10 September 2023

We were rudely awoken by the Captain this morning, ordering us up on to the top deck. Not to walk the plank, or scrub the deck, thankfully.

It was just after 7:30 am and we were slightly north of 66 degrees latitude (66° 33′ north in fact! ) We were about to cross the Arctic Circle!!

It’s never too early for champagne!!

Poor Emily! Not an early morning type of person, she struggled out of bed, having wrestled with her conscience. Whether to stay in a nice warm bed for another hour of sleep, or drag herself out into the bracing wind and cold weather to cross an imaginary line in the ocean was quite a decision to make. Not sure if it was the thrill of crossing the line, or the lure of champagne that won her over.

Now, Wikipedia tells me that the Arctic Circle moves north by about 14.5 metres every year, so the positioning of the little globe to indicate 66.33’N might not necessarily be correctly placed anymore. It’s something to do with the earth’s axial tilt and the moon and it’s tidal pull. But don’t worry, in 40,000 years it will back to where it currently sits!!

We went our separate ways for the next few hours. Em went back to bed, Grahame found a cosy spot on Deck 7 to listen to the nail-biter game between the Knights and the Raiders and I headed off to the little gym and cycled my way past an ever changing landscape. (I had intended to use the gym everyday! Hah!)

The Arctic Circle Crossing Ceremony was held an hour or so later. We were invited back on deck for the ritualistic welcome and blessing by the Captain and King Njord of the Sea.

The enticement to be “baptised” was a follow up shot of “Firewater”. After a unexpectedly healthy ladle of ice and freezing water poured over our heads and down our backs, the Firewater was extremely welcome. We were fortunate to have not received the whole bucket full over our heads. Some were not so lucky!

The town of Bodø was a bit of a disappointment, really, but it was good to get off the boat and have a wander around . To be fair, it was Sunday and the place was deserted. Emily mentioned that she thought she saw tumbleweed roll down the street.

Apparently, Bodø was named one of the European Capitals of Culture for 2024 but we couldn’t find any!

The town boasted a little church with a cool tower and a little flat area nearby, that we later discovered was the local outdoor ice skating rink. But that’s about as exciting as it got.

We made it back to the boat, after a very quick lap of the town, with plenty of time to spare.

Back on the “high seas“, we passed by yet another impressive lighthouse, Landegode Lighthouse.

From here, things got a little bumpy as we crossed Vestfjorden to Lofoten Island. We spent the crossing in the pointy bit, dozing, reading and rainbow spotting. This was the longest period of time in open water that we have had, and despite being on wildlife lookout, we saw very little of anything. I spent the time rewriting all of yesterdays blog after having accidentally deleted it! (Something I’ve managed to do twice now!)

Our first port of call on Lofoten was Stamsund where we dropped off some passengers who had booked excursions and a few pallets of cargo. We would see the adventurers again a few hours later in Svolvær where they rejoined the ship.

After yet another fantastic dinner, the boat pulled into Svolvær. Grahame and I piled on several layers of warm clothing and went for an evening walk. It was “brisk” indeed. We happened across one of the boat’s Expedition leaders wandering around in just a t-shirt and some light trousers. There’s a lot to be said for acclimatisation!!!

Svolvær, by night, looked quite interesting. It is yet another Adventure Centre, with activities ranging from RIB boating to fishing in the harbour. I think we will call here during the day time on our return journey so …. Watch this space. But just a heads up. I won’t be going fishing!

Just as we returned to our cabin, we were summoned, yet again, on deck. The captain had assessed the weather conditions and decided it was safe for us to venture into the amazing Trollfjord. It was 11.30 at night. This time we were supplied with a lovely hot soup and the opportunity to purchase an expensive little momento of our midnight visit to this amazing place . We purchased a small tin cup filled with a nice hot drink of something resembling Glühwein. It was very well received, out on deck, in the dark , cold, blustery wind.

The fjord had an extremely narrow entrance and steep-sided mountains surrounding it. At only 2 kms long, the cliffs at the end make for an abrupt fullstop. As our boat “steamed” towards the cliffs, I was hoping that the Captain had not partaken of any of the Glühwein, or anything else for that matter.

We did the most incredible 180 degree turn virtually on the spot, inside the fjord, before returning back along the narrow passage way and back out to “sea”. Only the two spotlights showed us the way.

Back in 1969, a British Captain who ventured into Trollfjord and completed the 180 degree turn is reported to have said of the experience that “he nearly gave birth to kittens”( Google). In 2023, I think I almost did the same!

We returned to our cabin after midnight, exhausted, cold but elated.

It had been an eventful day and we finally got to wear our winter woolies!!!