Racing the wind & ice
August 16th, 2008 by Kip "Galley Master" JonesHi to all! We have been traveling south in Peel Sound since 6:30 this morning and have seen rough and flat seas; right now it is flat. Shane and Walt put the new parts on the water maker while the seas were flat and have back flushed the system. The water temperature is 36.7 and Walt wants to wait until it is 40 degrees to try it again. So that is good progress and we are hopeful for a fix.
The ice report was full of warning as the winds are blowing ice down McClintock Channel, and in two days they expect the area ahead to be packed again. We are now running straight through tonight and tomorrow all day on shifts to sneak through as quickly as we can. The skies are grey with patches of fog. We did have a moment of excitement when we were hailed by an Aussie boat coming the opposite direction! We took their picture and they hope to get it published in their home town paper! They man who hailed us was on watch and didn’t want to chat so we don’t know much more, but it was encouraging to see someone made it! That man, Gary, who is sailing solo and had the motor troubles is up and running and is in Gjoa Haven now. Each night we make contact over the ham radio with a man in Cambridge Bay named Peter Semotiuk, and all boaters in the area tune in to and exchange info with him. He has the current ice information too and we get the benefit of hearing from others who are on the water.
I have nut bars just out of the oven and we are having a ham dinner tonight at 9:00 after Shane and Pat wake up. We have seen many seals and birds again but haven’t been close enough to shore to see much else. The land appears pretty flat with mountains only about 650 feet. There are NO trees and haven’t been for three weeks, we think, since Manvers Run, Labrador. There is green coloration however from lichen and low growing plants.
At about midnight we will pass Bellot Strait which is the northern most point of the North American continent. Everything else north is an island. Much love to you!
August 16th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
Go TEAM GERALDINE! Thanks so much for keeping us up to date. You are definitely “bringing home the gold” in Northwest Passage boating as far as we’re concerned.
We had dinner with the Bill and Diane Allison last night and I was telling them where Pat was and they said they knew someone who was doing the same thing. I thought, how odd that someone from this area would be doing this and we hadn’t heard about it and then they casully mentioned “Kip Jones”!! I hadn’t put together that BSF is at Saratoga Federated. They send their love and will be following your adventure on the internet.
We continue to pray for you.
August 17th, 2008 at 5:19 pm
We continue to be “awestruck” by your blogs.. so enjoyed the one on one interview.. it was so good to hear my brother and my nephew’s voices.. everyone sounds so good inspite of the weather, fatigue, and mechanical issues.. We continue to pray that the weather will hold out in your favor and that Kip continues to keep her crew fat and happy.. those meals sound incredible (considering the lack of fresh resources)… I can’t imagine how Kip prepared for all these meals ahead of time.. Ham???? (fresh, frozen, canned??)
I was just wondering if you guys have any connection with what is going on in the news…
Have you heard the latest from the Olympics in Beiijing??? Do you have radio connection? I’m sure you don’t have TV.. Do you miss hearing the news?? Or are you basically disconnected from what is going on in the world?? Is that a wonderfully peaceful feeling?? Special thanks to Randy for an incredible interview.. He could probably get a job at one of the best tv. stations, CBS, or NBC.. They may be watching these blogs. Thanks!!
August 18th, 2008 at 8:19 pm
This is so exciting, Kip. You don’t need a roller coaster for thrills, and I applaud your collective courage. You are all in my prayers.
Love,
Judy