Missed yesterday’s post? Click here.
Daytime passed with eating, sleeping and tanning in the sun.
LEAVING THE RICHARDSON ARCHIPELAGO
At 7:40pm we got ready to roll. At 7:50 we lifted the anchors. At 8pm we were on our way. We passed the last bit of Edinburgh Island with good views of the DEW Line station (as mentioned, now decommissioned Cold War radar station set up to detect incoming Soviet bombers and ships).
PASSING THE MARKER ISLANDS
The sunset was decent. Not great but okay. After 7 miles we passed the so-called Marker Islands. The wind had been quite strong throughout, sometimes from the front, sometimes from each side or back, with significant waves, sometimes breakers. On many occasions we had to use only the oars on one side to assist the helm with the steering. At times we were making 3 knots or more with a slight head wind, using favourable currents. At other times we barely managed 1.75 knots despite a strong tailwind, while being held back by adverse currents. Overall, relatively challenging rowing.
RED MOON & METEORITE SHOWER
Because of the wildfires, the moon was colored in a beautiful deep red. Interestingly, the American wildfires have the same effect in Old Blighty.
On our way we observed several meteorites rain down on earth. (No pictures, as busy rowing, sorry.) The first one was so bright it illuminated the whole sky. It took almost a minute for the sound of the impact to reach us.
MORE RUSSIAN SUBMARINES
Also, we had another case where our electronics indicated wrong values: They showed the depth go from -50m to -4m in one move, then hover between -4 and -10m for maybe half a minute, then go back to -50m. We couldn’t see any sea floor, the water surface showed no difference from one area to the other, and it is of course extremely unusual to have such sea floor surfaces. We think the instruments struggle when there’s changes in salinity, currents, temperature. It’s funny, though, we got the depth sensor because there is no relying on charts/maps, GPS, or compasses. When the depth sensor fails, especially at night with reduced visibility, it’s not ideal.
ARRIVING AT OUR ANCHORING LOCATION
We arrived at our anchoring location North of a tiny unnamed island (we were expecting strong Southerlies) at 3:15am. It took a while to find a good anchoring spot, because the island is even smaller than Botany Island and there are plenty of huge rocks spread in the waters around it in random patterns. Some sticking out of the water. Some not.
THE FIRST POLAR BEAR WATCH SHIFT
It was time for Karts’ and Mike’s rest time, which meant it was Leven’s and my time to be on watch for pesky furries, anchor slippage, possible contact of the boat with boulders, a deterioration of the weather conditions or currents, or anything other surprises. The rowing had been demanding. Despite reasonably cool temperatures of around 4C (39F) during the row and despite only having worn a thin fleece midlayer over my baselayer, I was very sweaty. During the watch temperatures dropped further. Even with DryRobe, Goretex hardshell, padded fleece jacket above the soaking sweaty clothes I got quite cold for the four hour period.
For tomorrow’s post click here.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE EXPEDITION
22 July – LHR to YCB
2 August 2024 (Cambridge Bay to Starvation Bay)
4 August 2024 (Starvation Bay to Wellington Bay)
12 August 2024 (From Wellington Bay 6h further Westward)
15 August 2024 (53mi/96km from Botany Island to Richardson Islands)
18 August 2024 (from Richardson Islands past Marker Islands)
22 August 2024 (23mi/37km Westward from Miles and Nauyan Islands past Lady Franklin Point – extremely tough conditions – ‘MISSION IMPOSSIBLE’)
23 August 2024 (Dreadful 10 miles – 12mi/19km – that felt like 100 miles to Douglas Island; welcome committee of two dozen seals)
25 August 2024 (An easy 19mi/31km from Douglas Island to Lambert Island; MS Fridtjoff Nansen passing)
27 August 2024 (An easy 7mi/9km along Lambert Island; yacht Night Owl passing by us)
28 August 2024 (STARTING OUR 64MI/104KM PUSH EARLY; passing Hanseatic Spirit, MS Roald Amundsen, yacht Honshu)
29 August 2024 (Arriving at Cape Hope after 64mi/104km – new team best)
30 August 2024 (EMERGENCY BEACHING at a bay next to Cape Hope)
31 August 2024 (CABIN FLOODED; LEAK FOUND)
Mike’s Poem about our Northwest Passage Expedition
3 September 2024 (REPAIRING HERMIONE)
DETAILS OF LEVEN’S MASTERPIECE: THE PRELIMINARY REPAIR and preparation of the re-launch of Hermione
4 September 2024 (A LOT OF DIGGING and another unsuccessful attempt to refloat the boat)
5 September 2024 (REFLOATING HERMIONE, MOTORING TOWARDS PAULATUK; MILITARY PLANE PASSING)
6 September 2024 (BACK TO ROWING AFTER EMERGENCY MOTOR BREAKS)
8 September 2024 (my 50th birthday; ALMOST CRASHING THE BOAT into rocks; Skynet; a pod of whales)
12 September 2024 (starting our last big push before Paulatuk; RUNNING AGROUND 3X; BIOLUMINESCENCE; Northern lights)
13 September 2024 (ALL HELL BREAKING LOOSE – ALMOST CRASHING INTO CLIFFS)
NORTHERN LIGHTS, 15 September, near Paulatuk
15 September 2024 (REACHING PAULATUK)
16 September 2024 (eating proper food; shower; the good life)
19 September 2024 (flying back home; 5 flights; Breakfast Club at Inuvik Airport)
Stefan will be rowing the Northwest Passage this summer – A little Q&A
Northwest Passage Expedition – Kit List
Trevor’s Travel Trivia IX – The Northwest Passage
My home town’s newspaper, Burghauser Anzeiger, has published an article about the Expedition
