< PREVIOUS                                                                      NEXT >

On April 14, 2008, at 1 p.m., Peter Butz, Vice President of Fleet Operations, Brock Bullard, Director of Technical Operations, and I flew over the town of Las Palmas, Canary Islands. Looking out the window I could see the shipyard where National Geographic Endeavour and National Geographic Explorer were high and dry next to each other. Within a couple of hours we were in the middle of the shipyard which is huge, drydocking approximately 240 ships a year.

I do not know how many of you have been in a shipyard but it's a strange experience. On board the National Geographic Explorer were approximately 220 laborers - welders, electricians, plumbers, air conditioning specialists - all working feverishly. There is a lot of work going on to create a state-of-the-art expedition ship. In a sense it's like looking at your garden in the beginning of winter with none of the luster and beauty that will emerge in the spring.

One of the highlights, though, was looking at NG Endeavour's hull - a really, really beautiful shape that is not replicated in modern times as it would be far too expensive. It was also fun spending some time with three of our extraordinarily experienced captains - Leif Skog, Karl Lampe and Oliver Kruess. At the end of the day what felt best of all was knowing how much experience, dedication and commitment was being directed at both of these wonderful ships.

Sven-Olof Lindblad 

< BACK TO MAIN PAGE                                                         NEXT >