A kayak tour like this makes you hungry. Fortunately, it was lunchtime. Strengthened, I went back on deck to take a few photos and simply enjoy the sea air and the beautiful landscape around. Even though it was quite cold, I stayed outside for a long time. The secret is to dress warmly and properly.
One point of interest was the red lighthouse. Points of interest are always announced so that you don’t miss one.
The red lighthouse Kjeungskjær is one of the most famous lighthouses in Norway. It is 21 m high and was built in 1880. It has not been inhabited since 1987, when it was automated. At times, a family of five and a private tutor who taught the lighthouse keeper’s children lived there.
After the red lighthouse was over, there were fresh mussels on deck 7 for all who wanted them. They were very tasty. The frosty temperatures made the deck very slippery. So that no one slipped, a little salt was sprinkled on the worst spots.
Afterwards, I continued to enjoy the landscape and took a lot of photos. Partly I was just trying something out, as I haven’t had my camera for long and don’t know it that well yet.
Because I was so busy taking pictures, I almost overlooked the message from Esklid. He wrote that he now had time to show me the bridge. We arranged to meet 10 minutes later. So I could still bring the warm clothes into the cabin. Then I went up to deck 6 and waited for Eskild. It was very nice of the captain to allow Eskild to show me the bridge.
With awe I entered the bridge. It was dark there and you could see the LED display on the monitors very well. Still on the bridge were the second mate and a sailor in training. I greeted them both in Norwegian. I was very curious and wanted to know a lot. Eskild explained it to me patiently, as sometimes I didn’t understand everything the first time.
The outer 2 monitors are the same on each side. They show whether the ship is moving on the right line and the current conditions.
The bridge runs the entire width of the ship. The right and left sides are equipped the same. When the weather is nice, you have a beautiful view of the back part of the ship.
Of course, I also wanted to learn something about the hybrid technology used at Richard With.
Eskild explained it to me as follows:
Quote Eskild: “We have a battery pack on board that we can use to power the ship. With the battery pack we can’t maintain a scheduled speed, but we can sail for 20-40 minutes on battery power alone, depending on how fast we are going. The battery pack is usually used to take the load off the main engines so we can save fuel and reduce emissions.”
Eskild explained it to me as follows:
Quoting Eskild: “This picture shows our ballast system. Ballast is water that can be moved to the starboard/ port side or forward/ aft to trim a ship straight.”
For a “landlubber” like me it was all very impressive. Eskild really has a very nice place to work. At this statement he grinned and replied, “Yes that’s true, when the weather is nice, but it’s interesting in stormy weather too.” I could have watched for hours on the bridge without getting bored. But I didn’t want to keep Eskild from his work and thanked him for the interesting tour.
I missed the first announcement that there were some northern lights to be seen, as I was in the shower. Today’s dinner was not a 3-course menu but a buffet. That was also very tasty.
After dinner, it didn’t take long before the Northern Lights announcement came again. Jörg, one of my table mates, had the most experience with photography and helped me to set up the camera so that I could get nice pictures of the Northern Lights. First I held my iPhone in the direction where Northern Lights were suspected and then I positioned the camera. I didn’t have a tripod, but I placed the camera correctly on the railing and held on very well.
After the Northern Lights were over again, we went to bed after an eventful day.