Unidentified Marine Phenomena

 

The second excursion was to the North Cape – supposedly the most northern point of the European land mass. Except it is on an island and there are more northerly islands.

The bus journey to the Cape was scenic but a bit too white knuckle for Diva, as it took them up steep slopes and around hairpin bends. The weather stayed clear so that the views were spectacular and it was not too cold. The first fog bank did not occur until the early evening during the sail past the Cape, as the Spirit of Adventure prepared for its return journey south.

In the evening, a number of guests spotted what has to be recorded as Unidentified Marine Phenomena. Almost certainly not of alien origin, opinion was divided as to whether the dark shapes in the sea were whales or dolphins.

The sea is mostly calm with an occasional choppiness but TSH and Diva have not needed any Stugeron so far.

The captain of the Spirit of Adventure is less formal than captains encountered by TSH and Diva in the past. He often starts ‘Hi, this is Jason from the Bridge’. On Silversea ships, there is a very strict ‘All aboard’ time. One lunch-time Jason said ‘We plan to sail about 4:30, so it would be great if you could be back a bit before that’.

On the journey to the Cape, TSH and Diva saw a herd of reindeer and animals which were either sheep or goats.

Good Vibrations?

At the small port near North Cape, TSH and Diva took an unguided walk around the few streets. They went out 20 minutes too early and got totally drenched, although the weather did partially clear later. Mist drifted around for most of the day, sometimes coming to very low levels and at other time retreating to the high mountain tops.

Dinner was taken with the Hotel Director, who was keen to gather views about the changes to the restaurants and the menus. Mostly favourable.

Many guests stayed up for the 22:00 cruise around North Cape - the weather was clear by then and there were excellent views of the sheer cliffs. At this latitude and time of year it is light for 24 hours. No sunset and no sunrise.

The captain (along with the guests!!) is concerned about intermittent vibrations through the ship. Very intrusive and totally different from movement due to the wind and waves. Apparently they caused the piano in Silver Note to move across the floor!! An announcement was made at 23:00 advising people not to worry because all was under control. Divers will examine the propellers at the next port. Wherever that is.

Silver Spirit will not be calling at Hammerfest, the next scheduled port, because the swell is too high for safe tender operations and there is no place to dock.  So there is an extra sea day before Tromso and TSH and Diva will miss the Meridian monument (to the scientists who measured the earth in 1852) and the possibility of becoming members of the Royal Polar Bear Club.

North Cape

As TSH and Diva were not invited to the US July 4^th party, they had dinner in La Terrazza with guests from Perth, Australia. This was very lively, as there was great consternation that well travelled people from the UK had never been to Australia, in spite of having visited Singapore and this was taken as a great insult. The evening was further enlivened by the sounds of the US fireworks and the beautiful sight of many snow covered mountains on both sides of the fjord. It does not ever go dark at this latitude.

The North Cape is the most northerly point on the European land mass, an interesting point for debate as it is an island and there are more northerly islands. The scenery around it is different from further south – the mountains are not so high and the peaks are rounded instead of jagged but they are very sheer in places so that there are splendid cliffs. Surprisingly, it was not too cold and during the walk round the harbour, TSH had to shed a layer or two. There was quite a collection of small fishing boats, some of which had racks of drying fish on board.

The excursions – not participated in on this occasion - were reported to be very good, with sightings of 10 sea eagles and many puffins.

Venetian Society night, a formal dinner, produced the information that the most regular guests on board had sailed with Silversea for nearly 500 days – more than twice as many as TSH and Diva. Dinner was at the Hotel Director’s table and other guests included two who lived for many years in Bamford, close to Heywood, which is Diva’s birth place.

There is a two hour time difference between North Cape and Archangel and the adjustment was made by having one hour change overnight and one in the middle of the afternoon – a unique and strange choice.