DOWN TO ZERO BOAT TOUR
Regular Updates from the Crew aboard the Ship, MV Greenpeace.

AUGUST 11 - NY ALESUND

• Yesterday we made a port call to visit the Russian coal mining settlement of Barentsberg on the Isfijord.An open boat was held in the evening where approximately 230 people came onboard out of 850 residents.

  Then we proceeded to the former coal mining community of Ny Alesund which is the most permanent northern settlement in the world. It is now a scientific community overseen by the Norwegian Polar Institute. Here we met with Norwegian Environment Minister, Guru Fjellanger. We handed her a copy of our report 'The Tip of the Iceberg' that Greenpeace will release tomorrow (Aug 12) at a press conference in London and explained the purpose of our tour. She was in Ny Alesund to open the new Norwegian Polar Institute building. We toured the research stations which have scientists from many nations conducting programs in the Arctic. We held an open boat in the evening when approximately 220 people came on board.
  
  During a brief moment of creative reflection the following poem was penned:
  
  Sail with me as the grey
  dissolves into the ink black
  definition of sea and sky,
  And Gods jewels of
  Denub and Draco reappear
  as guides to steer me by,
  Sail with me in this world
  where every wave whispers
  its tale of where its been
  and the magnitude of
  my star enshrined blanket
  reinforce my belief
  of how small I seem,
  Where the wind lives
  and breathes and moves
  through my soul
  stopping only to let me know
  that silence is too strong
  for my heartbeat alone,
  Sail with me to this place
  that everyman yearns
  and searches for
  but none have ever found
  and none have yet to name.
  
  
  By Tom onboard the MV.