Fred's Logbook

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Date / Time: 2017-08-13 17:32:08Voyage from: to ETA:
Fred's foster-parent:
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Fred's vessel:
Vesselname:Fram
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Fred-Report:

Hi everybody! I am still exploring Svalbard with Tom on the MS Fram and have to share with you a little adventure we went on the other day:

Tom is Kayak instructor and takes the passengers of the ship out onto the water in between the icebergs! At the beginning of the trip, Tom said I would maybe be able to join one time but time went on and it didn’t look like it was going to happen. Suddenly one morning, on a very sunny and calm day, someone of the group decided to not go kayaking and a spot was free! Tom hesitated no second and grabbed me from our cabin to head down to the car deck to get dressed for the activity.
Soon after getting ready, a polar circle boat was waiting for us alongside the ship that took us to the beach from where we would start kayaking.

There were 12 passengers joining the paddle adventure and I was able to join a very kind German lady in a double kayak. Before going into the water, Tom explained us how the kayaks work, how to sit properly and how to use the paddles. After a quick pre-activity selfie session, it was time to hit the water!



I was a little bit nervous at first because the kayak was quite big and the paddle a little heavy for me, but I quickly got a hold of it and felt more comfortable. The first few seconds on the water is an incredible feeling… It is like a whole new world opens for you, a world that we can normally not explore. It felt like flying amongst the ice, a very strong feeling of freedom!

The water conditions were very calm and except the silence, the only acoustical effects we experienced was the crackling of the icebergs around us as the slowly melted and floated their way out to open sea.



It was an incredible experience to be out on the water in a kayak and I now understand why so many people want to do it!
The next days I will be sailing back to Longyearbyen and hope to see some more of the nature!




Bye everyone,


Fred


Photos

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