June 19 - at Sea again

---

Hello from the Island Princess, cruising on the Norwegian Sea. This was a sea day as we head back south toward our next port in Gravdal on Lofoten Island tomorrow. In the meantime, today has been a day of rest. Before we cover today's activities, let's add a couple of facts overlooked in yesterday's report.

First - the photos from Tromso have been posted to that blog. You should be able to see them if you go back there. Second - the photos from Honningsvag have been posted also. Take a look if you want.

Now a question - where did the King Crab come from that are now so enjoyable in Northern Norway? Back in the 1930's, Russia tried to bring these crabs from their east coast to the west, to develop a new fishing industry in those waters. Unfortunately, all of them died. About 30 years later they tried again but first they did a thorough evaluation of each crab. Only the strongest were transferred, and this time they survived. How did they pick the strongest? King Crabs can live outside of the water for as much as 12 hours. Although they are active in the water, they become very lethargic when out of the water, saving their energy to survive. If placed on their backs on land, very few have the energy to flip themselves back over. These were considered the strongest. Anyway, these crabs transplanted very well and grew plentifully. Now they have migrated themselves from eastern Russia and moved into Norwegian waters too. There are rules about not keeping small ones and such, but the bottom line is that fresh King Crab is delicious!

We already talked about it being difficult walking through the gravel and up/down steep grades. Fortunately, we brought along a spare pair of glider feet for Janet's walker. The first set wasn't completely shot, but they were getting quite worn so now she has a fresh set for the rest of the trip.

We didn't really go exploring much in Honningsvag, just to the crab place. We were told it is a small village with a population of only about 2600, with perhaps a couple of hundred people living in cottages outside of town. There is almost no vegetation growing naturally in this area, although there have been some trees planted and carefully tended. One group of these trees is on a hillside directly above the port, placed between several rows of avalanche barriers. Although the summer temperatures are mild in the lower 50's, in the winter they average only a little below freezing, due to the Gulf Stream. They told us that it can have snow on the nearby mountains for up to 8 months. Happily yesterday did get to 52 and sunny for most of our visit.

FYI: Gas was 23.45 KR/Liter, which works out to more than $8.00 per US gallon.

Unfortunately, when we were finishing our excursion yesterday it was getting foggy around the port. Worse yet, that fog persisted where we were sailing all night. So, we were not able to get a good view of the midnight sun. Fortunately the night before David had gotten up at 12:15 and took a picture. It has a cloud layer, but at least it was better than the fog. Even with the fog it was still bright around the cabin curtain as we were trying to sleep.

That gets us to this morning. we slept in until after 10:00, so it was a Horizon Court breakfast. We sat at a table with a lady who has a couple of adult children in the knitting group. She is front Utah, which reminded us that there are still some states which we have not visited in the US. Maybe we will work out a road trip someday to see some more of our own country.

After breakfast we went back to the cabin. There wasn't anything very special today. We went down to the Customer Service Desk to straighten out some paperwork, then had a couple of sodas and special coffees. But we had such a late breakfast that we skipped lunch entirely. At 4:00 they brought our canapes before the Formal Night dinner. In the dining room we both had the Beef Wellington which was very good. This was after appetizers and before dessert. It made a very good dinner. Now we are finishing the evening in the cabin before tomorrow.

The sea has been very smooth all day and the horizon has been clear since this morning. Hopefully tonight there might be a midnight sun picture. Good night.

---