Sarah Pedersen 6th August 2023
It has been quite on here because we have been relaxing in Longyearbyen – well not really relaxing but shopping for going south, prepping the engine and waiting.
We also had time to challenge Steve’s belief in not drinking rum. While being north Steve several times had insisted that he cannot drink rum as he got very drunk in it as a teenager. Sarah had craving a dark & stormy, but rum was not welcomed on the boat. So one evening after some wine Steve agreed to try a Dark & Stormy in Longyearbyen and if this was a success, he agreed to try it unmixed.
Well let’s just say that Dark & Stormy was a great hit and so was pure rum, so he has been cured and is ready to live pirate style (though he probably drinks better rum than the pirates did).
So much waiting for the wind to give us a weather window for crossing. At the moment there is a lot of wind in the sea between us and Norway and it is often coming from south, so we cannot sail in it.
After waiting for almost a week and keep having to move the date, we decided to go for a little trip to Bjornhamna in Templefjord yesterday. This is the start of our journey moving south so we are ready when the opportunity comes (we are expecting that to be Thursday! So keep your fingers crossed).
Is was great getting out of Longyearbyen again and anchoring, but the night was very bumpy as the wind picked up with some blustery gusts. But it was a beautiful anchorage with some very dramatic mountains and clay bottom that held the anchor tight. We are battling with inconsistency between the weather forecast and what we experience in reality so we get some surprises. Luckily we have an anchor alarm that would have alerted us if the boat was moving completely off grid.
