8/26/2014: Long Day's Journey

One last sunset at the Sjohus

In many parts of my hometown of Farmington, Maine you can't make a call with a cell phone. In Ingoya however the service is impeccable across the entire island and I am now on the Hurtigruten sailing through the Arctic Ocean with high speed wi-fi. Go figure. 

The crew sprang out of bed this morning at 5 am to catch a ride with Erland on his fishing boat. As per usual, it was also a fine time to decide to pack. I have no clue where everything is except somehow encompassed by my two bags. 

Erland's Boat

The back of Erland's boat. This thing has to be as tall as it is long.

Erland was prompt to meet us and by 5:50 we were motoring toward the windmills that supply Havoysund with electrons. Mike and I were just remarking that (so far) this has been the smoothest transition out of the field. The gear was packed, we woke up, and walked 15 steps out the door to our personal ferry complete with fish hold.

The crew aboard

Gear packed in fish tanks

The lower deck of Erland's boat

Coffee maker is bolted down. Always secure the coffee.

Captain's chair on the starship Erland. I thought there would be a big wheel but all the steering was done by the little black knob and a digital screen showing the bearing in the lowest part of the picture on the left hand side. 

Glad we're not flying with this load

 Unloading had to happen very quickly because we could see the Hurtigruten in the distance and they would be less than pleased if we were taking up the dock. The turn around time this huge boat spends on the dock is incredibly quick. I think to load gear, cars, and people all happened in under 5 minutes. Very efficient the Norwegians.

Norse boats of any size can somehow turn on a dime

Deck 7 observatory 

Interior balconies: very nice

Plenty of geology to see along the way as expert rockhound Retelle points out from the map.

 Now we motor towards Hammerfest (still the best town name) and will have a 2 hour stay before heading further south for Tromso with en ETA of 11:45 pm. If I could take this thing all the way to Portland, I would. 

If you are interested in learning more about our ship, the Polarlys, and the huge Norwegian fleet of Hurtigrutens that service the coast from Oslo to Finnmark, check the link below and explore their website. Very informative and you can track the boats progress with the second link and the interactive map.

The Polarlys

Interactive map showing the progress of each Hurtigruten