On our return to Resolute we experienced some equipment failure that we needed to deal with before heading back out into Arctic waters. So while we sailed through the stiff winds of Parry Channel we began to organize the complicated task of having a package shipped up to the Arctic in any reasonable sort of time. A solid logistics chain would be paramount in making sure we would not be delayed in our time sensitive expedition.
Even with the advent of satellite phone and email onboard we found that organizing a complicated parts order and shipping to this remote part of the world just wasn’t possible, but after a few calls we had the most amazing team working tirelessly to research and bring us the needed equipment.
After localising the part Edvin’s father, Lars, drove across Sweden to pick up and deliver the parts to FedEx’s international terminal who would send it to Nicks father in Montreal, Bernard, who would then drive to Ottawa where a good Pilot friend of ours would ensure the shipment to Resolute via his airline. It was a solid three day plan which in it self is amazing regarding that the normal shipping alternatives would take over 1 week. We where thrilled over the generosity of our friends and family as well as the beautiful logistics chain they had put together.
In spite of all this effort we where saddened when we learned that the package did not arrive this morning because FedEx had lost it and had no record of it. So the wheels where set in motion again and this time the parts were localized in Canada and it is now on its way to Montreal again. While we intended on staying here for several days to wait for the ice conditions to change these added shipment days are concerning. We need to be able to make it out of Resolute at any time and are worried about the consequences if we can not.
Having chosen to attempt the larger and more technical McClure route rather than North of Devon route we left Grise Fjord to sail the 400 nautical miles to the next staging point in Resolute. If the route is still partially open when we arrive we will attempt to squeeze into the small channel we saw appear on the satellite images and hope that while we are pushing through the rest of the passage will clear before the ice closes in once again for the long Arctic winter.
Plying through the Northern waters of Jones sound, surrounded by the glaciers and fjords that lined the coasts of Ellesmere and Devon one could not help but think of the major expeditions that passed through here, and which once marked the furthest navigable point by sea. Baffin first saw Jones sound from afar in 1616 but it wasn’t until three hundred years later at the turn of the twentieth century that Jones sound would be explored.
Its exporation was led by Norwegian Otto Svendrup and it led to the discovery of so many islands, that it surmounted the total amount that the Franklin expedition and its subsequent search parties would discover. So thoroughly did he survey the area under the Norwegian flag that the Dominion of Canada paid him 67,000$ for all his maps, notes, diaries and other related documents and coincidentally, at the same time Norway formally confirmed Canada’s title to the islands.
From Jones sound we rounded Devon island and tracked the Southern coast spotting seals and Walrus until we reached Beechey island and dropped Anchor in Terror and Erebus Bay where Franklin’s mysterious expedition wintered before disappearing forever. The island, while quite bleak and wind swept, contains Franklin’s Cairn and the bodies of three of his crew which remain covered in rocks on top of the permafrost.
It was remarkable to walk the shale beach of the island and imagine the bay covered in men, supplies and the ships preparing for a long winter which they may not survive. The entire expedition embodied the spirit of exploration, to discover a Northwest Passage through a frozen world that has never been mapped. We explored the area visiting the graves, the old cairns and platforms where the crew had erected small buildings. Signs of their living on the island were apparent but scarce, we found parts of old barrels but none of the famous cans lined in lead that helped seal the fate of the missing expedition. We sailed the next morning in heavy snow for Resolute, somehow it seemed like a fitting way to depart the historic island.
I am almost embarrassed to say how much time I have spent pouring over the archives of Canadian ice charts trying to identify re-occuring patterns and to try and estimate when ice will clear from specific areas. In the end while there are clear trends trying to figure the where and when is not a science one can learn but requires divination, clairvoyancy, premonition and prophecy.
Two scientific advances, however, aid in helping us make an educated decision if we are to take a certain course; ice charts and satellite images. While extremely helpful to get the general idea of the lay of an area they are far from exact as conditions change by the minute and once they are published they are usually already outdated. The Canadian ice services produce an amazing amount of precise information on ice conditions in the Canadian Arctic and we will use their charts daily when possible. However, for the new route we plan the Canadian ice services do not produce daily ice charts.
For this leg of the journey we will have to fill gaps with our own interpretations of the ice conditions, guess work, luck and a daily satellite image of the Arctic. Lacking the wonderfully informative and colourful navigational ice charts, we will fall back on satellite images which we learned off the coast of Greenland can be problematic. Clouds mean that a satellite image may provide no ice information at all other then meteorological. Last year we mistook a swath of clouds in a satellite image as ice, to the untrained eye these black and white photos from hundreds of miles up are difficult to interpret on the clearest of days.
Add to this that the navigational charts that we have are either devoid of information because no boats travel these regions or the information is dated. That sums up what we must somehow prepare ourselves for this summer.
A serious concern of Edvin and mine is the amount of room on board to store equipment and the amount of weight we must carry on the boat. We need to keep the boat as light as possible for buoyancy and stability reasons but it has become a real challenge to achieve this on a 31ft boat with all the equipment we require for the 6 month voyage.
Land:While this is a sailing voyage we will be stopping at the Arctic’s most remote islands along the way and we will be making ventures onto land, glaciers and mountains to explore the most remote areas we come across on our trip. We will also frequent shores to set up lines while anchoring in deep fjords, tying up to trees, rocks or even setting ice screws. These ventures require us to have high quality hiking gear, camping gear, snow/ice and climbing gear.
Ice: Sailing in ice or becoming trapped in ice requires its own unique equipment. We need custom made ice poles, grapple hooks and ice climbing screws and rope for springs to drift with the pack ice, spotlights, headlamps for ice watches at night, ski goggles to protect from freezing ocean spray in cold and bad weather, light waterproof climbing gear and the best binoculars possible. If trapped in ice we need equipment to negotiate our environment, crampons, ice axes, snowshoes, ropes, dry suits for crossing leads etc.
Sea:The boat will be filled with months and months worth of food, water, fuel and sailing equipment as there will be very few places for us to re-provision. Sustainability in paramount on a trip where we will be isolated from society for long periods. We will require plenty of spare parts for the engine, rig and tools to repair or jury rig whatever is needed. Maps, sailing directions, almanac books, navigation, safety and emergency equipment, communication and weather equipment all demand a space. Not to mention the 3-4 grown men that will live in this 31ft boat.
While in Greenland we experienced two major types of ice: Iceberg’s and the bergy bits that accompany them; an, pack ice. Both have their inherent dangers but pack ice was by far the most intimidating because it could encircle the boat in a short time and crush it.
The large icebergs move like slow Goliaths taking about three or so years to travel around Greenland to the coast of Newfoundland where they melt adding their fresh water to the gulf stream and sediment to the Ocean floor. These massive icebergs move with the currents and maintain a somewhat predictable path.
Pack ice on the other hand is much more unpredictable. Pack ice is ice that has formed during the winter from the surface of the Ocean freezing. It can be several meters thick but when summer arrives the ice starts to melt and crack and these chunks of ice begin to move becoming serious navigation obstacles travelling in condensed packs across the Arctic. Pack ice tends to move with the currents but are far more influenced by the wind and can quickly encircle, trap and crush a yacht.
Understanding the way pack ice moves and being able to predict its movements is the key to successfully sailing across the Arctic but this is close to impossible to do correctly all the time. In nearly every account I have read about boats sailing in the Arctic they have spent a certain amount of time trapped by pack ice. These accounts have included pack ice pushing the boat out of the water on to the ice, or pushing right on to shore or most commonly puncturing the hull, bending the rudder post and sheering the blades off the boats propeller.
Being able to push through certain types of pack ice without damaging the boat is essential. Boats have long tried various techniques to protect the bow of their boat by reinforcing the bow or by building ice deflectors around the prop and rudder. We will be reinforcing the bow this spring and would like to buy a backup diesel outboard just in case we lose both rudder and propeller we can still navigate without requiring assistance.
Never assume you are going to be able to reach your intended destination. Always have enough fuel and provisions aboard to make it to the next port or port after that as ice often clogs harbours. You should always have two or three contingency plans for when you get denied entry like we did when we tried to re-fuel in Fredrickstal Greenland.
I am almost embarrassed to say how much time I have spent pouring over the archives of Canadian ice charts trying to identify re-occuring patterns and to try and estimate when ice will clear from specific areas. In the end while there are clear trends trying to figure the where and when is not a science one can learn but requires divination, clairvoyancy, premonition and prophecy.
Two scientific advances, however, aid in helping us make an educated decision if we are to take a certain course; ice charts and satellite images. While extremely helpful to get the general idea of the lay of an area they are far from exact as conditions change by the minute and once they are published they are usually already outdated. The Canadian ice services produce an amazing amount of precise information on ice conditions in the Canadian Arctic and we will use their charts daily when possible. However, for the new route we plan the Canadian ice services do not produce daily ice charts.
Being able to push through certain types of pack ice without damaging the boat is essential. Boats have long tried various techniques to protect the bow of their boat by reinforcing the bow or by building ice deflectors around the prop and rudder. We will be reinforcing the bow this spring and would like to buy a backup diesel outboard just in case we lose both rudder and propeller we can still navigate without requiring assistance.