This morning finds us in Woodfjord where we spot two polar bears - a mother and cub. Immediately after a quick breakfast, we're out in the zodiacs and on our way. All of the zodiacs nose up on the ice and we settle in for a good long viewing of the distant bears. With everyone engrossed in watching the bears, Woody, who's been paying attention, radios to the other zodiac drivers to start moving out as the ice has closed in. We cut through a closing lead in the ice and make for open water. The other zodiacs find themselves a bit stuck, and they team up to push the ice aside with their zodiacs to make it through. We spend the rest of the morning in a zodiac cruise through the ice before heading back to the Vavilov. The captain agrees to try to bring us closer to the bears via the ship, and we do get some good views. We sail on to Liefdefjord during lunch and head for Monacobreen glacier, named after Prince Albert I of Monaco. We spot another polar bear and quickly get into the zodiacs. Unfortunately, my zodiac arrived a bit late and the polar bear was already on his way. Our goal for the rest of the day is make 80 degrees North - only a little less than 700 miles to the North Pole. Given the ice charts, the captain is pretty confident we'll make it. Everybody hangs out on the bridge or in the lounge waiting for the announcement which finally comes around midnight.