St Matthew's Island 22.8.2022
22/08/22 06:08
Weather forecast for today: sunny ☀️, light wind and NO rain. Hurrah !
Our excursion with the zodiac boats to the island will go ahead unless something unforeseen happens.
Woke up to a glorious start of the day
sunshine all around.
During breakfast the sun went up even further and by the time it was my turn for the trip by zodiac boats to St Matthew Island the sun was up in full.
After a short ride in the boat the uninhabited island was reached and we had to climb out of the boat with water reaching almost up to ones lower calfs. Then we had about an hours to explore this remote island in the Bering Sea.
Vegetation: no tress, tundra like. One has the feeling of walking on a sponge and it was interesting to see how nature tries to bloom in this rough climate.
The members of the expedition team told that todays landing was the first of the season as during all previous voyages the weather was against landing on the island. So I was very lucky.
It was also interesting to see what kind of rubbish is been washed ashore and they asked us to bring back to our landing site as much as possible as it would be taken away from the island. Look at the pictures to see what we all found.
Later today I will have my scheduled visit off bridge, something I am looking forward to as well.
And this was very interesting as well. The captain gave us a sort introduction ( in laymen's terms ) about how the RA is been steered and what actually "Hybrid Power" means. The Diesel engines are obviously responsible for moving the ship but surplus energy they are producing is stored in two large batteries so that in case of need this stored power can also be used. With all electrical system, lights etc. on the batteries could, in case of engine failure, generate enough power to move the ship for about ½ h. If all electrical are switched off for about 1 h, enough he said, to get the ship out of danger.
No wheel anymore, basically a comfy chair with some joysticks. Communication is done via Wi-Fi ( satellite ) and only North-East/WEst passage conventional radio is been used due to very bad or no connection it all.
The visit on the bridge didn't last very long but was more then interesting.
What I also learned these days that the RA has a de-salination plant on board so that fresh water does not need to be bunkered in ports which is considering the small harbours / towns no drain on the local resources.
All waste water from the cabins showers and wash-basins is filtered on board and then pumped into the sea.
In short: very environmentally friendly and following Hurtigruten's mission of sustainability.
Later today I have to attend the information lecture for tomorrow ( something did very day anyway ) because for tomorrow they have a surprise for us.
Watch this space.
Some pictures of todays endeavors your can find here and to track my tour click here
Our excursion with the zodiac boats to the island will go ahead unless something unforeseen happens.
Woke up to a glorious start of the day
sunshine all around.During breakfast the sun went up even further and by the time it was my turn for the trip by zodiac boats to St Matthew Island the sun was up in full.
After a short ride in the boat the uninhabited island was reached and we had to climb out of the boat with water reaching almost up to ones lower calfs. Then we had about an hours to explore this remote island in the Bering Sea.
Vegetation: no tress, tundra like. One has the feeling of walking on a sponge and it was interesting to see how nature tries to bloom in this rough climate.
The members of the expedition team told that todays landing was the first of the season as during all previous voyages the weather was against landing on the island. So I was very lucky.
It was also interesting to see what kind of rubbish is been washed ashore and they asked us to bring back to our landing site as much as possible as it would be taken away from the island. Look at the pictures to see what we all found.
Later today I will have my scheduled visit off bridge, something I am looking forward to as well.
And this was very interesting as well. The captain gave us a sort introduction ( in laymen's terms ) about how the RA is been steered and what actually "Hybrid Power" means. The Diesel engines are obviously responsible for moving the ship but surplus energy they are producing is stored in two large batteries so that in case of need this stored power can also be used. With all electrical system, lights etc. on the batteries could, in case of engine failure, generate enough power to move the ship for about ½ h. If all electrical are switched off for about 1 h, enough he said, to get the ship out of danger.
No wheel anymore, basically a comfy chair with some joysticks. Communication is done via Wi-Fi ( satellite ) and only North-East/WEst passage conventional radio is been used due to very bad or no connection it all.
The visit on the bridge didn't last very long but was more then interesting.
What I also learned these days that the RA has a de-salination plant on board so that fresh water does not need to be bunkered in ports which is considering the small harbours / towns no drain on the local resources.
All waste water from the cabins showers and wash-basins is filtered on board and then pumped into the sea.
In short: very environmentally friendly and following Hurtigruten's mission of sustainability.
Later today I have to attend the information lecture for tomorrow ( something did very day anyway ) because for tomorrow they have a surprise for us.
Watch this space.
Some pictures of todays endeavors your can find here and to track my tour click here
