Overnight we left the fjord we had been operating in and went out into open ocean for the transit to the next fjord, about 130miles north. You could tell the moment we reached the open ocean because the ship went from sailing along quite smoothly to rolling around like a pig. While it was a bit of a challenge to stay in my rack it was much worse for the guys in stretchers in the passageways because they slid all over the place. In the morning the view from the bridge to the starboard side was stunning (although much too far away for my camera to do it justice) with snow-covered mountains soaring into the sky for the ocean. It looked like something out of Lord of the Rings. During the morning I attended a memorial service for the crew of a Norwegian C-130 that had crashed in the mountains on the Norwegian/Swedish border during the course of the exercise.
The rough weather was enough to convince the CO to change plans and go into the fjord where our landing beach was located early. As a result the sea soon calmed and we were provided with some absolutely stunning scenery. It was Lord of the Rings up close this time. Even though its very remote there were a few houses around and the mobile signal was better than what I enjoy at home so I rang home to wish Paula a Happy Mothering Sunday (kids feeling better, Paula now sick).
In the afternoon I spent some time with the Logistics Officer, finalising a few pieces of information for my report. I also watched a few movies on the hard drive that Baz had lent me. The criteria I used for choosing what to watch was whether Paula would watch it or not. While I laughed quite a lot at Superbad I am certain she would have thought it very juvenile. In the evening I had a quick look out for the northern lights but I probably went to bed too early. The assault phase of the exercise starts at midnight so the ship was going to action stations at 0030. I figured an early night, particularly after the poor nights sleep because of rough weather last night, was a good idea.
One of the Danish ships involved in the exercise
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