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Newsletter winter 2012
Winter
The trees have lost their leaves and the wind is blowing. It's the moment to speak about winter. No snow and ice yet here in Holland!
The Anne-Margaretha is waiting again in Spaarndam, near Haarlem, for her “winter-service”. Until now we had other things to do, but Heinz started sprucing her up last week. In March we'll haul her out of the water and she'll have her annual inspections and a brand new paint job!
Season 2012
Our sailing program is set for the New Year: we will cross the North Sea to Norway and will sail along the impressive Norwegian fjords-coast and then travel slowly to the north. At Bodø we'll cross over to the Lofotes where we'll hike. After 11 days we'll arrive in forever cosy Tromsø.
This is the starting place for the trip to Bear Island where we'll go ashore while the Anne-Margaretha anchors in hidden sight of Bear Island surrounded by thousands of breeding birds...!
After Bear Island, there is still a one-day sailing trip to Spitsbergen. The first anchorage is near a Polish science station at the entrance of the Hornsund, one of the most beautiful fjords of Spitsbergen (!)
We will take some time to visit this sound, full of marvelous icebergs!
After several days of exploring the coast we will arrive in Longyearbyen, where planes arrive and leave 5x daily. This is also the starting place for our Spitsbergen trips.
For more information about our trips, see www.annemargaretha.nl , Sailing Program 2012
Explorers
Last year we learned and read more and more about the explorers from the last century who started in Spitsbergen to try to reach the North Pole. We have quite a library on board the Anne-Margaretha. Last season, our guests knew a lot of stories about Nobile, Amundsen, Andreé etc. Also on Spitsbergen we'll see the remains of the great whaling ships of the 16/17th century!
Spitsbergen, besides being a region of great beauty, is also an historically interesting place!
We will make 3 trips to Svalbard this year. The first and second legs are already booked up, but we have still some places available on the 3rd leg.
We wish everybody a happy and healthy 2012 and hope to see you again on the Anne-Margaretha!
Greet & Heinz
Newsletter Autumn 2011
Newsletter Autumn 2011
Looking back...
The trip to the far North, Spitsbergen is finished and what an outstanding experience this was!
What did we expect after six expeditions to Antarctica? Could this ever compare? Would it be disappointing?
Frankly we can say that it surpassed our expectations! Beside the glaciers, icebergs and pack ice, there were tundras with an amazing abundance of flowers! All small, but very colourful!
Also delightful were the reminders of the history of the Dutch explorer Willem Barentzs and others, still to be seen.
There were tame reindeers and walruses, who lazilysunned themselves on the beach or swam curiously near the Anne-Margaretha, so that we shot the most wonderful photos! The fin whales swam with the ship, showing their elegant bodies, and last but not least, the polar bears, whom we observed (safely from the ship!): mothers with their cubs and lonesome males, who treated us to a diving show as they helped themselves to remainders of a whale carcass. A day-and-nighttime show in the land of the midnight sun!
All is written in our heads and on our thousands of photos.
So: Spitsbergen is the place we will visit again in 2012!!
Looking forward...
Next year, 2012, we will sail to Spitsbergen again along the Norwegian coast and explore the fjords and glaciers there.
We will start in the Netherlands April 21 and will be back September 30.
Look for all the information about the trips on our website (in English, Dutch and German) at Sailing Program 2012
We will also make two trips to the Lofotes! We enjoyed this part of Norway very much. The trips will start in Bodø and bring us to Tromsø in May. In August we will sail from Tromsø to Bodø.
The Anne-Margaretha
Our dear ship behaved herself very well as usual! Now and then she had to be an ice-breaker in Spitsbergen and she performed the new task very well! Of course this winter we will tidy up her so she is tip-top for next year.
We wish you all a colourful autumn and hope to see you on board next year!
Regards,
Greet & Heinz
