Arctic: Unicorns from above
Bellot Strait On the west side of the NW Passage most of the transits are through wide sounds and most of the islands are quite flat and low. Honestly it’s not the most interesting scenery. Things start to get more interesting as you head east as the islands become more mountainous and numerous. Once you cross through a narrow gap between the northernmost point of North America and (insert name of island I can’t recall) things get more interesting. The passage is called Bello
Svalbard: Russian Mona Lisa
I have to get this down as quickly as possible so I don’t forget things. I might do some editing but if it gets choppy or disconnected just know it was a burst of creativity. We are in Barentsburg right now. It’s a Russian Territory, yet we are on a Norwegian Island chain. I don’t quite understand how that can happen, but it’s happening here. This place is one of just a few remaining coal mining operations left in Svalbard, most of the others either caught fire (one has been
Svalbard: "This is what we do"
We left the European continent and headed into open water for 500 miles of rolling in the North Sea. To say that time passed slowly would be an understatement. There were occasional bouts of sea bird activity, but since the entire track would be over the continental shelf, finding whales was tough and made all the more difficult in the wind-strewn sea. Despite several hours of heavy rolling, we made great time across and today we are enjoying the fruits of our bumpy crossing
