FLOATING RESORTS. YOU CAN KEEP THEM. You know the kind of cruises I mean: tropical cocktails, gift-shop islands, sun-and-deck chair afternoons. When I'm at sea, I want adventure. Cresting waves, puffs of wind, the works.
This is why I find myself onboard a Russian icebreaker that is hardened to cut through icebergs and glaciers and is churning north. Next stop: the Arctic Circle and the coast of Greenland. Polar bears will be there, I hope, and maybe some whales and snowy owls. If we make it, I will down a shot of Smirnoff with the crew, not a pina colada.
My icebreaker for 14 days, the Kapitan Khlebnikov, is chartered by Quark Expeditions and outfitted for 108 passengers. To get to the ship, we had to fly to Resolute Bay, five hours north of Ottawa, Canada. Then we loaded up a little fleet of rubber Zodiac boats to cross an icy sound and staggered onto the Khlebnikov's gangplank and deck.
This sounded good to me.
In business since 1991, Quark is one of several lines that specializes in ferrying cruise passengers to the snowy ends of the world. Sometimes, those on board get to be part of exploration firsts. In 1991, Quark icebreaker passengers experienced a pioneering transit of the Northeast Passage, the route across the top of the world. And in 1999, passengers and crew sailed completely around the top of the globe (the first-ever Arctic circumnavigation).
My cruise isn't supposed to break new ground for explorers or plant any flags. But being this far north -- even in Resolute at the start of the trip -- is, itself, an adventure. Like all Arctic voyages with passengers, this one kicks off in a relatively ice-free month. It is September, but the wind is whistling like winter, zeroing in on exposed skin.
"I've lost my gloves!" squeals Emma Hambly of Bodmin, England. She's rifling through pockets and knapsacks. No luck. We are thinking "frostbite" until she's saved by someone's overpacking: Another passenger has found an extra pair.
We zip up our Quark-issued orange parkas on the Zodiac ride through rising swells to the ship. Here are layers of freezing sea foam. And over here are floating ice chunks. It looks like a cake that has exploded.
Our first days at sea are prism clear. When we pass near Cape York, along the west coast of Greenland, we hear a sound like vegetables being chopped. There are helicopters on deck and it is time to load them up for a flying tour. On the ride, we fly over a snowy hill where sits a memorial to Arctic explorer Robert Peary. The helicopter dips in for a closer look, bouncing and diving in the hard blue air.
