Latest blog entries
Silent Sound completed her epic voyage through the Canadian Arctic on October 10, four months and four days after slipping her moorings in Victoria, BC. It was a cold day with pouring rain when she pulled into Halifax Harbour, but there was still a crowd of family and friends waiting to welcome us ashore, reminding us of the community that has formed around the Open Passage Expedition.
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The front yard of the average Inuit home will contain several snowmobiles, some of them working, some of them being repaired, some in a state of despair. There will also be a few quad bikes, and, if the resident works for the government or one of the town’s big companies, they will have a late model truck or SUV parked in the driveway. Mounted on a wooden stand next to their modest bungalow will be a steel tank containing diesel that slowly drips into their furnace and keeps them warm. Spread around the rest of the yard will be an array of broken toys, wooden sleds, chained dogs and the other detritus of modern northern life.
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There was more sea ice in the Arctic this summer than in the past two years, contrary to early spring ice forecasts and the longer term trend of melting sea ice. “Arctic ice is holding in there, with about 20 percent more than in 2007,” Dr Humfrey Melling, a research scientist with Canada’s Institute of Ocean Sciences, told me.
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When I come up for my final watch, we are at Unalaska Island, making our way into Dutch Harbour! It is still twilight, but the view is beautiful: steep mountains still mostly green, but with a dusting of fresh snow at higher elevations. The Aleutian Islands are among the most dramatically scenic places anywhere and I always hoped to see them someday. I just never imagined I would arrive to them from Russia!
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Silent Sound has crossed the Arctic Circle marking her official transit of the Northwest Passage! We entered the Arctic via the Bering Sea two months ago to the day, and since then we’ve sailed some 3,400 nautical miles, seen a lot of ice and learned a lot about the Canadian North.
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In the middle of the Bering Sea, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, two ships cross paths. Once again I have a ship on radar right at the end of my watch. This vessel is using the new AIS, or automated identification system, as does the Explorer. AIS lets other vessels know who you are and can also give information on the current routing and even purpose of the vessel. This one is a large commercial trawler heading north, over 200 feet long and very modern- the Starbound.
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Today we pass just south of St Mathew Island. We are not planning on any stops until Dutch Harbour as there is weather brewing in the North Pacific. None of us want to face a full Bering sea storm if we can avoid it, so we push on.
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The winds have picked up overnight and the weather map shows we are heading into a small gale as a low pressure system slides up the Bering. This is very expected weather for this area in September. The good news is that the winds will be favourable for sailing and we are soon able to set the main and Genoa without losing any boat speed. The bad news is that the ride will be rough for at least the next 36 hours.
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South to Alaska! We head out into a beautifully calm Gulf of Anadyr and the current is going our way, giving us a small boost in speed. This is a perfect way to start our trip across the Bering Sea. Our planned route will take us just south of St Mathew Island and along the edge of the continental shelf that separates Russia from Alaska.
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The wind and seas ease as we approach Anadyr. We pick up a local pilot as we enter the long bay that leads to the city. He’s a friendly retired captain who spent 20 years in charge of big ships along Russia’s eastern and northern coasts. Anders takes the wheel so I go down and cook up a hearty brunch of potatoes, eggs, and a mystery ham-like product we picked up in Pevek. It actually turns out to be very good and the pilot happily shares our meal. I wish I could speak Russian so I could truly visit with this interesting man.
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