The island is all it promised to be: rugged, beautiful and seemingly deserted.
Although not quite so much as we get nearer our preferred anchorage near the Old Met Station on the north side of the island. Three yachts are already anchored there when we arrive and anchor ourselves.
It's definitely rolly and we can see the other three riding on their anchor chains...not an ideal setting, but it will save the climbers a day's walk with all their gear if we can drop them off here.
As soon as the anchor is set, everybody is getting ready: our mountaineering team with their climbing backpacks and gear; Boogie, Luke and myself with the dinghy and the immersion suits. No mean feat getting an outboard on a tender when we're riding up and down, but a bit of team work and good timing gets it done.
From here it looks a rough landing on the fairly steep beach and everybody who is going ashore will have to wear a neoprene survival or immersion suit.
It is a full, one piece suit, with feet included and a hood, all waterproof...almost, that is...as soon as your feet get tumbled up, the valves in the suit feet start leaking a bit! Good thing it is a short ride to the shore and they only get wet feet when getting out of the dinghy!
Soon the first 4 are ready to rock and roll - and roll they will: there is a big swell running and when they get to the landing spot, the dinghy almost rolled. Luke and Boogie manage to keep her stable though and get all four of them safe and dry (bar feet that is) on the beach.
They do four more trips, with lots and lots of bags with climbing gear and the remaining three 'mountain goats'.
A cute photo of Boogie and Luke in their very fashionable immersion suits will follow when back on full internet!
Back on the boat, we look at the weather with a bit of concern: the swell is not abating at all, nor is the wind and after a quick dinner and a phone call with the Station Commander of the Norwegian base here, we decide to take the boat to the north side of the island, near to the base where it is a lot calmer.
Although the island is not very big, it still takes us close to six hours to get there...but what a magnificent trip.
The cliffs on the north side are just stunning: big black rock faces, alternated with large lava rocks, or more undulating mountainside a bit further back.
The colours are amazing: against the dark grey, anthracite cliffs, you can see hues of deep red, golden brown and sandy beige in the rock and the slopes behind are decked in a brilliant green. It is a jaw dropping scenery and paints a colour pallet that one could only hope to catch in paint or pixels.
When we come around the SW corner of the island, we are greeted by thousands and thousands of fulmars, the big white seabird that has been accompanying us on our trip to Jan Mayen. They are everywhere and appear to be very curious, coming close to the boat, seemingly to come and check out what this weird beast is. They fly up with us, drift a bit on the water and one is even so curious and coming so close, that he has to get himself out of a tangle with the spreaders on the mast!
The light on the rocks is wonderful and I keep popping my head up in awe, even though I am navigating old style down below, plotting our position and course every 10 - 15 minutes, as we don't have a digital chart of these waters.
It's 0230 am by the time we anchor just outside Batvika (pronounced Botvika) and all three of us are knackered. It's been worth the trip though, as the seas are smooth, there is just nice breeze and the landing beach here seems a dream compared to the north side.
It's been a good day's work.
