Planning for 2008
Lefdefjord

Day 1: From Longyearbyen we sail for Trygghamna, a bay at the entrance of the great Isfjord. Trygghamna means “safe harbour” , there are good possibilities to go ashore for hiking. There are remains from trapper cabins. A crew member will always accompany you ashore, both as a guide as for polarbear protection, they wander around on all of Svalbard.

Day 2: Maybe first another trip ashore, before we sail west to round Daudmansodden. There we turn north into Forlandsundet. Close to
Poolepynten to see if there are walruses on the beach. If not, we continue, Poolepynten is
a very desolate cape. In the start of the trip we are trying to make quite some miles to have
more time in the second half. We will stop either in Selvagen or Murraypynten to go for a
hike and maybe stay for the night. Just north of Sarstangen is Richardslagune, maybe
the walruses are here. If so we will go ashore and watch them more closely, though we
have to keep a good distance not to disturb them. With there large body’s they lay
packed together very close, farting and burping all the time. Their tusks pointing everywhere.

Day 3: Magdalena bay is a beautiful bay, in use since the whaling period. The fjord has steep sides with sharp edged mountain tops.
At he inner side of the fjord a huge glacier runs into the sea. We
try to get close to give you an impression of the size of it. We can
anchor behind a tang, a spit closing almost half of the southern
side of the fjord. At the tip of the land are the remains of English
graves from the whaling period, clearly not a profession to get old.
There is a hut that belongs to Sysselmannen that is only used in
summer.

Day 4: After a “night”, maybe by now you are used to the 24
hours daylight (?) and maybe some more time ashore we leave
for Sorgattet. If possible we stop at a beautiful well maintained
hut. The area is like an open museum from the trappertime. There are all sorts of artifacts
around. Even a small slip to take boats ashore .

Day 5: Smeerenburg is a must if you are from Holland. This was a very busy whaling station at the time. There are still remains visible from that period. In the middle of the flat area are the graves of 7 winterers that all died of scurvy. They did not fit in a normal coffin for they lay in all sorts of positions when they were found. We can search for the scurvy grass fields. The first winterers, the year before, all survived, for they collected a lot of it and dried it for the winter.

Day 6: If the wind helps us a bit we head straight for Liefdefjord. Far into the fjord are some islands where we have a change of meeting polarbear. In the fjord there are a few good anchorages. Hornbaekpollen is one of them, with close to it the Texas bar hut. We have
some painfull memories of the place for we were attacked by skua’s. They go for your
head when you come to close to their nests. At the end of Liefdefjord there is
Monacobreen. An active glacier where lots of ice breaks of the front. The glacier front is
5 kilometers wide and with good weather you can see the highest part of the glacier 22
kilometers in the distance.

Day 7: In Hornbaekpollen is a bird mountain with Kittiwakes and Little Auks. With some luck we can
see a fox looking for some food at the bottom of the
mountain. We stay in Liefdefjord. We can go for a
long hike or look for more polarbears. At the end of
the day we anchor in Mushhamna. A bay close to a
trapper hut that is still in use. Depending on the
trapper(s) we might be able to visit. But also without
visiting the hut, the area should not be missed. On
the opposite side of the fjord is Worsleyhamna.

Day 8: Is for a visit to Raudfjord, the red fjord. It splits up and ends in two glaciers. It is
an Alpine landscape with good hiking. The color of the mountains gave name to the fjord.
At the entrance of the fjord is an open grave with a visible skull. We might be able to visit
if the wind helps a bit for it is an open roadstead.

Day 9: We pass the Zeeuwsche Utkyk on our way to Virgohamna. Zeeuwsche Utkyk has been a observation post in the whaling time. Virgohamna is the place where several balloon expeditions started and tried to reach the Northpole in the first half of the 20 st century. But much earlier it was already a busy place, because for whalers it was a perfect place to process their catch and boil out the oil.

Day 10: A long day along the coast, around cape Mitra and up again inside to Nillspollen.
The bay where we spent the winter of 2002-2003 (read our report and look at the pictures).
. For us a place with lots of rich memories. For you a 300 meter high bird mountain, filled
with Kittiwakes, Lomvi and Auks. A good hiking area around some lakes and the remains
of a German weather station of the Second World War. And with a view to Lillehookglacier
in the north.

Day 11: Is for Kongsfjord and Ny Alesund. Ny Alesund
is the northernmost scientific settlement where in
winter time 30 people stay for maintenance and some
scientific work. In the summer it is a busy place with
scientist from all over the world. It used to be a mining
area but the mines were closed after one more serious
accident. In the fjord are several bird reserves. Some
of which can be visited. Tre Kroner are the three
mountain tops that stick out of the glaciers.

Day 12: We continue south through Forlandsundet, on the eastern side is a small Polish station we can visit. Or we can go into St. Johns fjord or try our luck again at
Poolepynten. We do not always have a choice, ice and wind having a say in our plans,
but meeting with seal, reindeer and foxes can happen anywhere in the area.

Day 13: Last stop before Longyearbyen is Barentsburg, a Russian mining “town” situated in the Green Fjord. It sounds promising but the poor dejected town with all its pollution is a pity sight. But the Russians are friendly and it is a good place to get an impression of a Russian town in the Arctic. For it is much like towns along the North-East passage. The sea route to Asia for which Barents searched in vain, paying for it with his life.

Day 14: Back in Longyearbyen we hope to have some time for you to visit the town,
museum, etc. The new museum will open in April. Right now there is a ship on its way
from Holland to Longyearbyen with old artifacts from the whaling time. They were exhibited
and examined there. To understand more of Spitsbergen you have to visit the museum.
But also the gallery with pictures of Northernlights and the coming and going of the light
around the polarnight.