By boat into the Arctic Circle - Norway Feb 22
An unexpected ending... Theoretically, the MS Nordlys has a capacity of about 450 passengers. This afternoon, barely 100 have assembled in the ship's conference for a hastily convened mandatory briefing. Last night, the seas were rough enough to dump bedding unceremoniously on the floor and during the day, the winds have, if anything, strengthened. The two LCD screens in the conference room are already displaying enlarged weather maps of the Norwegian coast, showing a huge pink mass heading our way. The meeting is good humoured but brief: there is a storm coming straight at us which could cause waves of up to 16 metres tonight. While the ship is built to withstand this, passengers and tonight's dinner are not. The rest of the tour itinerary is cancelled, the Captain will try and find a safe haven to anchor and weather the storm, then full steam ahead tomorrow for the remaining 450 or so miles back to Bergen. Not quite the trip we had planned, with visions of stunning scenery ...