Spitsbergen 2013

Crossing the Line

Posted by admin on July 16, 2013

Just before 8pm this evening, Atlantis crossed the Arctic Circle - heading south.  To be honest, on the way north over a month ago we had rather overlooked the milestone as we were well out to sea at the time. This time, now homeward bound, we have taken the inside channels of the Norwegian coastline in order to avoid the bad weather we spoke of in an earlier blog.  The prominent Arctic Circle monument marking the line, and our return from Arctic waters, was impossible to miss.

We'll be making inshore progress south for a couple of days - in spectacular scenery and flat waters.  The downside is the impact on our diesel consumption.  The alternative, however, would have been to stay put somewhere for a while, and set back our southbound progress, or to have attempted to sail into gale force southerlies which would have achieved little and possibly caused unnecessary damage to boat or crew.

The calm waters and use of the engine have permitted time for a little sail maintenance:

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