Forlandet and Isfjorden

Saturday was the last day at sea. We sailed back and forth in Forlandsundet and Isfjorden, inspecting several ports of refuge. In this area the mobile phone coverage is OK, and in the area around Barentsburg we were also connected to a Russian mobile phone system. However, we were reminded by the crew at KV Svalbard that using this system might is expensive.

The discussion of the day was on the increasing number of sail boats visiting Svalbard. The coast guard is worried about this situation. The sailors are often experienced and has sailed for several years in more southerly waters, but are inexperienced in the extreme conditions they face in Arctic waters. The sail boats are usually not properly equipped, they have poor communication euipment and they are not experienced enough to understand and see all signs in the information they actually do have. Also, not having AIS, they are not visible to anyone, and white sail boats are hard to catch sight of in this environment. The coast guard would prefer that all vessels, large and small, have an 'arctic equipment package' onboard.

This was the last working day at KV Svalbard, and I will take the opportunity to say thanks again to all of you at KV Svalbard who have kindly assisted me whenever I needed help. Thanks also for sharing stories with us. I'm really impressed of the work you do, how you do it and your sincere efforts to maintain the safety at sea.

Thanks also to Tor Einar and Morten for supporting the project, and thanks Per Kyrre, Halvard, Rakel, Ingrid, John Morten, Tore, Morten and Dag for a nice working week at KV Svalbard. I look forward to see you again at a later occasion. Last, but not least, thanks to all of you that have visited the blog!

Below you can se some more pictures from the trip. The second picture is from Barentsburg. The third shows extreme sports at KV Svalbard...We, the so called 'Coastal Administration Team' received a well earned 5th place....:-) The last picture shows two good helpers from KV Svalbard :-)

Bye bye,

Beate