ICEBERGS AHOY!

The Captain had announced an informal competition after leaving L’Anse aux Meadows.  Drinks on his tab to the first person who spotted an iceberg. 

The specimen spotted (and not shown here), in our humble opinion, was no more than a growler.  

Growlers are small chunks of floating ice, low in the water.  When trapped air escapes from the melting ice it sometimes makes a sound like an animal growl, hence the name. We had been expecting something a little more spectacular to merit drinks with the Captain. 

But it didn’t take long for the real thing to appear.  

It was a day of cruising and we had been blessed with flawless weather.  The Captain slowed the vessel as a massive iceberg came nearer, taking Resolute around it while we all marvelled at the shape, colour and size of pure ice. 

Gulls had perched on one of the berg’s jagged arms. A zodiac was launched to photograph Resolute during its circumnavigation which was really amazing when we saw the finished result.  Our vessel did not look very big next to this icy mountain! 

More icebergs came and went throughout the days to come.  

No two remotely the same. 

As we neared the end of our voyage we did encounter some difficult ice conditions on our journey through Frobisher Bay on our way to Iqaluit, the capital city of Nunavut.  

During our last night on board we awoke to thudding and banging as Resolute made contact with the ice.  The bridge staff had been on full alert throughout the night to keep us safe. 

Resolute has an open bridge policy which was all the more amazing given the challenging conditions.  

We spent some time watching the never ending banks of ice and the crew’s skill at threading the needle forward.  Speed had been reduced to a minimum which made us four hours late arriving into Iqaluit. 

As we made our final zodiac ride to shore the Captain waved and we all cheered him.  

It had been an incredible voyage and we felt so fortunate for the experience.