Posted by lisavickers — 23 August 2010 at 2:37am
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We have officially arrived in the Arctic! After coming into Nuuk, Greenland, on Friday to pick up Arne, our ice pilot - we headed north and crossed the Arctic circle yesterday afternoon. I was incredibly excited about crossing the line as I have never done it before. Waldemar, our captain also hasn't been here. We stood together on the bridge yesterday and watched the GPS move slowly up from 66 degrees north. At the moment we crossed the line he jumped into the air and said "oh wow! Lisa! did you feel it?". Of course there's no geographical line in the ocean - no immediate change in the surroundings when you cross over. And just like a birthday when you suddenly get a year older - you don't feel any different but it's a special occasion and cause for celebration.
Posted by lisavickers — 22 August 2010 at 1:36pm
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Anais takes a break from her chores on board to ponder about what's on the horizon and why we're here...
There are more and more visits by our distant relatives - the whales -as we journey onwards and they are a welcome distraction from our busy daily routine. It's one of the unspoken ship's rules to drop grease guns, chipping hammers and carpentry tools at any time, and get one personal minute of wonder holding onto the railing, viewing the spouts. Perhaps this mixed feeling of wishfulness and emotion is because we feel connected to these mammals who were drawn from the land to the ocean - just like us.
I also love these funny moments of confusion when formations of dark blue clouds appear close to the horizon. It makes me wink, rub my eyes and after a second look they appear not to be just mountain shaped clouds but actually land. Greenland this time.
Posted by jamie — 20 August 2010 at 8:01pm
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Will Rose, the Esperanza's photographer, has been keeping himself busy documenting life on board the ship as well as some of the incredible sights the crew have already encountered on their journey north. They've seen whales, the Northern Lights and the Persaid meteor shower. Not that I'm jealous.
Posted by lisavickers — 20 August 2010 at 5:02pm
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Victor, one of our activists on board the Esperanza, writes his second update...
Friends, we’ve now been at sea for a week. The waves have come and
gone. Sometimes big, sometimes small. Right now it’s calm. But just a
couple of days ago it was worse. Curfew during the night, and
recommendations to stay away from deck even during daytime. The waves
burst over the bow and sprayed the windows as high up as the bridge.
When laying in my bunk I got that feeling of weightlessness as the ship
moved down the ridge of the waves, only to weigh double as much as
normal as we came up again. Hallelujah. Better than Disneyland.
Posted by lisavickers — 18 August 2010 at 1:47pm
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Leila, Greenpeace climate campaigner, writes from the Esperanza...
Blimey, isn't everyone getting their knickers in a twist about where the
great ship Esperanza is headed. After the news of The Faroe Islands
calling on 'special forces', the internet is alive with speculation
about where we'll end up.The Faroes' massive overreaction makes the
point more clearly than Greenpeace could - our countries are addicted to
oil and we all need help to get off it.
Posted by jamess — 17 August 2010 at 4:37pm
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Sim from the USA, who is currently on board our ship the Esperanza, writes...
I’ve been aboard the Esperanza for several days now. Having made it through the humbling experience of being utterly incapacitated by seasickness (not a pleasant experience, lemme tell you), I've started to get my feet under me and am able to help out with the day to day workings of the ship.
Loading and stowing the gear for our expedition, helping oil the cable on one of the ship's three cranes, and getting into the rhythm of morning cleaning rotation have all given me a chance to get involved with the crew as well as our campaign team. As I've found most places, putting in your time cleaning seems central to making friends out here.
Posted by lisavickers — 17 August 2010 at 10:02am
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Ben Stewart, comms officer onboard the Esperanza writes...
Well I have to say, I didn’t expect that. Yesterday afternoon I was
on the rowing machine at the back of the ship as we bobbed along
somewhere north of Scotland when Helena tapped me on the shoulder and
told me there was a journalist asking for me on the satellite phone. I
made an undignified attempt to get to my feet but my legs didn’t work,
then I realised my shoes were still strapped into the machine but I
couldn’t reach them so I sort of flapped around a bit like an Emperor
penguin on an iceberg until I managed to slide along the floor and out
of the door.
A minute later I was in the campaign office on the
top deck, phone plugged to ear, heaving for breath with a ruddy red
face. It was Radio Faroe Islands on the line and they wanted our
reaction to the news that the Danish government has sent a team of
special forces navy SEALS to the islands to ‘take on’ the Esperanza.
Posted by lisavickers — 15 August 2010 at 10:22pm
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Anais from Germany writes from the Esperanza...
And as the lockmaster is unveiling the curtain we are putting out to
sea - leaving behind murmur, feet scraping and rustling plastic bags of
the overcrowded cinema. it's the curtain call for sea monsters, herds of
white horses riding on top of giant waves, jack o' lanterns and other
strange weather phenomena.
Posted by lisavickers — 14 August 2010 at 5:59pm
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Victor, an activist on board the Esperanza, wrote a blog for us yesterday -- while most of us were all feeling too seasick to look at a
computer screen - let alone type.
We left the harbour in London on Thursday at 2:30pm local time.
No problems there. I don’t know if it’s normal, but we were escorted
by a large inflatable. I’d guess they were the water police checking up
on us so we didn’t make any surprise action in their jurisdiction. The
mood on board was great, and we were all happy being on our way out at
sea. The grand adventure was waiting around the corner.
I'm
a Swedish activist for Greenpeace, living in Denmark. The ship we’re
on, Esperanza, is the biggest of Greenpeace’s three oceangoing ships. On
board we are about 35 people from various parts of the world. English
is the official language on board, but you hear Spanish in various
places on the ship. A fantastic mix if you ask me.