Tiny snowflakes drifted down from a white sky this morning, as the Caledonian Star approached the massive glacier Negribreen. In contrast to the great icecap on Nordaustlandet, which we saw yesterday, Negribreen is a valley glacier that rises among the peaks in eastern Spitsbergen and flows down a broad valley to the sea. Nonetheless, the face of the glacier was very similar to that of the icecap - a vertical curtain of ice stretching away into the foggy distance. We cruised slowly by this icy wall, observing stripes of morainal rock frozen into its depths and photographing enormous ice caves where melt-water rivers emerged.

As we all watched in amazement, Captain Leif Skog maneuvered the Caledonian Star, ever so slowly, closer and ever closer to the face of the glacier, until the bow was only inches away from the ice. Holding the ship perfectly still in this position, he then allowed three members of the staff to climb carefully over the bow onto the surface of the glacier. They walked a few steps across the ice, dusted with new fallen snow, and posed briefly for photographs, their bright orange float-coats a perfect contrast to the white wilderness around them. After a minute or two, they climbed back on board and the Captain eased the ship back and set a course south to our next landing. Those of us who work on board the Caledonian Star are very proud of our ship and even more so of her master, Captain Skog. This amazing piece of ship handling was a perfect example of the remarkable capabilities of a small ship in the hands of a uniquely skilled officer (who also happens to be a proud new father!).