July 25 – Geology, not biology.

A very early 5AM start today to go and visit the fishing village of Assaqutaq . The unusually early start was because the machine shop in Sisimuit didn't have the right equipment to fix the engine parts we need, so we'll need to spend the guys of the day slowly chugging our way further up the coast to Ilulissat.

The rest of the day was spent limping up the coast on our half an engine, mostly indoors as the fog rolled in after lunch. To pass the time the guides gave a series of talks on the respective areas of expertise, though Jessica and I mostly snoozed in our room to catch up on missed sleep. One handy feature on the ship is that the closed circuit television channel always shows what's happening in the forward lounge where they do all the talks and presentations. This is so that if you're too tired or lazy to come down to the lounge for any event, you can always stay in bed and watch it on the TV in your room. This has become my FAVORITE THING IN THE WORLD and I insist this becomes part of my everyday life! From now on all invites, from family dinners to birthday parties to weddings, must include an internet feed so I can stay home and watch it from there. I may never leave the house again.

Other than sea birds and a few whales, we haven't seen a lot of wildlife. The marine biologist on board seems disappointed that she hasn't been able to fulfill our “marine mammal needs” so far (a phrase she accidentally used when introducing herself on the first day and hasn't been able to live down). However, the coastline scenery is beautiful and so far we're happy with the theme of the trip being “geology, not biology”, which is handy because there are several geologists on board.