Polar explorer Borge Ousland’s approach to protecting himself.
We will be spending as much time as we can, when not navigating ice, exploring isolated islands, mountains and glaciers hiking, climbing and camping in some of the most remote areas of the Arctic. In looking at getting all our land equipment in check we have to consider the places where we are headed to are frequented by polar bears. In planning our trip people are always writing us about arming ourselves against polar bears but we have been looking at different ways of protecting ourselves and the bears we encounter by non-malicious means. This means taking simple precautionary steps such as not camping by shorelines which bears like to follow, to surround camps with a detection system such as trip wires and to carry signal flares and a fog horn to scare the bears away. We are more interested in highlighting the polar bears plight in the midst of a changing Arctic environment.
According to the WWF there are “ 20-25,000 polar bears living in the wild, the species is not currently endangered, but its future is far from certain. In 1973, Canada, the United States, Denmark, Norway and the former U.S.S.R. signed the International Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears and their Habitat. This agreement restricts the hunting of polar bears and directs each nation to protect their habitats, but it does not protect the bears against the biggest man-made threat to their survival: climate change. If current warming trends continue unabated, scientists believe that polar bears will be vulnerable to extinction within the next century. To learn more about the topic, read the WWF report Vanishing Kingdom: The Melting Realm of the Polar Bear .”
The story of Arctic exploration is one of the most interesting and shocking pieces of history I have ever read. The Arctic was mapped with stories of tragedy and triumph. Thousands of men laid down their lives in search of the frozen unknown. An impenetrable ice fortress, the Arctic has always posed a formidable challenge to all explorers who have sought to discover its secrets.
The Arctic took over 300 long years to map. The above video helps to illustrate this long process of discovery in an artistic manner but behind each of those voyages are harrowing stories that deserve careful examination.
In reading about the discovery of the Arctic two trips in particular are of interest to our expedition and those are of Parry in 1819-1820, where his ship made it across most of the Arctic from East to West but was stopped by heavy ice before accomplishing the feat and McClure’s voyage of 1850-1854 which attempted a West to East route but was halted by the same ice that blocked Parry from success some 30 years earlier.
This passage which blocked these explorers from accomplishing a Northern passage through the Arctic in the 1800’s and still to this day remains clogged with ice, is one part of the new Northern route we endeavour to sail this summer. While not battling with ice to achieve this route we hope to visit some of the bays where famous Arctic explorers like Franklin, Parry, Mc Clure, Svendrup and Amundsen wintered to understand what these men experienced hundreds of years ago and how these areas have changed since then.
If you are interested in learning more I suggest reading TO THE ARCTIC! by Jeannette Mirsky first published in 1934 this remains one of the most well written and entertaining accounts of Arctic exploration.
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.
- Not so long ago there was a custom among sailors that accorded to all those who had sailed round Cape Horn the right to put one foot on the table after dinner, while those who had crossed the Arctic circle could put both feet on the table.
Jeanette Mirsky
While we assembled the team long ago we thought a formal introduction of the newest memebrs only fitting.
Morgan is no stanger to this expedition. Last summer he braved the North Atlantic with us aboard Belzebub from Iceland to Greenland to Canada. Morgan is the youngest aboard, but his enthusiam and energy keep spirits high and his skills in the galley keep the crew all satisfied. A competent sailor, Morgan is also an outdoor enthusiast and ice climber. His professional experience includes working at the IMAX New England Aquarium and he has worked as a research and production assistant with award winning director and filmmaker Errol Morris. He is no stranger to the cold as previous expeditions have taken him deep into Tibet and Mustang.
Rana will trade in the sweltering heat of New Delhi for the cold katabatic winds of the Arctic. An economist by training, but a filmmaker and photographer by profession, Rana will be shooting and editing the documentary about the changes taking place in the Arctic and the effects on ecology, culture and industry. His academic research has focused on genetically modified organisms, specifically in India. As a filmmaker he has shot a number of pieces for clients including the United Nations, VBS.TV and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). We are excited to have Rana and his talented eye aboard to capture the expedition and environment as it happens.
We have in previous posts written about our concern with the bobstay that is attached from the waterline to the bowsprit. I have always considered this to be a weak point of the boat since the force of an impact here would be transmitted to the mast and rig and in a worst case scenario would damage the attachment points of the back and forestay. After our experiences in the ice of Greenland we realised that we will not be able to avoid ice collisions and in some conditions may need to purposefully ram ice. Therefore we are reinforcing the stem of the boat with a stainless steel cap so we can attach the bobstay higher above the waterline.
We will hire a smith to manufacture the cap in 3 mm steel to cover 30cm above and below the waterline and attach it with several through-hull bolts. In the middle of the steel cap we will have a triangle of 10mm steel to attach the bobstay. The triangle will also act as a ram.
The thought of jointing two materials with through-hull bolts below the waterline is not appealing so if anyone has any ideas or experience of doing something similar we would be happy to hear from you. Another question is how the steel cap will be manufactured since an asymmetrical bowl shape cannot be rolled.
Having recently visited the The Canadian Arctic Expedition exhibit at the Museum of Canadian Civilization I realized that I had to learn more about the history of Arctic exploration. A few days later I was introduced to a McGill University Professor who lives in my neighborhood and has worked and travelled extensively throughout the Arctic while conducting his research. We spent hours discussing the remote areas he had explored the conditions in the Arctic and the research community and their work.
He had the largest and most extensive collection of Arctic expedition books I have laid eyes upon. The most impressive expedition books and archives he kept aside in a locked armoire, he removed one in-particular showing me that it had been written in by Greely the great polar explorer. I have had problems finding a useful compendium of Arctic exploration but that was quickly resolved by the kind Professor.
Edvin and I have been very interested in doing some scientific research projects during our Arctic sail and have been in contact with a couple of Universities and Marine institutions that have expressed interest in this. What I found incredibly exciting was what the professor told me in response to my question about conducting research. He noted that the Arctic remains a little explored area and being there makes you feel like a true explorer because often you are visiting places that no one has before and of the few people that might have visited there you will usually never walk the exact same route meaning that every trip could potentially be one of discovery.
Observation will be one of our strongest research tools. Keeping an eye on the birds, sea life and other wildlife we see and their behaviour, if they are in the right area at the right time of year or in a place they are not known to travel. Keep ones eyes open for Paleo-Eskimo or indigenous sites that often contain tent rings, artifacts etc. and to mark their location when we come across them. Generally look for anything that sticks out from the all natural Arctic setting and explore it. The Arctic is after all an area where as recently as 2007 a previously unknown island was discovered.
Having recently visited the The Canadian Arctic Expedition exhibit at the Museum of Canadian Civilization I realized that I had to learn more about the history of Arctic exploration. A few days later I was introduced to a McGill University Professor who lives in my neighborhood and has worked and travelled extensively throughout the Arctic while conducting his research. We spent hours discussing the remote areas he had explored the conditions in the Arctic and the research community and their work.