After a fairly windy day of motoring and no sailing because of the direction in which our next anchor is going to be dropped, the plans for tomorrow are as follows: we will pass through Graham Channel, which is a narrow waterway with some spectacular views. Anchors aweigh by 04:00 AM.“Who does not want to be woken up to witness this?”

Dead silence, so way before breakfast the deck of Europa is crowded. Europa slows down to avoid damage caused by larger bit of ice. Up high an ice watch keeps a keen eye on the channel. On a much larger scale one can hear something like the tinkle of ice cubes in a glass of whiskey.

The sun rises in colours twice beyond imagination, since it’s all reflected in the completely motionless water. The light is playing games with anything in the path of her glistening rays. When all of us think the ship will have to turn back, Klaas knows where to turn port or starboard for a way through. We stand in awe under a bright blue sky, not knowing yet that a magnificent day is going to be closed with a chunk of apple pie and cream.

Joop