[Worldtrippers home] [2025 Crystal-Viking]
May 28 was a day at sea. Gail hosted her second workshop as her first group of students completed their 3D felted polar bears. Russell gave a lecture.
In addition, this morning we sailed past Bear Island. Bear Island is a tiny island out in the middle of nowhere between mainland Norway and the Svalbard Islands to the north. Bear Island (which does not have any bears) is one of the last ecologically intact regions anywhere in the world, and one of the richest avian breeding grounds anywhere in the northern hemisphere. Russell was due to give scenic commentary as we sailed by.
But there was a problem. Last year, we were able to sail within one mile of the island. This year, Norway has issued new environmental regulations: ships must keep a distance of 12 nautical miles. The ship found this out yesterday. So Russell gave running commentary as guests saw a distant, blurry shadow somewhere out in the fog. Gail walked around with large color posters explaining what guests couldn’t see.
The good news is that guests have come to love Russell’s storytelling. As one guest declared, “He can talk for 45 minutes about ‘sand’ and make it interesting.” And the world cruisers remember Russell talking for an hour about Null Island, which doesn’t even exist.
In the end, we had a full house in Explorer’s Lounge and everybody enjoyed the experience.
