Ny-Ålesund

A mostly peaceful night at anchor, listening to the little pieces of ice as they skittered by on the current. There was one large piece that bounced off us in the small hours, making us all jump out of our bunks, at least long enough to realise that there wasn't water rushing into the hull, so it was safe to resume our warm slumbers. In the morning we visited the old settlement of New London on the island, before crossing the fjord to the harbor at Ny-Ålesund. Ny-Ålesund, just shy of 79 degrees north, boasts a lot of "most Northerns" (Settlement, post-office, museum, shop, etc, etc - all of which we took advantage of, especially the hot showers). Once the base for polar exploration (Amundsen villa and monument can be viewed) It's entirely a research settlement now, and the research requires that no-one uses cellular or bluetooth signals. The Ny-Ålesund Internet Cafe is a hut on the quay, containing an ethernet connection so seafarers can at least get a weather forecast. We happened to arrive on one of the two days a week when the local dark bar opens for 2 hours - a chance for everyone to crowd inside and enjoy some artificial relief from the 24 hour daylight.