We are back in ice country. This afternoon the yell came from the front of the ship, “Ice at two o’clock!”. We had been expecting to get into ice around cape Bathurst, which is about 50 miles from our current position, but already the fog that comes with the ice, is on the horizon and we were expecting to meet it sooner rather then later.
For me it is a strange feeling, somewhere between excitement and not wanting to go through one of those nights again. It is between adrenaline and anticipation. It is exactly why we do these amazing things and keep pushing our limits. It is almost addictive, you feel alive. Maybe the explorers from the olden day felt the same sort of thing and that is why they kept coming back to places like this, even though their fates were so uncertain and they were in real peril.
We have a strategy, a plan! Keeping close to shore, like we did in Peel, in Franklin, Larson and all the way up to Simpson strait. For now that means altering our course, finding the edge of the ice and following it to Avvaq Peninsula and then follow the coast line. The nights now are so different from the nights we had coming down Peel Sound. It is dark, maybe a little bit of lighter blue on the horizon, but we can not see what is really in front of us. So making our way through the ice at night is going to be a whole different story. This is also why making our way to the coast is important, here we can drop anchor and wait for the dawn. Ice reports say it should not be more then 4/10 ice.
Previous Post