Posted in Contacts, Planning, Posts by Nick on Feb 10th, 2011
Yesterday was a great day as I received emails from both Peter Semotiuk the friendly weather router from Cambridge Bay and David Thoreson probably one of the most knowledgeable Arctic sailors alive at the moment. Both have been mentioned before in our blog and have sent us some fantastic information regarding our trip.
Peter has sent us some great information concerning our unique route through the northwest passage and possible new sailing grounds to explore he writes:
“There are regions in almost all the arctic where ice had cleared in the past few summers that really did not in the last 30 or more years. Of course these places are not really mapped with depths,etc. These would be interesting to see and sail on……..with some risk! Barrow Strait and further west into Viscount Melville Sound have for the past several were largely clear of ice but not totally.
A lot of McClintock Channel was free also. Although not so much last year, but the waters between Canada and Greenland north of Smith Sound had little ice for a few days. Some of these places can fill back up again with loose ice because of winds, currents,etc. in a hurry. Even Lancaster Sound, which can open early, than get clogged full with broken ice.”
David writes:
“You will start getting an idea of where the openings will be (like Peel Sound or Bellot Strait) in mid to late July. Depending on which side of of Lancaster Sound is open you can go all the way into Erebus Bay (north side) or Port Leopold (south side). Erebus is great because of the Franklin expedition history and graves there and very protected. Easy access to both Peel and Prince Regent Inlet. No services. Be wary of Resolute. It is an unprotected harbor with ice moving in and out all the time. You can easily get trapped there anytime. But they do have fuel and provisions if needed. The guts of the passage are the 300 mile stretch down to Gjoa Haven. If you make it you are making the passage. Do not force it. Be patient. It WILL open!”
Its information like this that gets Edvin and I so excited for the adventure and allows us to better plot our voyage and make contingency plans. (more…)
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I visited the boat fair in Göteborg today. I made contact with several interesting distributors and collected a lot of information about water heaters and the possibility of connecting them to the engine’s cooling system to be able to preheat the engine and to make use of the excess heat from the engine.
Everybody I have been speaking to has advised me to get a new engine due to the age and model. More doubt and thought about how to finance a new engine!
On the way to Göteborg i also stopped in Bua to pick up 30 square meters of foam for the insulation.
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Posted in Contacts, Culture, Posts by Nick on Feb 2nd, 2011
Last night I had the great fortune to attend “Taste of the Arctic: An Evening Celebrating Inuit Culture 2011″ a fundraising gala held in Ottawa by Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) the national voice of 55,000 Inuit living in 53 communities across the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (Northwest Territories), Nunavut, Nunavik (Northern Quebec), and Nunatsiavut (Northern Labrador), land claims regions. Inuit call this vast region Inuit Nunangat.
It was a very high class invitational event held in the National Gallery of Canada. The setting was gorgeous but what made the night was the mix of traditional foods and arts. Some of the Arctics most gifted singers, performers and actors such as – Taqralik Partridge, Elisapie Issac, ArtCirq, and Nunavik Creations performed. The menu for the evening included caribou meat balls with LigonBerry sauce, dried caribou and fish, glazed Arctic Char, Baffin shrimp, Natsik (seal), Muskox and was topped off with Aqpik (cloudberry) trifles.
It was a great opportunity for me to be introduced to the culture and the many organizations working in the Arctic and make connections for our voyage. Many individuals I spoke to suggested we spend some time in the arctic and learn the ways of the north or even invite an Inuit from the area to join us for the trip so that we can share sailing with them and they their local knowledge with us.
The proceeds of this year’s fundraising event will go towards the Avataq Cultural Institute based in Nunavik, northern Quebec. Avataq will use the funds raised for the “Save Our Language” program, known as Inuktituurniup Saturtaugasuarninga.
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Posted in Contacts, Planning on Jan 15th, 2011
Great news. I made contact with some very friendly people from towns we will be stopping in along the Northwest passage (Resolute, Gjoa Haven, Cambridge Bay). Specifically Peter Semotiuk on SSB 0030Z on 6224 kHz. Peter has been behind most of the successful passages and has been there to provide aid to those who have failed. I found this excerpt about him which I think sums things up best.
[Peter Semotiuk, a marine radio enthusiast provided daily weather updates and news from other sailors to each of the boats during his spare time from his makeshift radio headquarters in Cambridge Bay. Among the small group of sailors and adventurers who have attempted the Northwest Passage, Semotiuk must be a minor celebrity, but to outsiders who haven’t relied on his daily weather reports, he is a silent partner. “It sometimes wipes out my coffee break. It usually wipes out half of my lunch hour,” Semotiuk says. “But I think all of us need to do some things like this or volunteer.”It all got started in the mid-1980s when Peter was invited to join a friend on the 20-metre Belvedeere, which he was attempting, for the fifth time, to take eastwards to Greenland. Semotiuk did join the boat, and was successful in making it to Greenland. The Canadian government sends out two weather broadcasts daily from Inuvik and Iqaluit, but for the past 15 years, Semotiuk has improved on that service by downloading daily weather reports and 30-day ice forecasts for a scheduled evening broadcast over marine HF radio to tell other boats in the passage exactly what kind of weather and ice conditions to expect. Semotiuk also tracks each boat’s position, and relays reported ice conditions or information on currents to other boats in the area, which he himself has travelled. ]
I wrote Peter asking if he would kindly include us in next years weather and ice updates as well as provide us with advice on trip planning questions we may have. He wrote back a very friendly letter saying of course and he would be happy to answer any questions. We are excited to follow up with him on the exact number of sailboats that have accomplished the passage, since I heard he kept a record. We are also excited to approach him to discuss ice trends and possible altenative routes.
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Posted in Contacts, Planning on Jan 9th, 2011
In November I contacted Eric Forsyth a well known and awarded sailor who has sailed Antartica, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, accomplished a couple of circumnavigations and most recently was one of the few to sail the Northwest passage on his boat “Fiona”, to find out if he could provide us with answers and information to our many questions. Eric has been very helpful sending a detailed list of all the maps I will require for the trip and helpful equipment to have on board and information sources. His trip was adventerous as one can see from the below picture of his boat trapped in an ice flow.
http://www.yachtfiona.com/fnn.htm
I have also contacted David Thoreson who has accomplished two Northwest passages the latest on an expedition in 2009 aboard Ocean Watch, a 64′ steel cutter rigged sailboat to raise ocean and sea awareness surrounding the continents. David has been very kind and agreed to help us with any information he can provide to us.
http://www.bluewaterstudios.com/
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Posted in Contacts, Enviroment, Planning on Jan 8th, 2011
I have been researching ”Inuit Nunangat” the area of Canada we will be sailing through and trying to figure out what villages we will stop in with the help of a friend from the area. Its an area dotted with remote villages and our being able to visit them will depend on the state of Ice. We will be in Resolute by end of July and wait for the ice to melt before heading toward Gjoa Haven and on to Cambridge Bay.
Edvin and I are both very interested in the environment and climate change and think it would be a great opportunity to hear whats happening in the region firsthand. On the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami website they are promoting an amazing video that must be ssen by all who are intertested in climate change in the Arctic. Here is a trailer:
Qapirangajuq: Inuit Knowledge and Climate Change
I have been introduced to one person from Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (Inuit economic, social and cultural well-being through the implementation of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement) Department of Wildlife and Environment who has been very helpful, we had a few drinks together in Ottawa, and he will help us with neccesary information and contacts and even offered to lend us his riffle for safety during our trip and help us set up contacts at the villages we arrive at so that we can get the most of our visit. My friend will also be introducing us to a contact from the Nunavut Department of Environment Parks and Special Places who will also help inform our trip. Furthermore we were given the email address of a guy who runs a a radio net on SSB from Cambridge Bay, who relays all the pertinent informationregarding ice and westher he has at 0030Z on 6224 kHz.
Its amazing to see my friend from the area get so excited about our trip and how welcoming the people she has linked me to have been, its going to be an amazing environmental and cultural adventure!
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