By the time we left Engelskbukta a wall of fog had already begun to creep into the bay. There was just enough wind to sail which gave us the added insurance of being able to hear another vessel approaching. With our radar running and foghorn on standby, we kept a vigilant watch.
The visibility did not improve and we went into the anchorage at Blomstrandhamma completely blind, relying on the depth sounder and radar. At one point the fog shifted slightly and we briefly saw the edge of the snow covered shore. Once Snow Dragon was snuggly anchored we waited patiently for the fog to give us another glimpse of shore. When it did, we realized that it was a large ice berg, not shore that we had seen.
When the fog finally cleared, we took in our new surroundings which resembled a construction sight. The retreating glacier had left behind mounds of rubble. Amongst the “debris” several flowers were flourishing under the harsh conditions including polar willow (salix polaris) and mountain avens (dryas octopetala).
Once back aboard Snow Dragon, the wind picked up and every piece of ice that had carved from the glacier including the large ice berg started to move our way. Not wanting a repeat of Pyramiden, we motored across to Ny Alesund, a muddy but ice free anchorage.
For more photos of Blomstrandhamma please click on Blomstrandhamma Album.
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