Voyage of the Vikings, Day 23 - At Sea, Glasgow, Scotland to Torshaven, Faroe Islands

We bobbed and weaved a bit in the middle of the night. Wind was 40 to 45 knots on the port bow.

It calmed down around daybreak. It's 8:30 and we are at breakfast. Wind is down to 20 knots, still on the port bow.

We normally sit on the starboard side of the Lido Café, for no very good reason but habit. This morning we are sitting to port, as the bright sunshine is almost blinding on the starboard side.

Kathy is eating poached egg and potatoes. Keith is having Danish and omelet with ham, bacon, tomato, onion, mushroom, and cheese. Very tasty.

Our 9am lecture is titled "The Norse invasion of Iceland". Our lecturer, Professor Michael Millwood, emphasizes Norse settlers, as opposed to Viking raiders. He told a cute story about the use of Ravens for navigation guidance. The folklore says that ravens will fly toward the nearest land, as opposed to pigeons, which fly toward home.

Believe what you wish.

Pretty much the standard settlement story. Malcontent gets in trouble with the local government. Malcontent gets tossed out, sails to someplace new with no authority figures. Malcontent settles and becomes an authority figure and tosses out other malcontents who sail to some other place, etc., etc., etc.

Prof. Millwood’s Slide Showing Late First and

Early Second Millennium Norse Migrations

We were told that much of Iceland is full of lava, but about one sixth of the land near the coast is habitable.

More apocryphal tales about dirty hair and other economic disasters in Norway, leading to the earliest known Norwegian brain drain.

Then we heard more stories about malcontent 8th century lawyers migrating to Iceland to found the Alething, the early Icelandic parliament. We will visit the site of this parliament when we are in Rakjaevic. Keith is looking forward to this visit, because it is situated atop the Mid-Atlantic Rift, which is what he came to Iceland to see.

Apparently religion must have somehow got mixed up in all this, but Keith doesn't understand this part of the story.

By the 13th century the authority figures in Norway got big enough and powerful enough to dominate the authority figures in Iceland, leading to it's loss of independence. Eventually the authority figures in Denmark prevailed over the authority figures in Norway, and Iceland was Danish until World War II, when the US military invaded, to prevent the German dominated Danish government from militarizing the island for the wrong side.

In 1944 Iceland was declared independent. In 2008, Iceland went bankrupt. Currently, all bets are off.

Keith is attempting to photograph some of the slides, but it's tricky, as you can see above. The theater is located in the bow, which feels the sea state more than other parts of the boat. Kathy had a brief encounter with mal-de-mer, but seems ok now. We shall move to the library after the presentation is over. It is more in the middle of the boat, and should not be moving about so much.

10:30 update - we are in the library and Kathy is feeling much better. At 11 we will attempt to capture a computer to sort our photos from the last couple of days.

Noon update - The seas have calmed down a bit more. We spent a tedious hour sorting photos. We love looking at the pictures, but sorting them for this Blog is a frustrating process. We have too many good pix from our Wales tour in nice weather, and too many awful photos of rainy bus windows from yesterday's rainy day tour of Glasgow. In both cases sorting is difficult.

Lunch at 1pm. The poolside buffet is serving Indonesian today. The Indonesian crew has decorated the buffet in celebration of their native food.

Indonesian Buffet Art

Watermelon Art

The Indonesian food is not entirely dissimilar from yesterday's Dutch food. The menu included shrimp salad with sweet soya, gado-gado (sweet shrimp salad), sweet and sour cucumber, krupuk (rice cakes), coconut milk rice pudding, banana fritters, nasi goreng, beef sumatra, spicy green beans, spicy shrimp, spicy roasted chicken parts, egg curry, meatballs, chicken satay, beef satay, and peanut sauce. The similarity to Dutch is not surprising, considering the long association through the Dutch East India Company, which exploited Indonesia as well as India.

Indonesian Buffet

Also available poolside were burgers and dogs, and a pretty complete taco bar. And, of course, all the appetizers, entrees, salads, soups, and desserts in the Lido Café. Nobody leaves hungry.

Nap time follows lunch like night follows day. At 3pm, after his nap, Keith attended the second lecture by geologist Prof. David Smith. This erudite gentleman has the rare gift of being able to take a complex, almost arcane subject and make it clear and interesting.

Prof. Smith’s first lecture a couple of days ago dealt primarily with plate tectonics, with emphasis on the Atlantic basin, the mid Atlantic ridge, and the emergence of Iceland. As a secondary topic, he tossed in just enough climatology to cover ice ages, and their effect on sea level and consequent human migratory patterns.

Today's lecture was focused on the geology of Iceland, with lecture one as background. It was explained that Iceland is the only place in the world where a mid-ocean rift surfaces as a significant land mass. Lava flows have been pouring from the rift and accumulating for millions of years to build Iceland. Diagrams were presented to explain a little bit about how volcanoes work, and why there are different kinds, and maps were provided to show where the historic and contemporary rifts and volcanoes are located.

Dr. Smith’s Slide Showing The Location of the Reykjanes Ridge,

the Piece of the Mid Atlantic Ridge Around Iceland

Dr. Smith’s Slide Showing Detail of the Reykjanes Ridge Near Iceland

Dr. Smith’s Photo of Thingvellir,

a Section of the Mid Atlantic Rift in Iceland,

And site of Alething, the First Icelandic Parliment

Dr. Smith’s Photograph of an Eruption at Surtsey,

a New Volcanic Island off the South Coast of Iceland

I apologize again for the poor quality of the photographs of Dr. Smith’s Slides, which were excellent in the original.

Jumping to climatology, Dr. Smith talked a bit about ocean currents, and the effect of the Gulf Stream on the Icelandic climate and glacier formation. Because of the Gulf Stream and the prevailing winds, most of the contemporary Icelandic glaciation is in the southeast, where we are going day after tomorrow. Most of the current volcanic activity is focused in the south and southwest of the island, where the mid-Atlantic rift comes ashore. We visit this area in a couple of days, when we dock in Rjakaevick.

Dr. Smith’s Slide Showing Ocean Currents Around Iceland

Warm Gulf Stream Currents are Colored Black

Keith is hoping to encounter Dr. Smith around the ship somewhere, as he has a few questions to ask.

Keith regrets that he did not have the sense to photograph the Ice Pilot's slides a couple of weeks ago. He is attempting to make up for this omission by taking pictures of the geologist's slides, for further study at his leisure. Now Keith is anxious to get into the computer lab to sort and view these photos.

Speaking of photos, Keith was going to go topsides this morning and shoot some pictures of the brilliant sunshine reflecting off of the deep blue seas. He got lazy, and decided to put it off until later. Well, it's later, and the only scenes to be taken are of foggy seas. Duh...

The Hazy, Foggy North Atlantic

Voyage of the Vikings, Day 17 - At Sea, Edinburgh to Rotterdam

Where's the usual map? Keith forgot to upload it, and he is on a remote computer and can't access it, so it ain't there. Today we are at sea between Edinburgh and Rotterdam. Look it up in an atlas.

9am, and we are lingering over breakfast; I love these days. Power touring is educational, it is interesting, it is wholesome, but restful it is not! If I organized these trips there would be two days at sea for every day ashore. But then, my tour doesn't have brochure appeal, and I would go broke.

Lingering Over Breakfast

Course is southeast, speed 13, wind SW about 15; light seas, as perceived from 11 stories up. This boat rides much smoother than the Yacht Christine. But then, the Christine was rated just over the 5 ton minimum for Federal documentation. The Maasdam is rated 55,000 tons, four orders of magnitude larger. And, it has stabilizers. No wonder it rides so smoothly.

They give back our passports today. They were collected before we arrived in Iceland. What they don't give back is the hours they stole from us; in fact, they are going to steal another one at noon today. I didn't realize that Western Europe is an hour ahead of the UK.

9:23am and an announcement from our captain, who is very good about keeping us informed. We are making an immediate right turn and heading due west toward England, due to a medical emergency. It is not determined yet whether the medevac is to be handled by docking, by boat, or by helicopter, but the captain wants too get as close to the English coast as possible for whatever. We are told this detour will not delay our scheduled arrival in Rotterdam.

10:45am and a chopper is in sight. I think the pickup will be on the forward deck, but I don't know for sure. Passengers are not permitted in the Crows Nest. Keith got some good photos of the bird from the sports deck, but that now has been cleared, as well as the Lido deck. While Keith is disappointed to miss an opportunity to witness a helicopter pickup, he thinks clearing the decks is the right thing to do, for safety reasons. He overheard some lady say to security "you put on this show, then you don't give us a place to view it". Duh... So, in the meantime, we will have to be content with these photos.

RAF Rescue Chopper Approaches

Preparing to Hoist

11:15am The captain has announced that our rescue is complete, and we are back on track for our scheduled 4:45am pilot pickup in Rotterdam.

Originally planned for the foredeck, the helicopter pickup was shifted to the top deck when a Sea King helicopter showed up. This craft is too large to safely maneuver around the bow. This information explains why they chased us off the sports deck.

Kathy stood in line 45 minutes to get her passport back. Keith can't stand that long, so will wait for the line to shorten. The computer lab is overstuffed (it's a sea day), so Keith is composing and relaxing in the Explorer's Lounge / library.

In Line, Waiting to be Interviewed by the Dutch Immigration Authorities

11:30 and the passport line is getting longer, not shorter. Keith heard that the Dutch immigration officials refused to work during the rescue operation. The HAL lady says they will not feed the immigration officers until the line is cleared. Not wishing to stand 45 minutes, Keith stole a stool from the slot machines, and slid along the line. The Dutch immigration guy was very courteous.

Noon becomes 1pm, as we set our watches ahead once again.

1pm, Mongolian buffet at poolside for lunch. We love Mongolian buffet! Keith goofed and poured too much red pepper from an open container, but it turned out tolerable, and Keith enjoyed it. Had it been too hot to eat, there would have been no problem going through the line a second time.

Mongolian Buffet Poolside

Kathy Enjoys Her Mongolian Lunch

The Dutch imigration officials showed up for lunch about 2pm. The way the behaved, I think they are enjoying this assignment as a holiday.

Dutch Immigration Officials, Last In Line for Lunch

The afternoon slipped by in the computer lab, and the casino. After Kathy finished in the casino she helped Keith sort photos, then she whiled away the rest of the afternoon in the puzzle room. The breeze picked up a bit during the afternoon, then settled down later in the day. The weather is overcast, but the visibility is good.

Kathy reports someone (unofficial) telling her there are thirteen children aboard, 11 of them teenagers. I hope they have found one another, among all these septuagenarians.

A lite supper in the Lido, then to bed, in preparation for tomorrow's power tour of Holland.

Stay tuned.

Voyage of the Vikings, Day 14 - At Sea, Iceland to Scotland

This has started out as another lazy day. Up at 4, then again at 5, then finaly at 7:30 for a late (for us) breakfast. We don't know what has happened to our penchant for early rising. We suspect a combination of causes.

First, of course, is a mild form of jet lag. Our biological clocks are somewhere between Boston and Iceland, a 4 hour time difference. And they are going to steal another hour from us today, to put us on UK time, for our arrival tomorrow in Scotland.

The second factor is the touring of the last few days. Riding a narrow European bus on narrow, bumpy dirt roads is tiring, in and of itself. Worth the effort, no contest, but still tiring.

Third is the prospect of a day of liesurely dining and total relaxation in the Lido, by the pool, in the Library (AKA Explorers Lounge), in the computer lab, in the casino, etc., etc.

Part of our reason for doing this 35 day cruise is to see if we have the stamina for a really long, (60 to 120 day) cruise to the South Pacific, or around the world. At this point, two weeks in, Kathy says, enthusiastically, "no problem!". Keith says, with equal enthusiasm, "go Dow! Go Nasdaq!...

An Overcast Morning off the Faeroe Islands

Weather last night was moderate seas, wind 35 off the starboard bow, barometer steady at 29.6, temperature 50. It is much calmer this morning. We are beginning to be able to distinguish the different motions of the vessel. First, let me say that in no sense has anything been anything like what I have experienced in a 28 foot boat on Long Island Sound. I can clearly recall the day my crew mutinied near bell 8, off the mouth of the Connecticut River. My son-in-law rebelled when his head hit the ceiling coming off the top of a wave. It seemed just fine to me, up on the flybridge, but I turned around anyway, to keep peace in the family. I have since ridden down below, while a friend was on the bridge steering, and must admit that the ride was much more uncomfortable in the cabin.

Visibility has been mostly limited in haze and fog, with occasional clear patches. The barf bags are deployed in the corridors, but so far we haven’t needed them. Kathy came close the evening we departed Greenland in a 45 knot breeze directly on the bow. Last night was nothing like that ride.

Barf Bags Left Over from Last Night

We currently are passing just west of the Faeroe Islands, headed southeasterly toward Scotland. We aren't close enough to see anything, but we know they are there because there is a handy position map on display on the Upper Promenade deck. This map is duplicated in our cabin 24/7 on channel 40, so Keith can awake in the middle of the night (which he does regularly, for other reasons) and see where we are. Also displayed, 24/7, are ships speed and heading, wind speed and direction, and outside temperature.

Kathy Making Notes in the Explorers Lounge AKA Library

It's 1:45, and we are finishing lunch in the Lido. Keith wrote 12:45, but then Kathy reminded him that they stole another hour from us today. Today, in addition to the regular selections, there is a fish fry by the pool, with trimming’s. I hate to keep harping on this topic, but there's something almost hypnotic about sitting up 11 stories, gazing out the picture window at the sunlight reflected off the waves. The only fly in this ointment is the constant thumping. Keith was beginning to wonder if our propeller was falling off, until he recalled that we are directly below the Sports Deck. Must be a heck of a ball game going on up there.

Competing For a Table in the Lido

Mesmerizing Seas Photographed While Lunching in the Lido

Lunch Was Cod Bought Fresh off the Boat in Iceland

Back to the room for an unlaxing hour or two, then Keith went up to the Crow's Nest to compose and watch the world go by. Kathy showered, dressed, and went to the casino. She has asked Keith to cease reporting her losses, so no more, folks.

Seen on a sweatshirt in the Crows Nest:

"I'm traveling at 33RPM in an iPod world"

About 5 Keith descended and spent an hour or so in the computer lab, then extracted Kathy for a drink in the Piano Bar, where we spent more time watching the sun on the waves, while listening to live piano. At 6:30 we entered the Rembrandt Lounge for tonight's stage show.

A word about talent. The dancers and singers on this boat are head and shoulders above the crew we saw on our Alaska cruise. Keith doesn't care much for stage shows, but he can recognize talent when he sees it. Kathy, on the other hand, just loves the whole stchick. That's why Keith goes.

After a late supper we shall attempt sleep, in preparation for tomorrow's shore tour to Loch Ness. Kathy is just convinced she will see Nessie! But then, she also listens to Art Bell. Wish us luck on the sleeping thing. They stole another hour today, so that when we retire at 9, our circadian system will think it is 5 or 6. Just about the time our systems adjust to UK time, we will turn around and head back. I guess it is better than flying across 5 time zones.

8pm weather addendum: Pressure 29.9 steady, temperature 58, wind 6 knots, seas calm. We haven't seen it this nice since we left Boston. Hope it holds! Before retiring, Keith went on deck to catch a sunset shot.

Sunset on the North Atlantic

See ya tomorrow.