With Amanda at the helm, John searches for a passage through the ice.
Then Amanda begins to push away the ice, using a modified wind surfer mast.

Once, we used the dinghy as a tugboat, nudging the ice out of our way - just for fun.

Some ice was really sculpture, ... some was much too big to mess with.

We anchor in a small bay near two other sailboats in Hornsund, to visit the Polish Research Station.

We climb the path to the research station;
and chat with resident researchers, including Nina (at left),
an American doctoral candidate studying little auks.

A note pasted on a research room door shows the whimsical nature of the scientists here:
"Theory is when you know everything but nothing works.
Practice is when everything works, but no one knows why.
In this room, we are combining theory with practice.
Nothing works, and no one knows why."

Near the station stands a cross in memory of all who died in & around Hornsund, including the crew of a crashed helicopter. A jagged helicopter fragment is nailed above the carving at the base of the cross.

After admiring ice sculptures at the sea's edge, we carry the dinghy to head back to our boat.

Ny Alesund sported a small train, which Tom commandeered. In the past, the train was used to haul coal.

This sign wasn't kidding.
This tern is mellow, but the terns dive-bombed us incessantly on most of our walks.
We have no photos of terns attacking,
as we were too busy laughing and protecting our heads!
The sign suggests holding a stick upright - but not swinging it - above the head.

We hunt for fossils in the run-off from this glacier. We find remains of prehistoric animals embedded in stones, like the one below, which contains all kinds of vertebrates, shells, and maybe fish!

Farewell to Svarbard:
Liz shows what she can do with her right arm
(in her "Active Care Sports Medicine" T-shirt);
Tom awaits a 2:45 AM!! pick-up
in front of Longyearbyen hotel to go to the airport - to SF.

These are but a few images of an extraordinary adventure;
For a full text and photo account of trip, check out Mahina Expeditions.