Sunday, September 25th, 2016
One of the things you have to accept when sailing in an expedition vessel is that the published itinerary is only a guide. Each day we see our expedition staff huddled together pouring over ice distribution charts. Areas of heavy ice are shown coloured red and the charts they are studying look very red to […]
Sunday, September 25th, 2016
Beechey Island is in fact only an island when the tide is high and it becomes separated from Devon island by a transient flow of icy water. Indeed had Sir Benjamin Franklin not chosen it as the sight of his first winter lie over it is quite possible it would not be remembered for much […]
Sunday, September 25th, 2016
Grise Fjord is a peaceful hamlet 715 miles (1,150 kilometres) above the Arctic Circle. It is here we enter Canada and must clear customs and immigration hauling down the Q flag only once the formalities have been completed. The settlement is Canada’s northernmost civilian community and is often cited as the coldest inhabited place on […]
Thursday, September 22nd, 2016
One of the more important things that differentiates the voyages run by Adventure Canada and the cruise ships that carry many times the number of passengers they do are the on board lecture staff. There are over 25 specialist staff on board including several culturists who are of Inuit origin. They give passengers an extra […]
Tuesday, September 20th, 2016
No one ever claimed that you have to be clever to cruise the Arctic and the Polar Dip proves there can be those who are just plain stupid. Either that or they are very very brave. About 20 passengers and Adventure Canada staff gathered together one evening on board Ocean Endeavour to prove their prowess […]
Monday, September 19th, 2016
Summertime visitors to the Arctic are often struck by the surprising abundance of birds and animals they find there. The fact is that few of these actually live in the Arctic. Most spend the winters in much warmer climates down south. As a rule, the number of plant and animal species increases tenfold as you […]
Sunday, September 18th, 2016
The Greenland ice sheet is made up of 1.8 million square kilometres of ice. It is calculated that if it melted, the global sea level would raise by approx. 6 – 7 metres. Ice caps form whenever the summer temperatures are too cool to melt the snow that fell the previous winter. In fact, only […]
Thursday, September 15th, 2016
We landed in Greenland’s only international airport Kangerlussuaq. The town, whose name means ‘the big fjord lies at the end of Sondre Stromfjord. It is one of the longest fjords in the world and boasts 105 miles of superb scenery. Having disembarked our privately chartered airplane we were met at the foot of the steps […]
Thursday, September 15th, 2016
At thirty four years of age the 137 metre Ocean Endeavour is no longer in her first flush of life but she is never the less, a good and comfortable ice class ship well equipped for the waters she is trading in. A good seagoing ship she has a pleasing motion in most seas and […]
Wednesday, September 14th, 2016
The Northwest Passage represents the pinnacle of Arctic exploration. Ice on this permitting, we’ll explore the quaint villages, dramatic fjords and calving glaciers of Greenland, We expect ice, ice, and more ice! Sailing amidst towering icebergs, we’ll witness calving glaciers, explore deep fiords and visit the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Ilulissat Ice fjord. […]
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