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DAY THREE - FIRST NIGHT ON BOARD

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With the time that it took to have our lifeboat drill (and I dread to think of what might happen if we really were to have an emergency), it was tea time, so those of us on board tropped off into the dining room.

And while we are discussing my meal, I'll leave you with another view of Pond Inlet.

At the entrance to the dining room I introduced myself again to the Restaurant Manager and we discussed the food on the menu.

He went off to speak to the people in the kitchen and I ended up with lentil soup for starters, a salad with bulghour and some kind of black beans for my main course.

For dessert, I followed everything down with a plate of fruit.

All of that suited me just fine and if things keep on like this, I'll be doing okay.


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By the time that tea was over, all of the rest of our party was on board. They had apparently gone off crop-spraying somewhere on the way here to earn the money to pay for the fuel.

This was the cue for us all to assemble in the lounge on Deck 6 where we were given all of the details of shipboard life including - most importantly - mealtimes.

And even more importantly, the fact that a free unlimited supply of coffee and biscuits - some of which are gluten-free - is available from 06:30 all the way through until late evening.

That of course is a vital ingredient of any kind of community life as far as I'm concerned.

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We were also introduced to the members of the team who will be leadiing us on our voyage.

I made the acquaintance of a team member called Latonia who is a specialist in Labrador and the High Arctic. We had a lengthy chat and made arrangements to continue our discussion at a more convenient moment.

There are quite a few specialists on board this ship and so with any luck it looks as if I might be having a very interesting and worthwhile time on this voyage.


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By now, it was 21:00. All of the passengers and all of the luggage was on board, the zodiacs had been stowed on the roof of the cabin, and so we have said "goodbye" (for the moment) to Mittimatalik. The Good Ship Ve ... errr Ocean Endeavour was under way.

We are heading west along Eclipse Sound and very shortly we'll be turning north along Navy Board Inlet. By morning, if we aren't held up by ice, which is always a possibility, we will be in Lancaster Sound.

And then we will really be within the footsteps - or, more appropriately, the wake - of the historical Arctic explorers and this is why I'm here.


But having said all that I have said over the last couple of days about finding our ship, it's somehow quite appropriate that we started our shipboard journey at Pond Inlet.

This was one of the earliest places that was visited by Ross on his epic 1818 voyage to the High Arctic. In fact it was he who gave the place its name, although he called it Pond's Bay.

As for the Pond referred to, he was William Pond, at the time the Astronomer Royal to the British Government


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A little later on I went for an explore around the ship to see if I could find anywhere interesting and take some photographs of the scenery and surroundings before we lost the light.

It didn't take much for me to end up right on the top of the ship - on the roof of the observation lounge, so I reckon that this might be about Deck 9 or Deck 10. You can't go any higher than this unless you climb the radar mast.

Judging by the sunset we are definitely heading west, and I'm surprised that I'm the only one out here enjoying it right now. Given the nature of the people with whom I am travelling, I would have expected all of my fellow-travellers to have been interested in the scenery and the sunset.


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It seems though that everyone else has gone to bed and I'm alone here. The early start this morning must have finished them off.

I still have plenty to do though. Such as writing up my notes and edting my photos, and also reading my notes for tomorrow.

But seeing as there is no-one else around right now I can bring Strawberry Moose out into the open. About time that I let him have a tour of the ship and provide him with a couple of photo opportunities.

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There are several musical instruments here, including this rather grand piano.

Strawberry Moose can have a great time on here. He's a big fan of music. He's quite well-known on the fiddle and is quite good at plucking his own instrument.

He did however look rather alarmingly at me when I told him that he ought to be orchestrated. Instead, I gave him a quick syringe of his ears and repeated my statement, and that was enough to put his mind at rest.

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A little later I took Strawberry Moose around the ship in search of some more exciting places in which he could be photographed that would bring out the best in him.

We eventually found this shelf above a radiator, with this lovely poster of Nunavut in the background. This was a likely spot, suitable for him to make his debut appearance on the ship.

With a little bit of fiddling around and some work in Paintshop Pro, I ended up with a nice photo complete with speech bubble and I posted that on the ship's web site.

Everyone on board will soon be aware of his presence. After all, just like any important celebrity, he needs to spread his fame about.


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Having completed almost everything that needed doing, I thought zbout going off to bed. But before doing that, I went for a final walk around the deck.

I mentioned something a little earlier about "losing the light". But that's not something over which anyone needs to lose much sleep, if you pardon the expression, because at this time of year at these attitudes, the light isn't totally lost.

This particular photo was taken just before 23:00 in the evening and there is still some light left in the sky as you can see. And the farther north we go - if we are able to go farther north given the amount of ice that we are told that we might find - the lighter it will stay.

Apparently Pond Inlet has 24 hours of daylight from ealy May until the beginning of August and the farther north you go, the longer the period of 24-hour light.


On that note, I went off to try out my little berth, to see just how comfortable it might be.




To see more details of today's voyage, please refer to this page



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