25.08.2023 Calm again and the Engine Control Room visit

 Phew! glad the sea is calmer today, Master slept well and is feeling better. Though I think we are still in the Beaufort sea and we had just been through another Ice field. When we opened up the curtains a sizable chunk of Ice floated by. We soon left this ice field behind and continued to make good progress. Ship making good progress at 14knots

There is an Inuit word of the day and todays is 'Siku' pronounced (SeeKoo). It means Sea Ice.

Fred has been working on Plan 'B' for today and it has been decided to go to Smoking Hills at around 18.00hrs. This apparently wasn't on our original itinerary. I am glad it is now as my carer says they are magic hills and are permanently on fire. The rocks are quite young and the land is still being created. 

Before we go into the smoking hills we had a visit to the Engine Control room at 11.30. It was very interesting to see the controls. Also amazing that everything is controlled electronically, not only the propulsion of the ship but any electronic controls for every cabin/Suites. The ship does not need to weigh Anchor when we stop at a venue, they just have to press a button on the bridge and the ship is held in place by satellite. No more damaging the sea floor.

We arrived at the Smoking Hills at 18.00hrs. The intention is to do some slow pass byes. These Rocks are quite young and would eventually harden to form Lignacite, a type of brown coal that is mined in Eastern Europe. The Black shale has been deposited in an oxygen free layer. When exposed to air it ignites due to the action of Pyrites. This is iron Sulphite, which emits sparks due to the movement of the land. The land was locked in a Perma frost and this is now melting, causing landslides which cause ignition of the rocks. The red rocks that are left are the burnt rocks. Europeans discovered the Smoking hills in about 1825, but the Inuit had always known about them. They believe everything has a spirit many think they are Scary spirits. My carer and I thought they were amazing, and enjoyed our slow pass by for at least an hour. They had possibly been burning for at least 100 years. 


The Smoking Hills.

Master and Missus had a light lunch in Fredheim today, this is the resaurant that stays open till 21.00 and also does takeaways. These are no in boxes but on plates with proper knives and folks!

Announcement, We have COVID on board and the people are isolating in their cabins. Wonder how this will affect the rest of the trip.





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