At Sea
September 30 – October 14, 2012
DAY 1 – Sunday, 30 Sept.
After spending the morning doing last-minute chores and repacking our bags, we loaded back onto the bus for the short trip down to the harbour where Antigua was waiting for us, tied up to the quay. We loaded our gear aboard, found our cabins, and assembled in the main saloon where the captain welcomed us and together with the senior crew took us through the safety regulations.
In order to make the most of the diminishing light at this time of year we have set our clocks to ship’s time, 2 hours ahead. Our itinerary this afternoon and this evening takes us west out of Isfjorden and north up Forlandsundet where we shall anchor off Poolepynten, a point which projects from the east side of Prins Karl Forland, 78deg26’N, a small island west of Spitsbergen.
The surrounding mountains are all dusted with a light covering of snow; the first snowfall of the season fell here just a day or so before we arrived. To the WSW the setting sun creates reds and yellows through the clouds as we motor at about 8 knots through the gentle swell.
DAY 2 – Monday, 01 Oct.
Last night we anchored about 200 metres off the beach at about 0300, and this morning we got up to a cloudless sky, 0deg C, and a full moon which shone brightly on the snow-covered hills above the shore. We spotted arctic foxes and a group of reindeer on the beach, but fortunately no polar bears, otherwise it would have been unsafe to go ashore. After breakfast there was another safety talk, this time about putting ashore in the inflatables and on polar bear safety. Whenever we are on shore we are accompanied by our three guides, Theres, Sarah and Michelle who are armed with rifles and flare guns. Once we were all ferried to the beach the guides spread out to guard a triangular area of about 200 metres along the beach and up further inshore, while we all pursued our individual tasks, some unpacking boxes of equipment, cameras and painting supplies, while others like me spent the 2 hours walking around snapping pictures and taking in the beauty of the scenery. The air was so crisp and clear that even though the sun was never more than about 30deg above the horizon images were bright and seemed much closer than they really were. The temperature was not too cold, but I was glad of my fleece pants and down jacket.
This afternoon, unfortunately, we had to turn around towards Longyearbyen, as one of the American artists fell seriously ill and need to be transported to the hospital. At about 5pm we were met by a helicopter which performed an impressive and difficult airlift from the aft deck, and Shawn was whisked off to the emergency department. We then turned around again, and after motoring most of the night anchored in July Bay on the NE side of Kongsfjorden.
DAY 3 – Tuesday, 02 Oct.
Fjortende Julibukta (July 14th Bay), 79deg05’N, 011deg50’E. Temp. -4deg C. This morning I stayed aboard and worked on my piece while most of the others went ashore. After lunch a few of us were driven in a Zodiac up to the head of the bay where a glacier flows into the ocean. The sky was clear and the sun bright, and we could see many colours in the ice, from clear to shades of white and blue to browns and blacks where the glacier had picked up gravel and rocks. As we motored the mile or so up to the head of the bay, the cliffs of the glacier grew bigger, and there was more and more ice floating on the surface: large and small bergy bits, and flat sheets of freshly frozen seawater. We took a lot of photos and video clips, and the other three all had microphones and hydrophones, through which one could hear the sound of ice bubbles escaping from the melting ice – sounding like an underwater waterfall. I wonder if these sounds can be imitated accurately by singers…?
A curious harbour seal swam past, and we also saw kittiwakes and a glaucous gull. The highlight of the afternoon was when some great chunks of ice calved from the glacier, causing ice and spray to fly for a hundred meters and creating a sound like thunder. Then came the long, slow waves, maybe 2 meters in height but with such a large frequency that we were in no danger.
Then back to the boat for tea as we raised anchor and motored to a new anchorage a few hours north.
DAY 4 – Wednesday, 03 Oct.
Magdalene Fjord, 79deg33’North. Temp. -1deg C. We pulled into Trinityhamna, a well-protected anchorage last night about 10pm and are anchored not far from a flat beach which projects from the south side of the otherwise deep fjord. Another cloudless day as the moon gradually sets below the open ocean to the west and the sun rises over the hills on the eastern side. There is a small park warden’s hut at the foot of a moraine but it not staffed now that the high season is over.
I went ashore for a couple of hours in the afternoon. The temperature had warmed up a bit from the morning and I found I didn’t really need my gloves. The beach was covered in hundreds of small melting ice floes from the glacier at the head of the fjord, all with different, interesting and photogenic shapes. I also saw a large set of caribou (reindeer) antlers partly buried in the snow, sandpipers on the beach, and polar bear footprints. No bears today, though!
Our Belgian guard Sarah went for a swim and climbed up on an iceberg. We timed her – she stayed in for just over a minute.
There was news today from Shawn who is in hospital in Tromsø – he is doing well, recovering from a twisted intestine.
DAY 5 – Thursday, 04 Oct.
Still at Magdalene Fjord. A flat promontory projects into the fjord surrounded by majestic mountains. This one of the most often visited fjords in the area due to the remains of the summer whaling station of Gravneset, including about 130 graves from burials stretching over almost 200 years, from the early 17th until the late 18th c. The English set up here early in the whaling period and called the area Trinity Harbour. Danes, Dutch, French, Spanish and German whalers also used the harbour and others like it elsewhere in Svalbard. It was the Bowhead, Greenland or Right Whale (Balaena mysticetus) which was hunted, almost to extinction – its oil was used in soap-making, rope-making, as lantern oil, and in the preparation of cloth and textiles, skins and leather, and as a mixing agent in pigments and paints. The baleen was used for various purposes, including the stays of corsets worn by fashionable women. Despite the dangers of whaling and the presence of polar bears, the greatest cause of death was disease, and many died of scurvy.
Today has been somewhat overcast and more damp. I stayed in this morning and worked on my piece, writing another minute and a half or so. This afternoon I joined 20 others on a hike around the shore to an adjoining fjord (Gullybre) with another glacier at its end. There were fresh polar bear tracks, and we set off with four guards, but no sign of our “furry friend.” A slow walk, about an hour and a half, up and down over moraines and along the beach took us up to one side of the glacier, and we climbed up high enough that we could see large crevasses on the surface. We missed the afternoon tea break, but when we finally returned about six there was still some cake left! The plan is to stay in this anchorage one more night, and then head off in the morning at first light.
I’ve asked my room-mate Marcus from North Dakota to write me some words, and tomorrow I hope to have some text from him to set. The piece is taking shape, with an opening section on some words by Robert Service, a section about the Polar Bear (Norwegian name “isbjørn”), and something about the arctic in general. I’m also getting some good pictures (more than you see here) which I may be able to use as a kind of precursor or accompaniment to the performance (slide show in the lobby?).
DAY 6 – Friday, 05 Oct.
Raudfjorden. 79deg44′ North. Temp. -1deg C. We anchored here about 1930 hrs. after a full day of motoring and sailing. This morning we had quite a lumpy sea as we motored north and a few people retired to their bunks. The crew came round the saloon and attached the chairs to the floor with bungie cords, and the kitchen staff replaced the glasses with plastic cups. Out on deck it started to snow but a few hardy souls were out taking pictures and enjoying the waves. After lunch we motored into Fuglefjorden to admire the huge Svitjodbreen glacier – the highest one we’ve seen so far. The captain sailed the ship fairly close to the active blue glacier walls and I did see a small piece calve off and fall into the sea. Then we motored out again and round to the east where we set the square sails on the foremast and continued downwind as far as our present anchorage. The name Raudfjord comes from the fact that the hills around (which we can’t see because of the snow) are coloured red with iron oxide from the Devonian.
DAY 7 – Saturday, 06 Oct.
Raudfjorden. Temp. -3deg C. Grey skies and fresh snow on the deck this morning. Today I am staying in to write, and I seem to be on a roll so far. Have added another couple of minutes to the choral piece, and also done some work on a piano concerto I’ve been writing on and off over the past few years.
Up on deck it’s a good day to take black and white photos – the sky, the shoreline, the glaciers, the mountains and the sea are all various shades of grey and white.
DAY 8 – Sunday, 07 Oct.
At sea, motoring through grey swells under a cloudy sky, with temperature hovering around 0deg. Our destination today is Liefdefjorden, around Velkomstpynten, our most northerly point at around 79°52′ N Lat. and then south into Woodfjord. I spent some time on the bridge this morning watching our progress on the GPS and chatting to the First Mate. We had hoped to put up the sails today, but the wind is only blowing at about 5 knots, scarcely enough to fill the canvas, but we are motoring at about 8 knots and at this rate will make our anchorage by early evening.
This afternoon we spotted a polar bear on a small island, and the captain brought us up as close as possible to the beach so that we could see. He was eating a seal that he had pulled up onto the beach, and didn’t seem bothered by a boatload of camera-toting artists.
Also under the heading of entertainment during our passage today we had talks from two of the guides. One on polar bears (aptly timed) and another on life in Longyearbyen (the principle town of Svalbard).
DAY 9 – Monday, 08 Oct.
Hornbaekpollen, Liefdefjorden. 79°36′ N. Temp. -3° C, partly cloudy. Anchored in a well-protected spot on the north side of the fjord. The bay is nameds for Helge Hornbaek, a hydrographer with the Norwegian Polar Institute. Mostly clear skies today, crisp, with fresh snow on the deck. A steep slope to the north, low islands to the south, and a glacier to the NW. Conversation at the breakfast table this morning about the way that distances can be distorted or difficult to judge in the Arctic air. A fox on shore can seem as big as a polar bear. A glacier 6 miles away can seem only a mile or two distant. One of the reasons is that there are no objects to compare with – no trees, no buildings, no people, just bare, snow-covered rock and tundra. The arctic in winter is like a desert – the air is very dry, but inversions of warm air and cold air can act as lenses to create optical illusions or arctic mirages.
This afternoon I went ashore and took a lot of photos. The sun never really rose from behind the mountains to the south but near the end of the afternoon it swung across to a valley where a large glacier ran down to the sea. The glacier was too far away for us to see it calving but every five or ten minutes we would hear a great thunderous boom as another chunk of ice broke off and splashed into the fjord. Found an abandoned reindeer antler on the beach.
Once we were all aboard the crew raised the anchor and we motored out of the anchorage. Passing by the same place where we had seen the polar bear yesterday we saw him there again, still working away on the seal.
I have about 8 minutes of the choral piece written now.
Day 10 – Tuesday, 09 Oct.
Biscayarhuken. 79°50′ N. A little anchorage on the NW shore of Breibogen (still on the north side of Spitsbergen). Weather warmer today (+5°C). This morning, with new text from Marcus, I have written another 5 minutes or so of music for the 2nd section of the piece. This afternoon the plan is to raise anchor and sail/motor south to the research station at Ny-Ålesund.
LATER. We raised sail about 1400 hrs. and continued south with a fair breeze for about 3 hours. After the sails were raised I went up to the bridge and the First Mate let me take the helm for a couple of hours. Then as we swung south the wind was right on our nose so we furled the sails and started up the motor again. It is getting darker earlier now as we lose about 20 minutes of daylight each day, and we only have about 8 hours of light now.
Day 11 – Wednesday, 10 Oct.
Ny-Ålesund. 79°01’N, 011°24’E. Temp. 2° C. We arrived here this morning around 0930 (ship’s time) after motoring all night into a southerly wind and 2 – 3 m. waves. Around 2300 hrs. last night there was a rattling of chain as the port side anchor windlass slipped and let out the anchor and about 30 m of chain. This took a bit of time to hoist back in the lumpy seas, but this time the windlass was well tightened!
Ny-Ålesund is a research town run by the ex-mining company Kings Bay which owns all the land. Mining took place here from 1917 – 1929 and 1945 – 1963. Now about 150 people live and work here during the summer, but the winter population is only about 30. Eleven countries have permanent research stations here, and the largest is the Norwegian Polar Institute whose building we toured this afternoon. Most of the research is environmental, as one might guess: biology, climatology, meteorology, glaciology, etc., and a lot of this focuses now on global warming and the effect of climate change on the arctic. We watched the daily weather balloon being launched and also walked out to the air balloon mast that the explorer Amundsen used in his balloon trip to the North Pole in 1926. Also visited the small museum and information centre and made a few purchases in the tourist store that was opened up for us. Before setting off again a few of us decided to take a polar swim down at the beach with a small iceberg floating just a few metres away. Invigorating! Then, as members of the unofficial arctic polar bear club we were treated to a drink at the ship’s bar. At 1700 hrs. we set sail for the Russian settlement of Barentsburg.
Day 12 – Thursday, 11 Oct.
Barentsburg. 78°04′ N, 014°12′ E. Overcast, 2° C. This is the main Russian settlement in Spitsbergen. Named for Willem Barents, the Dutch explorer who officially discovered Spitsbergen in the 16th century, it was a whaling settlement in the 17th and 18th centuries but has been a coal-mining town, on and off, since the 1920s. The Russian company that now owns the town brings in workers on a 2-year contract. After a short Russian lesson to teach us some useful phrases like “privyet” (hello) and “spasiba” (thank you) we were guided around by the English teacher who is there on a 4-year contract from Ukraine – one of the few people in town who speaks English – and for us he also opened the museum and the gift-shop. Just over 400 people currently live here, and there are about 35 children at the school. The buildings are a mixture of old and dilapidated and new and quite modern. Apart from the school we walked past the large sports centre and community hall, some research buildings, the church, the hospital, and of course residential buildings. Although Barentsburg is now a Russian community, the town is still part of Norway and the currency is the Norwegian kroner. However, the locals are paid in rubles and not allowed to have kroner, so the only way they can purchase merchandise is with a debit card which deducts money directly from their pay. Monuments and large murals represent a mixture of the old Soviet regime as well as modern Russia.
LATER. On our way to the Russian settlement of Pyramiden the wind was favorable, the sun came out, and we raised all the sails (all 14 of them). This took a while, but a lot of people came out on deck to help. Then one of the zodiacs was lowered and some of us went out to take pictures of Antigua under full sail (see below). Then of course the wind changed and in order to keep the sails up we had to sail further south than we wanted so eventually they all had to come down again and be furled. Now clouds have moved in and we’re motoring in drizzle. Arrival expected some time later tonight.
Day 13 – Friday, 12 Oct.
Pyramiden. 78°39′ N. Temp. -8° C. Further up into the Isfjord and in a northern branch called Billefjorden is the abandoned Russian mining town of Pyramiden (Russian Pyramida). In 1911 a Swedish company started mining here but success was limited and in 1926 it was sold to Russia. In 1931 it was taken over by the government controlled Trust Arktikugol. It was evacuated in 1941 but not damaged during the war (unlike Barentsburg) and so mining was able to start up again in 1946. The population increased, and in 1989 a hotel for tourists opened. By 1998 there were over 1,000 people living and working here – it was a bigger town than Barentsburg – but when the Russian economy slumped that year the mine was suddenly closed and the town evacuated within a week. Now the future is uncertain, but for the time being the buildings are generally in decent repair and if the mine should start up again the town could be re-occupied. Presently there are 2 maintenance staff living in Pyramiden just to keep the generator running and maintain a presence on the site, and to collect “harbour fees” from visitors.
The town is in a stunning location, with Pyramid mountain towering to the north. The bay was beginning to freeze over today (the temperature dropped 10 degrees overnight and today was around -8deg C), and this is the main reason why in 1998 Pyramiden was closed instead of Barentsburg – the latter is accessible by sea all year round.
Accompanied by our bear guards we visited the town this morning. We saw no polar bears but did encounter an arctic fox hanging around the main part of town. The maintenance staff let us into the Culture Centre where there is a large 400-seat theatre, with a wreck of a grand piano on the stage, meeting and exhibit rooms, a library and a large gymnasium. Around the walls were posters and signs of an active cultural life of musical concerts, stage shows and theatre.
NORTHERN LIGHTS. Last night just after 2 a.m. we were woken up by the ship’s captain to tell us that there were northern lights in the sky! This was our first opportunity to see the Aurora Borealis and we all wrapped up warmly and hurried out on deck to see great bands of yellow-green light stretched across the northern sky. The stars were also extremely clear and I noticed for the first time on this trip how high in the sky the North Star was.
Day 14 – Saturday, 13 Oct.
Back to Adventfjord and Longyearbyen. Temp. -1° C with light snow. After a slightly later brunch, allowing us to sleep in a bit, we arrived back at Longyearbyen at noon. Goodbyes were said to the Captain and crew, we loaded our gear back onto the bus, and are all now back at the lodge where the trip all began 2 weeks ago. Time to update the journal and check email for the first time in 2 weeks. There were 263 messages waiting for me! I hope people expecting a reply will give me a couple of days to wade through them all…
THE PIECE… Many of you have asked about the choral work I started writing while I was up in the Arctic. I have about 10 minutes of material so far, divided into 5 sections, with texts by Robert Service, Marcus Lund (one of the other artists on the expedition) and myself. One of the movements, inspired by the aurora borealis, is textless. Some movements are a cappella, and others use piano and a little percussion to help with pitch, colour and rhythm. The piece is intended to be performed in a large space, with some of the singers spaced out around the room. I’ll be working some more on this over the Christmas holidays and hope to have the finished scores ready by early spring. The performance is scheduled for November, 2013 – probably the weekend of Nov. 9-10, and will involve Via Choralis, Viva Youth Choirs, Vox Humana, Laude women’s ensemble, and Hexaphone.
THANK YOU! to all of you who supported this project financially; it was your private donations which made it all possible. You will, of course, be receiving credit on the score for the bars of music that you sponsored, as well as in the concert programme. Once the concert date and venue have been confirmed I will post the relevant information.
-NRF
UPDATE – February 2013. The piece, entitled “Isbjorn!,” is now completed, and will be performed later in 2013: Nov. 10th in Sidney and Nov. 15th in Victoria. Thanks to Via Choralis for making the commission official and to the B.C. Arts Council for financial support.