Tuesday 20 July 2010

Enter, The Twilight Zone

Our morning was spent in a fog.  No. Not the alcohol induced kind of fog.  It was a dense sea fog that often happens when cold water and air, meet warm air.  Hundreds of northern fulmars escorted the ship riding the brisk winds like a massive invisible roller coaster

Despite limited visibility we were still able to spot whales.  In fact there were numerous sightings throughout the morning and into the early afternoon.  While most of the whales were far off of our route, we were able to ascertain that at least some (if not all) were humpback whales.

And then as if by plan, at about 14:30 the fog parted, the sun burst forth and there lay Greenland!  It could not have been more dramatic. It was almost like the curtains opening at the start of a play.  Barren, rounded mountains loomed out of the ocean just a few miles ahead.

Our goal for the afternoon was to cruise through a very narrow, very beautiful passage in the southernmost part of Greenland called Prins Christian Sund (no, that's not a typo).   Prins Christian Sund stretches for 55 nautical miles. It would take us six hours to navigate.
Soon the outside decks were festooned with a couple of hundred camera slinging, blue-jacketed, happy, smiling people.  Dozens of waterfalls that were fed by glaciers high above us tumbled down the bare rock.  The narrowest part of the channel was a meer 350 metres across.

Strange. As we exited the channel we could see the fog bank lying in wait.  I half expected to hear Rod Serling's voice from The Twilight Zone on our public address system. Still, it added a weird sort of symmetry to wrap up our day.