There and back again with Bob, Anna, Shirley & Paul

  8/31/2023 In the Gulf of St. Lawrence               We are now on Atlantic Time.  It is a very rainy morning, but the weather is schedule to clear up later as we pass through the current cold front.  We were scheduled to stop at L’Anse aux Meadows.  We are glad they cancelled because it would have been miserable slogging through the Muskeg looking at ruins on this cold and wet day.  Of course, we would have done it, and therefore have the right to complain.  This is the lot of the pilgrim – there is no reward without suffering.  (Shirley and Paul considered our transfer at the Toronto Airport our bit of suffering this trip.)   As the picture of our ship’s position shows, we are in the Strait of Belle Isle, northern entrance from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf of St. Lawrence and eastern Canada. The strait, 90 mi (145 km) long, 10 to 17 mi wide, and lying between Newfoundland (...

  8/30/2023     In the Labrador Sea               So, we have a sea day and that means lots of activity on board.  Lectures, dance classes, eating, walking the promenade and more eating are just some of the activities available.  We could also just sit in one of the comfortable spots and watch the sea go by as we pretend to read a book. (Or, in Shirley’s case – actually read a book.    )   Thinking about the voyage, one of the striking things is the people one meets, and, how they differ from other cruise lines.  Viking has a no child policy and has many enrichment programs designed for the niche of people they want cruising.  Other cruise lines specialize in different niches and that is as it should be.  For Shirley and Paul (Bob and Ann too) this niche is perfect.  And so, we meet a lot of people like us (PLU).  That is not a value judgement at a...

  8/29/2023   Farewell to Greenland.   It seems that there is a hurricane in the Atlantic.  According to the National Hurricane center, Hurricane Franklin is currently (11:00 AM EDT Tue Aug 29) located at 30.8°N 70.4°W (that’s off the coast of Savannah some hundreds of miles), with the following characteristics: Moving: NNE at 12 mph, Min pressure: 941 mb and Max sustained: 130 mph.   Here is the future-cast:               For this reason, our port of L’Anse aux Meadows has been cancelled. we will now be at sea for the next two days porting in Sydney Nova Scotia on September 1.  Although Franklin is expected to miss the Newfoundland/Labrador area, they are expecting strong winds.  As L’Anse aux Meadows is a tender port, the risk of life and limb versus the safety of the passengers has influenced the Captain to make this change. Good for him!   L’Anse aux Meadows , turned conventional wisd...

  8/29/2023 Qaqortok               It was an early day as our “tour” organized at 7:30 AM.  I use quotes, because it was a self-guided walking tour around Qaqortoq – the second largest town in Greenland.  They have fishing, fur and ship repair businesses going on and, of course, tourism.  We tendered to the pier where we perused a gift shop and commenced to walking around.  Qaqortoq is Greenland’s art capital.  And we did see a lot of art in various venues.  One of the most interesting was the rock art.        Paul and Shirley (who is pointing at the Narwhale) Nikki explaining Aka's art Bob and Ann by the fish    Aka Høegh  as a young girl always saw faces in the rocks.  As an accomplished artist, she conceived of the stone project in Qaqortoq.  A local guide, Nikki (or maybe Niqii) explained the art along the path and answered t...

  8/28/23               Prince Christian sound and Nanortalik Greenland    We were to turn our clocks back to Nuuk time, but Paul woke up on Cape Verde time (4 AM) and looked out the window and saw that iceberg pictured against the coast of Greenland.  The dawn was breaking, and the southern tip of Greenland was two points off the bow.  Two great memories captured by the trusty iPhone.  The sky was clear and humidity low and so we could clearly see a long way.  We were blest with sunny weather the whole day.   We did not sail around the tip of Greenland to the western settlements on our itinerary. Instead we sailed through Prince Christian Sound.  Here are some of the comments we heard:  This is better than New Zealand … This is more amazing than the Drake passage … Clearly the best part of the trip … and on and on. We could not agree more about the utter raw beauty of...

            Our location Wind speed                                                                                             Wave height                                                  Video of the Greenland sea as the Viking Sky steams west   Random thought about a sea day:   Watching the Ocean is a never ending source of wonder.  It is always the same, yet always different.  It’s the difference between the macro and micro scale. While we watch the horizon, all we see is a lot of blue with w...

  8/26/2023                    Isafjordur   Our tour organized at 1:30 in the afternoon, so we decided to explore the town in the morning.  The weather was quite pleasant – cloudy, 50’s, a bit of wind.  We left at 9:30 and were back at 11 (not a very large town).  The houses were quite nice, and a few shops were open.  We managed to complete our mandatory purchasing and have an invigorating stroll.  Isafjordur is on a peninsula in the middle of one of the west Fjords – that hand like part in the Northwest of the country as you look on the map.  Fishing is the main source of employment and revenue although there is a University here (as we later found out).                                                     ...