Geraldine » Planning

Where is Sitka?

Randy Jones — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 03:36:52 +0000

Will it ever end??? Tonight we were looking over the map and thinking: where is Sitka? Well it’s the lonely little red pin South and East where the boat is now. And yes: Kip, Walt, Scott and Raime should be in Sitka in a little over a week. (NOTE: Geraldine is NOT in Sitka)

Ice Status Report

Jim "Skip" Boselli — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 22:04:05 +0000

I spoke with the Arctic Regional Operations Center in Sarnia, Ontario again this afternoon. They’ve replaced the 2008 “Ice Guy”…the new guy is Howard Kearley. I sent him all the information that I had sent to Jean Ouellet in May. Here are some of the things we talked about…

They don’t know of anyone else who is transiting the Passage this summer (but that doesn’t mean there won’t be any others. It just means that they don’t know about the others).
They said that one sailboat wintered over in the Passage, probably in Tuktoyaktuk.
They have two icebreakers stationed at the southern end of Baffin Island right now. It’s not clear yet whether they will try to open up Fury & Hecla Strait early.
One icebreaker is on its way in from the West Coast. They are focusing on the southern Arctic right now then they’ll deal with the high Arctic later.
By the time we get into the Passage, they will have six icebreakers in various locations along our route.
They said that the ice is “moving out fairly fast” this year (very good news!)

They had asked us to contact NORDREG (the Marine Communications Traffic Services Centre in Iqaluit) as soon as we get above 60 degrees. I have NORDREG’s phone number and I’m going to speak with them live tomorrow morning. Those are the people that we will actually be talking to on the SSB radio while we’re running. I want them to know us before we radio in for the first time.

I’m pumped. My juices are flowing. Killer picture of GERALDINE at anchor on the website.

It was 63 degrees in Cambridge Bay this afternoon! I’m packing my shorts. 63 degrees and Pizza Hut pizza — it doesn’t get any better than that!

Routes we’re considering

Jim "Skip" Boselli — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 05:00:00 +0000

I had dinner with Kip and Walt at the Airport Diner in Manchester last night, complete with ’50s music in the background and Canadian pork pie with gravy! It doesn’t get any better than that!

I have posted the three proposed routes that I’ve put together for our passage at a new page on the site. I’ve included a map of each possible route. Also, I’ll try to find a map with the route that Roald Amundsen took with Gjøa when he made the first successful transit of the Northwest Passage by boat in 1903-1906.

Northwest Passage Ice Forecast

Jim "Skip" Boselli — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 15:07:35 +0000

Here is a website I found that provides daily satellite views…although with only moderate resolution. Still, it’s very interesting to note the following as of today:

There’s a strange piece of water that is wide open due east of Fury & Hecla Strait while Foxe Basin and the Gulf of Boothia are still solid ice
Fury & Hecla is starting to darken up a little
You can see that Peel Sound is opening up very rapidly
Point Barrow is still very solid
Disko Bay (and the entire Greenland Coast) is completely open
Very interestingly, Prince of Wales Strait is starting to get very dark already. This could still be a possibility for us (express route!)

If you click on this image, it will take to you an updated shot of the ice as of today!

Moving In!

Kip "Galley Master" Jones — Tue, 27 May 2008 00:26:14 +0000

We had a visit from Mark Kunz who is building Olive and he brought the dinghy though she is not yet finished. He needs to put the rub rail material on and paint the inside. He came Sunday afternoon and we saw how cool the clam shell folding design Walt picked out really is. Our dinghy will be just right to carry four adults and maybe a bambino or two! He had dinner with us and spent the night, reporting in that at 6′ 10″ he could spread out and was very comfortable in the V berth!! Best night he ever spent on a boat, he said, so we think the money spent on fancy mattresses has paid off!

The heater is an advantage! It has been in the 40’s at night and we have been toasty. We have been busy emptying all the boxes we sent (and Pat sent) and have been finding a place to store things and then moving them to a better spot! We have had workers aboard helping us with lots of details and have not been out but once. That will change Tuesday when Skip Boselli shows up. I plan to make bread while he is here and check out the oven! I spent much of the day doing laundry, getting the new towels and sheets washed and ready for you! :-)

Our Memorial Day bas been memorial to us as we are so excited that we could even own a boat like this free and clear and be planning such an exciting trip. Thanks be to God. I went to a local small grocer today and he will order wheels of cheese, beans, rice etc. for me and deliver it to Geraldine! This little shop is neat and is one Martha S. and even Julia Childs frequents! I made sure we weren’t getting the Martha price!

All the interior ultra suede remains under plastic so we haven’t gotten the view of the main saloon yet, but she looks great. We are so excited and grateful!

The galley works! Love the way it is put together and the stove is cool (or Hot really!)