Mick and myself will be off for another seven days of cruising (this time without diving) and I am already looking forward to that. The next posting and fresh pictures will come on the 27.06.

Smaller, lighter, faster, blacker!

So this is it, my official first post from the MacBook!



The good old powerbook will stay at home from now on, I could never bring myself to giving it away (don't even mention selling)...



Actually I am quite happy that I did not wait with the new rig until the old one died - that way I will have a excuse to keep it around, put it on the table from time to time and enjoy the best laptop keybord ever designed.

The best decription I can come up with for the new MB keyboard is "flat". Precise, neat, not bad-looking, but simply "flat". Small, squared keys with minimal resistance and minimal "squeeze".

Pre-season dresscode remarks

It is three days until the Arctic season 2007 starts for me, and I just realized that most people probably have a totally wrong perception of "working at sea": images of sailors with scraggly beards, unwashed feet and rough language spring to mind, while the same "sailors" are expected to be well-kempt, well-dressed and - in short - tamed by their spouses and families.

It turns out it is all the other way around... ;-)



In fact, right now both my landlord (oil platform medic) and his son-in-law (geophysical survey technician) prepare to go out at sea at the same day as me, and we all will have to shave, get a haircut, collect the newly ironed shirts with company logos and start thinking "company-speak" those days before we fly out. Out at work, we will be well-dressed, well-kempt and as polite as possible (well, the oil rig "company speak" might be a bit rougher at times) until we come home again.

Then we will go back to running around in the Harley-Davidson t-shirts, ski bum outfit, and faded jeans (banned on my workplace, can you believe it!) and grow our beards again (as much as our spouses will tolerate...).

Watch out for weekly to bi-weekly updates on the blog on the way things will go in the Arctic: diving, kayaking, new people and new vessels should make for yet another interesting season!