August 1, 2023 Sea Day #5

  This morning the sky was overcast. The colours of the sky blended into the same colour as the water, but no fog.  We are almost half way to Ísafjördur, Iceland, in the Denmark Strait. Today’s position in the late morning was North 62°59’ and West 33° 35’. The temperature stayed at 11° C most of the day. Looking at the BBC world weather map the clouds will be with us for the next few days.

   We met Ellen and David for breakfast in the dining room. The clocks were moved forward overnight and again tonight to achieve Iceland time for tomorrow morning.

   There were many activities listed in the daily program, as usual for a day at sea. We chose the 10 a.m. EXC Talk Nordic Pioneers. It covers the careers of several notable Norwegians. The first woman to cross country ski, solo, to the South Pole was Luv Armadson, (not sure of the correct spelling) in 1994. Alfred Noble was the inventor of dynamite and gave 94% of his fortune for the Noble prizes. The Peace prize is the only one decided and presented by the Norwegian parliament. All other prizes are presented by the King of Sweden.

  The next lecture was given by Daphne and Tim Terrell about Prins Christains sund, where we cruised yesterday. There is a difference between a sound and a fjord. A sound is generally wider and has more than one entrance. Prins Christains sund has sides up to 2,200 meters high and is up to three kilometres deep. 

   After lunch Mike West’s presentation was about the sinking of the German warship Bismark. There was a Ísafjördur and Akureyri, Iceland, question session with information about the towns. One of the questions asked was if the Arctic Circle will be crossed, the answer was probably since Akureyri is very close to the Arctic Circle. There have been observations of whales near Akureyri early around 5 a.m. and when the ship leaves in the late afternoon.

   Brad was feeling better than yesterday so he and Cee Kaye were already at the dinner table when we arrived. It was pianist Elliot Finkel’s final night on board. As usual his performance received a standing ovation. He will be going to the Holland America ship Rotterdam when he leaves tomorrow.

  Total steps: 9,037






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