Missed yesterday’s post? Click here.
In the morning at high tide we spent another two hours pushing, heaving, pulling Hermione a good two metres (7ft) in the back and perhaps just under a metre (3.5ft) at the bow closer to the sea.
With waters now almost perfectly calm and flat, there no longer were those big rollers and breakers that had previously assisted us with our work by at least for a few seconds here and there flooding the area around and below the hull. As a result, this high tide, despite being four inches higher than the previous one, seemed altogether lower and very lacklustre. It was shocking to see how a complicit sea hid almost every last one of those devious boulders under its seemingly peaceful surface.
Without our cheerful, energetic, always bantering and actively motivating skipper, who always works at least as hard as the next guy, on top of his skipper duties and all the one-man-jobs he covers, the disappointment of the failure to launch Hermione yet again could easily have led to a foul mood amongst us common rowers. However, we all enjoyed a big expedition ration breakfast together. There were lots of laughs and everyone was kidding around.
Some of us then had an extended nap, simply enjoyed the warm autumn sun, collected more driftwood for the log fire or fiddled about on the internet.
At around 2pm, with the low tide, we started digging. We excavated as much of the mud, sand, pebbles, and over vast stretches 80% compressed seaweed on the boat’s seaward side. We made sure that the deepest section, a canal, if you will, ran right alongside the hull. The hope was, that with the incoming tide, this section would fill with water quickly and start to soften and carry away the ground under Hermione’s hull, getting her floating again.
We worked hard for at least four hours. At times we used our bare hands, at other times Karts’ spade, driftwood sticks, and oars. After three hours we had reached a sufficient depths for substantial parts of the canal to start flooding, despite high tide still being hours away.
We had some more expedition rations for dinner, and from around 8:30pm we were putting logs of driftwood under the edge of the hull again on the land bound side, lifting the sticks in unison, then heaving the boat by rhythmically moving our levers up and down for 20 seconds. Then resting for a minute. Then heaving again. Every 5th or 6th time, Leven tightened the ropes on the stern anchor rope (3x) pulley system and ratchet on the strap that he had attached to the bow and to a large half-submerged boulder in the water, perhaps 10 metres (35ft) from the boat. This was partially to make more progress in its own right, i.e. to move Hermione closer to the sea, and in equal measure to ensure that any progress made was not going to be made ineffective again.
We didn’t quite manage to launch the boat back into the sea. But we had made very good progress. At least another 3.5m at the stern and another 1m at the bow closer to the deeper waters. We all have a good feeling that tomorrow morning we might finally be successful and become seabound again after five nights on land here at Cape Hope, following our emergency beaching last week.
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
Post-expedition Q&As – Coming back from the Arctic after two months
