The Avid Cruiser - Fall 2007 - (Page 39)

Profile: Svenja klötscher, Zodiac Captain The Hanseatic has 12 Zodiacs to bring passengers ashore. We got to ask the driver of one, Svenja Klötscher, about her job. Q. Why would a young woman be attracted to work as a zodiac driver in polar conditions? A. I was born in the ultimate maritime city Hamburg and my father was in the container business. For a school project I did a hike in Norway and was thrilled by the landscape. It was love on the first sight. Soon after my studies I was offered a job at Society Expeditions, specialized in Polar expedition cruises. Even if I had to make beds, I would have gone. Q. Did you do the housekeeping then? A. No, I took care of the German passengers as assistant expedition leader. I had several contracts on the World Discoverer and on other ships. Q. Why Zodiacs instead of tenders? A. With Zodiacs you can really go to remote areas and land on beaches. You can easily switch off engines to listen to nature as cracking glacier ice before calving. Because of IAATO regulations only 100 passengers are allowed ashore at one time. On larger ships, passengers wait patiently, but we offer our passengers a Zodiac cruise in the meantime. Q. Is it dangerous? A. A Zodiac is not a toy, although it is robust and stable. It is made of five compartments, so even if two are hit, we are still afloat. It is only dangerous in surf and coral reefs. The passengers always receive a safety briefing at the start of the cruise. We tell them how to step into the boat, avoiding stepping on the rubber. They have to listen to our instructions and sit down unless they ask for permission to do something different. If somebody wants to make a special photo he can just ask. Then we reduce speed. FALL 2007 Avid Cruiser 3

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The Avid Cruiser - Fall 2007

The Avid Cruiser - Fall 2007 Contents The Poop Deck Cruising, Back to Back At The Piazza SeaDream Yacht Club Regent’s Seven Seas Voyager The ‘New’ Crystal Symphony Bay of FUNdy Long Weekend Getaway Silversea Cruises: Silver Whisper Cruising Southeast Asia ‘Awesome’ Alaska Sacred Moments In South Georgia Two Years With A Princess Of Days Gone By

The Avid Cruiser - Fall 2007

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