We have been on the boat for two days and already we have seen the Northern Lights and shooting stars.
The boat is a 120 ft schooner which is surprisingly roomy for twenty artists and crew.
Our cabins are probably about 100 square feet shared by two people.
For common areas, we have two salons big enough for two tables each.
We use Zodiacs (inflatable motorized boats) to get onto shore during the day and spend afternoons and some evenings sailing and motoring to our next location.
We are at 78 degrees latitude and are headed up the coast of Svalbard (also known as Spitsbergen) to Moffen Island at 80 degrees before heading back.
When we go on shore, we either take hikes for landscape photography or stay in one place to work on our projects. At all times, we are accompanied by an armed guard in case we come across hungry polar bears. So far we have only seen reindeer, birds and arctic fox. The landscape is mostly barren rock and snow. The sea seems to stretch on endlessly and there are no other boats on the water. Today, in the distance we could see the last one or two settlements as we passed them before being completely alone in the North.
(Interesting trivia about our location: The Northern Lights do not occur directly over the poles but 20 or so degrees south. We are so far north that we need to look SOUTH to see the Northern Lights! Also, today, someone told me that we are 800 miles north of the highest point of Siberia. The reason its possible to travel here at all and the sea is not covered in pack ice is because the sea currents carry warm water up the Atlantic. )
