Nanortalik, Greenland, September 2, 2017

Nanortalik, Greenland, September 2, 2017

I wish I could include sounds with this. The Seabourn Quest from a sister company to Holland America was also anchored off Nanortalik today. Our captain knew their captain (I'm guessing that the cruise line captain world is a small one) so when we left there was an exchange of horn blasts between the ships. The Seabourn is a bit smaller and its sound a bit thinner but sometimes it seems that a line in the building budget for the Dam ships is for Big, Loud, Thunderous Noise. The captain really let 'er rip today.

He also told us that last night as we arrived in Nanortalk one of the Greenland pilots on board saw some Northern Lights. Just damn! I don't care if it was 3 am, a heads up would have been welcome. He also said that they used special searchlights mounted on the bow to locate ice. Must have worked. There are still some fairly good-sized bergs about but they are melting fast. Today in the sun it was in the low 50s.

Jim mused the other day whether HAL finds the port stops or do the ports lobby HAL to call in. I'm not quite sure why we spent a day getting to this little village on this island in the archipelago off the southern end of Greenland. We did have a splendid day weather-wise---bright sun and blue skies which  NEVER happens here. The locals had a couple of shows for the visitors and an open air museum but Jim and I just walked around for 30 minutes and then took the tender back to the ship. If we had stopped on the outbound leg I might have been more enthusiastic, but another little settlement on another barren spit of land just didn't do it for me. I didn't see anything I had to have. They did have some of the usual souvenir T-shirts and magnets but most of the good stuff was made of sealskin (primary industries are crabbing and seal hunting) which is not allowed into the US. Plus, ewwwww. I know they hunt the seals for food and clothing but it's not for me.

Now we're on to Newfoundland which means set the clock back 30 minutes to coordinate with their odd time zone.

Addendum

After Nanortalik we had a sea day. It was a little sloppy in the morning--well, actually I think the captain said gale force winds but the seas weren't extreme enough to cause discomfort as long as you keep "one hand for the boat." In other words, when going from point A to point B or especially up or down the stairs, one hand on the railing.

The ice pilots, two Danish guys, both retired ship captains and long-time ice pilots, did an "Ask the Pilots" hour with the passengers. The waters around Greenland are not electronically charted so it's paper charts and pilots familiar with the area for any ship carrying 250 or more passengers. Interestingly enough, it's a Greenland law and a Greenland company that supplies the pilots. Hey, everybody's gotta make a buck. The two pilots were fairly droll but gamely answered the same questions I'm sure they've heard a thousand times. We did learn that we were preceded into the Prince Christian Sund yesterday by a Danish Navy ship and the helicopter flying around us was from that ship. Both were sending our ship info on the ice conditions ahead.

The Sund can be clear of ice one day and impassible because of it the next. The pilots said that they receive satellite photos daily which makes the decision to enter the Sund much more informed. Before these daily images and helicopters it was not unusual to get partway and then have to turn around and head out. They figure the passage is completely clear about 30% of the time. The Sund itself does not freeze because of the constant currents but the icebergs that come down from the coast of Greenland cause the blockage.

One person asked what were the most dangerous conditions between Canada and Iceland and Pilot Fritz replied, "Darkness, fog and icebergs." You could actually hear the gears turning in all our heads as we all thought at the same time, "Last night it was dark, foggy and there were icebergs!" The radar picks up the big stuff and the light from the search lights on the bow bounces off the smaller ice "so we can dodge it." Now we know why they have the Ask the Pilots AFTER we've gone past all that.

It's Sharks and Jets time with the Knitters and a large group who all booked through the same travel agency in Seattle. The Cruise Specialists have commandeered half of the Explorer's Lounge for coffee and chat at 11 am on every sea day. The Knitters have planted their flag in one corner of the Crow's Nest (great chairs and light) at 10 am on sea days They have also been lobbying Jans the Cruise Director constantly to include the time and place when the Knitters meet in the daily "When & Where" program. That hasn't happened but suddenly one day as we were all up in the Crow's Nest, needles flying, solving the world's problems, Jans comes on the ship's PA system to announce that the Knitters would be meeting at 11 am in the Explorer's Lounge. Uh, oh. But we decided we better bounce down there and be seen and suddenly there are two groups trying to occupy the same place. Fortunately the Knitters got there before the Cruise Specialists and established a beachhead.

Jans is young, evasive and pretty much useless. Rumor has it he moved over to HAL from (shudder) Carnival which means his experience and sea days pretty much involve four or five day rum runs to the Bahamas or Cozumel from Miami or even (more shuddering) from Mobile! The Knitters sussed this out on Day Two of the 38 day cruise and pretty much have run rough shod over the guy and straight to LaLa, the Event Coordinator not the NBA wife. LaLa has a lot more experience dealing with repeat customers of a certain age. She weighed the number of people that one travel agency brought on board against the number of stars and sea days the 25 or so knitters have and like magic, the Cruise Specialists can have the Explorer's Lounge and the Knitters the Crow's Nest with a waiter thrown in to move chairs and fetch ice water. Everyone's happy, confrontation is avoided and peace restored in the floating country that is the Rotterdam.

The Knitters continue to debate Jansfate.