Posted in Enviroment, Posts by Nick on Jun 29th, 2011
A Bermuda-sized iceberg is now off the coast of Labrador and is expected to reach the northern part of Newfoundland in a few weeks.
The 62.5-square-kilometre ice island is moving southwest at 0.6 kilometres per hour. The ice island weighs between 3.5 billion and four billion tonnes. It is very pure made of 110,000-year-old water. it is estimated to be about 251 square kilometres, that broke off the Petermann Glacier in Greenland last August. Warmer weather is contributing to further sections breaking off.
Aparently the ice island contaains harbours, bays and waterfalls. The daily iceberg bulletin from Environment Canada’s Canadian Ice Service said that more than 150 icebergs off the coast of Labrador.
Source: St. John’s Telegram
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Posted in Posts by Edvin on Jun 28th, 2011
As I mentioned in an earlier post the masthead LED trilight was stolen during the winter in the mast shed. Since I was really happy with it I decided to get a new one. It´s an Amazonia and has a combined trilight/anchor light with strobe made by Brazilian company Optolamp. So I sent them an email with an enquiry but was a bit concerned about getting the lamp in time for our departure, especially since we have not had much luck with carriers lately. So I was so relieved when the nav light arrived only three days after I sent the email. It is amazing given that the English packages have not yet arrived after more than two weeks!
There are a limited number of led navigation lights on the market and getting one that meets all the regulations and has a good rugged design combined with an affordable price was not an easy job to find,it took hours of searching and comparing prices on the Internet.
What is great about the Amazonia is that both the anchor light and trilight could be run on the same two cables by reversing polarity, adding another cable lets you use the strobe function as well. It comes with a three-way switch but in my case I had breaker panel where I wanted anchor light/trilight/strobe on different switches. After asking Optolight for a solution they sent me an small circuit box free of charge that solved the issue! Great customer service ! Another great feature about the Amazonia is that it has a photo sensor that shuts the light off during the day. So while sailing I just leave it on all the time since its draws only 155 mA.
Since I already had the cables in the mast I just brought out the mast ladder and climbed the mast for a very smooth installation.
For more information about great navigation lights and a company that delivers on all counts visit Optolamp
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Posted in Boat, Posts by Nick on Jun 27th, 2011
Departure time is looming. Once the packages arrive we push off for the high latitudes of the Atlantic. We need to sail hard to make up for lost time and hope that the wind blows in our favour to pick up the lost days.
We have a competent crew for the first half of the voyage to bring us across the Atlantic and to the front door of the Northwest passage. Due to the package delays and responsibilities at home I will meet the boat in the Orkney Islands, Scotland. Edvin will sail with two experienced sailing friends Peter Blom and Marcus Olsson, no doubt being friends of Edvin it should be an entertaining passage from Malmo to Orkney about a weeks worth of sailing through the North Sea.
I will fly into Orkney with my old sailing friend Jeremy Brouillette to replace Peter and Marcus who must return home. From Orkney Edvin, Jeremy and I will make the sail to Reykjavik Iceland about a weeks journey through some challenging waters. Once in Reykjavik Jeremy will help us do some research on the conditions of the East coast of Greenland to see if we can make Prins Christian Sund and will no doubt leave his mark in the port bars.
As Jeremy flies out my long lost cousin Morgan Peissel will be joining us for what we expect to be a very technical sail through, or around, Greenland depending on conditions and no doubt our first encounters with ice. Morgan will be joining us for around a month of our journey and help us get the boat to the Northwest passage before heading home for a drive across the states on his motorcycle.
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Posted in Posts by Edvin on Jun 22nd, 2011
We are waiting for a package with the main anchor, danbuoy, compass, cable cutters, search lights and an antenna for the AIS from a mail order company in the UK . The package should have arrived a week ago and I have been stressed about the delivery as it is delaying our departure. After numerous calls and emails to both the company and the carrier I was finally given the correct tracking number but was unable to locate the package since the carrier had subcontracted another company without a tracking system. Finally I had someone call me back and I was told that the package had been in Malmö the last week but was now sent back to the UK. The reason was unbelievable! The weight of the package was 20,3 kg and according to Swedish regulations the postal carriers are not allowed to lift packages over 20 kg. Even better is that they did not bother notify me even though they had my mail address phone number and postal address in the waybill. Amazing ! Since the package contains vital equipment for our trip we cannot leave without it and are now praying it will arrive by the promised express freight early next week putting an end to this Kafkanian nightmare.
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Posted in Posts by Edvin on Jun 16th, 2011
Chaos after a first run to the supermarket. The Monsun has a spacious cabin but it lacks good storage space. The space underneath the berths quickly filled up and a lot of food needs to be stored in the V Berth alongside immersion suits, sails and the dinghy. During the storing process I keep count and note where I put things on a spreadsheet but I´am not to confident that it will be a sustainable system :) The first two shopping carts were filled with beans, lentils and soy meat. High in protein no best before date and increases its weight by 400% when cocked. Excellent expedition food.
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Posted in Posts by Nick, Safety on Jun 13th, 2011
Safety has always been a priority for us in planning this voyage. It is a very technical trip through one of the harshest marine climates in the world. The environment of ice, katabatic winds and uncharted waters is constantly changing and presents formidable challenges. I found that on my other long distance sailing adventures having the top of the line safety equipment on board the boat allowed me to stop worrying about the safety of the crew but to focus on the task at hand.
For this voyage we required the highest quality survival equipment in case of an emergency. In freezing Arctic waters a liferaft that is durable enough to handle the ice and rough weather while protecting those on board from the outside environment was paramount. We wanted a liferaft that could self right itself in the heavy winds of the Arctic, that has an insulated floor to protect us from the freezing water extending our survival time, as well as a liferaft with an extensive survival kit to give us the best chance until rescue comes. After indepth research we found all of these qualities in one liferaft, the Viking RescYou Pro self-righting liferaft.
Viking is now supporting our expedition and has shipped us a RescYou Pro liferaft last week from there headquarters complete with cradle and hydrostatic release. Upon reciept we were very happy to figure out how well it fits on board and how easy it was to install the entire system on deck. With our Viking liferaft, survival suits and grab bag we have improved our survival odds in an emergency situation and boosted our confidence in our expedition knowing we have the best emergency systems available and that we can focus on getting through the tough times.
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A Bermuda-sized iceberg is now off the coast of Labrador and is expected to reach the northern part of Newfoundland in a few weeks. 
