Davis Strait: Kangerlussuaq Bound

“We’re homeward bound I hear them say …” ~~ From Goodbye Fare Thee Well Sea Shanties

The above is the first line from the quote featured on today’s daily program. And indeed, we are homeward bound. We’ve left Baffin Bay and are in the Davis Strait now. Close to the shoreline of Greenland … getting close to our disembarkation in Kangerlussuaq tomorrow.

Our day featured some lectures in the morning.

Ken kicked things off with a presentation entitled “Ghosts of Cape Sabine” … an account of the disastrous Greeley Expedition of 1881 … filled with adventure, abandonment, and human tragedy. Then, Sam spoke to us about “Hoods, Beards, Rings, Harps and Walrus: Seals of the Arctic” … a review of the phocids (true seals) and otariids (eared seals) … only a few of which we saw on this voyage.

The disembarkation briefing came right before lunch. We now have a general feel for tomorrow’s schedule. It’s good to see that we won’t be kicked off the ship bright and early. For the eagle-eyed readers who will notice a flight to Copenhagen … no worries, that’s not for us. This is the solution for those passengers who don’t have visas to enter the USA at Niagara Falls International Airport on the regular charter flight/bus transfer arrangements.

We started out the afternoon with a session called “Baffin Bay Banter” … a time for shipmates to regale us with their own adventures. I considered participating by talking about either our polar bear encounters in Churchill; our brown bear encounters in Alaska; or our North Pole trip on 50 Let Pobedy. But the wifi wasn’t strong enough for me to download photos to accompany the words. Should we find ourselves on another Quark expedition, I will go prepared.

Then we began what I would describe as “expedition-in-review” sessions.

First up was a “Chocolate Bar and Bubbly with Photo Show” … designed to have us “admire” images taken by staff and guests these past two weeks. A few hours later, we had the Captain’s Cocktail Party … for final cheers.

Our post-dinner get together featured a slideshow … a look-back on our journey. Dave did a great job. That said, I have a bone to pick with our shipmates. Namely that participation in the photo journal on this expedition was abysmal. I checked the laptops set aside for sharing purposes — a PC and a MAC — every few days to upload my contribution of 5-6 photos Dave had asked us to share. Rarely was there more than a few others in the folder. While it was fun to see my photos in the slideshow, it was a shame there weren’t more from others as such sharing gives everyone a different perspective.

(Speaking of the photo journal … in the past, we’ve received this information on a CD. This time, everything, including daily programs, lectures, photos, etc., will be uploaded online for us to download … in about 4-6 weeks we were told.)

Thus we’ve officially wrapped up the expedition. Our bags are packed and ready to be put outside the door tomorrow morning. One more sleep left on the Ultramarine.Read more