Stormy Weather

No new word from Janet. I'm still worried about the weather (tomorrow's wind still predicted to be 50mph/80kh), but looked up some previous voyages of the Noorderlicht. In 2007 they sailed with a group of Brit artists/writers through a gale. Sounds uncomfortable, but they came through just fine. I noticed that some participants brought their own sat phones - next time Janet goes into the wild, I'll be sure she can stay in contact!

This picture is from the 2007 voyage.


Some folks have asked if it's dark all day in Svalbard.

Well, not yet.

On September 24, Longyearbyen enjoyed over 12 hours of sun -- about the same as in New York.

However, the length of day reduces dramatically up there. Throughout October, each day gets 15 to 20 minutes less sun. Today there will be about 7 hours of sunlight.

This shortening gets faster in the coming weeks. Next Tuesday, the day will be about four hours long.

Then on October 26, the sun will be seen above the horizon for the last time until mid-February.