66 degrees, 33 minutes north

Here we see the globe of the Arctic Circle Monument on the left, and the small Vikingen lighthouse on the right. In fact, the monument is a mile or so south of the Arctic Circle, and the Cruise Director counted us down to the true crossing. But then according to Wikipedia the position of the Arctic Circle is not fixed, it depends upon the fluctuating axial tilt of the Earth, and at the moment the Circle is moving northwards by about 15 metres a year. So who knows when we crossed it? The globe of the monument was blown into the sea in a big storm in January 2006, and for several years there was a dispute as to who was responsible for replacing it, but someone thoughtfully organised restoration in time for our passing.

It was after 2 pm when we passed the monument on an at sea day. The other highlight was sailing in to see the Svartisen glacier, where a bright blue tongue of ice descends to sea level. The blue glow is unusual, and not such a good sign. Normally, it would be a dirty jumble of ice, rock flour and boulders, but it's been an uncommonly mild winter and the superficial layers have melted off down to the dense blue ice beneath. It's not just Britain that has had a warm winter.