I have never been on so many different boats in such a short space of time in my life!

But before I launch into my stories I’m going to start with a lesson…What is the difference between a ship and a boat?

Well, there are a few interpretations, depending on who is delivering the explanation, and who is the audience.

In the old days the difference had to do with the number of masts. Now it can be about the number of engines. I have also read that the word boat is the collective noun for all water going vessels, and ships are a subset of boats, for those which are ocean going.

One of the easiest explanations I have read is: “You can put a boat on a ship, but you can’t put a ship on a boat”.

This seems to encapsulate the idea of size being a defining factor.  And it’s simple.

Having said all this, please don’t interrogate my use of the two words in this post!

I’m just going to roll with it. 😄

I’m starting with the two ships (yes, ships)

We boarded the MV Vikingfjord in Longyearbyen to do the trip around Svalbard. I discovered when I was trying to locate the vessel on AIS that it was showing as sailing under the Dominican flag and was originally a buoy laying vessel. It actually is a Norwegian ship, and is an ice-strengthened vessel which has been modified to be environmentally friendly, creating a 95% reduction in nitrogen oxide emissions. The Vikingfjord is 41.8 metres long and takes 12 passengers. There were 7 crew and 2 expedition guides.

Here are photos of our cabin, which I shared with my travel buddy. Quite luxurious, as cabins go.

The lounge area was a favourite spot to relax….

There were 2 zodiacs, which meant that we all went exploring together.

A normal day consisted of a combination of

• meals (of course!)
• zodiac trips
• cruising from place to place, especially since we completed a full circumnavigation of Svalbard
• briefings and lectures
• playing cards!
• wildlife spotting, either on deck or on the bridge
• on deck… just taking it all in
• reading and napping… just relaxing in some breathtaking surroundings.

The other ship we spent time on was the Sarfaq Ittuk, the Greenland commuter ferry operated by Arctic Umiaq Line. It is 73 metres long and carries 238 passengers with a crew of 22. It contains 26 x 4 berth cabins, and 134 couchettes. Couchettes are bunk cabins which come in various sizes, accommodating from two to eight people, with shared facilities.

The Sarfaq Ittuk spends all year travelling the south west coast of Greenland (the most populated area of Greenland) transporting people and goods between the towns. You see, there are no roads connecting Greenland towns. Everyone travels by boat, and occasionally aircraft. So, this ship is a vital means of transport. It runs on a set schedule, stopping at the same towns at roughly the same time every cycle of the timetable. In some places we docked for only 15 minutes. At other places, the stop was hours, giving us time to get off and explore the town.

We stayed on this ship for 5 nights. We missed out on getting an ensuite cabin, so ours was a bunk cabin (a couchette), with shared facilities. I had the top bunk.

We had checked ahead of time to make sure that sheets and blankets were supplied.  But when we boarded and these were issued to us, we were surprised and bemused to discover that both were made from paper! Yes, paper! The sheet and pillowcase were made from the same material that hospital disposable items are made from; semi-transparent, matted material, which appears incredibly flimsy but turns out to be moderately resilient. The ‘blanket’ is slightly more robust, as it is essentially two ‘sheets’ quilted with a very thin layer of wadding in the middle. Surprisingly it was very warm. And because the ship is heated, I found myself sometimes kicking off this layer at night. Overall, I slept quite well in my cosy nook on the top bunk!

The onboard routine was quite different from our first voyage. Being essentially a ferry service, it was up to us to ensure that we knew what we were doing, when, and for how long. If we disembarked at a town and missed the ferry when it departed again, it would be roughly another two weeks before we could pick it up again going in the same direction!

There is a restaurant/cafe on board which serves meals and snacks. It is a buffet style with hot and cold options from a limited selection. The Danish open sandwiches were amazing! (To be expected as Greenland is part of the kingdom of Denmark). We became great friends with the Cafe manager who was very encouraging at our attempts to speak Greenlandic!

In addition to the large restaurant area, there was another smaller lounge at the rear of the ship. Plus, there was ample deck area from which we could enjoy the ever-changing vista of Greenland; its dramatic landscape and picturesque towns, as well as the occasional whale. There were even deck chairs. The incongruity of glaring sunlight and freezing temperatures made for a very different experience!

The start of our ferry trip didn’t go exactly as planned……

Because of ice!

And this is the time to introduce the next type of boat we travelled in. This vessel was part way between a small ferry and a water taxi, and took around a dozen passengers. As soon as we landed in Narsarsuaq, we were supposed to go by boat to Qaqortoq. However, the boat was late because of ice. Finally on board, we were quickly powering along at about 15 to 20 knots, when the boats stopped (there were two identical ferries, travelling pretty much in convoy, taking many the passengers arriving off the plane from Copenhagen). The ice at Qaqortoq was still thick and we were going to stop at Narsaq for a couple of hours to give it a chance to clear.

However, when we got to Narsaq, there was still no hope of getting through the ice. And there was no room for us to stay in the only guesthouse!

So, it was back onto the ferry and back to Narsarsuaq.

The only problem was that about halfway on our return journey, the skipper received a radio call to say that there was no accommodation available for us in Narsarsuaq! They were sending another ferry to rendezvous with ours, take us off our current one, and transport us back to Narsaq.  It turned out that they did have some room after all because some guests were supposed to arrive from Qaqortoq, but of course they couldn’t get through either, and so we were to take their beds.

Finally…. back at Narsaq we were met at the wharf and taken up to the guest house. Even though it was now about 10pm, the owner graciously made us dinner, before we retired to bed.

And this was how our first day in Greenland went… it was already an adventure!!!

Later in Greenland, we boarded a water taxi for our puffin tour out of Nuuk.

It was just the five of us this time, and the vessel was much smaller, so it was a bit of a squeeze. That didn’t matter as the weather was spectacular, and I  thought that the seats at the very front would be the ideal spot to sit for the trip out to “Puffin Island”.

But I hadn’t accounted for how cold it would be!!!!!

We pelted along at about 20 knots, which created such an icy breeze that I had to return to the cabin to thaw out!

The voyage to and from Eqi Glacier Lodge (out of Ilulissat) was another enjoyable ferry ride. This ferry was larger than the Narsaq one, but much much smaller than the Sarfak Ittuk. (You can see what I mean about the various shapes and sizes!)

The voyage out stopped in front on the glacier so we could witness the ice calvings from the water. We drifted there for some time, and gathered on the top deck to hear some interesting facts about the glacier as we watched and listened to the glacier activity.

Later on, I also enjoyed a glorious evening on a similar ferry when I went on an ice cruise. The cruise started at about 9.30 pm when we left the wharf right outside the front of our hotel at Ilulissat. We spent a few hours cruising around the extraordinary floating landscape of icebergs which gather at the mouth of Ilulissat Icefjord. That night there was an eery atmosphere of fog, which would clear and then reappear. They provided blankets so that those who wanted could sit outside, which I did. And we were also treated to a cocktail made from Ilulissat gin and glacier ice. All very gracious, I must say.

The final memory was when we docked at around midnight, with the sun still above the horizon. And despite the time (and the cold), I couldn’t help just lingering to savour the view on my last night in Greenland.

I remember feeling quite emotional as it had been an extraordinary trip.

When I started this post, I wondered whether there would be enough to write about, given it was just about boats.  But it has turned out to be quite a mammoth recount.

And I still haven’t shared my kayak and zodiac stories!

So, I have decided to keep these for another post. Stay tuned, so to speak.