Travelogue: near Baffin Island

Baffin Bay – September 9
Date and time: 09.09.25, 11:00
Location: LAT 72.42°, LON 73.27°
SOG (speed over ground): 12.4 knots
Wind: 30–32 knots

This morning the outline of Baffin Island rose ahead of us, its snow-covered mountaintops lifting straight out of the sea. The sight is otherworldly, stark and dazzling in the sunlight. The temperature hovers around zero, the wind sharp and biting, and yet the sea is filled with icebergs, some vast, others small with floating shards scattered around them. A lone sailboat passed us today, to my astonishment—what it was doing out here in this weather, I cannot imagine.

I thought I would walk the deck under the sun, but a single gust of wind sent me retreating back indoors. Ten metres was enough. Instead, I did my steps in the cabin, a more sheltered kind of exercise. On the bridge, three people are always on watch: an able seaman, either the ice navigator or the polar expert, and either the second or third officer, with the chief officer also taking turns. Their vigilance is constant, eyes trained on the horizon for ice, large or small.

I only wish I could put into words the beauty of this place. It is raw and immense, beyond any landscape I have known, and every moment feels like a gift to be here.