(68º30.8′ N, 110º40.7′ W — Coronation Gulf) I received a satellite phone call from the crew this morning. The radio signal has been very weak recently so our normal messaging routine was disrupted. They only stayed in Cambridge Bay for one night before pressing on Westward. While in Cambridge Bay they met Peter Semotiuk, the radio contact who guides all the boats through the Northwest Passage. It was nice to put a face to a voice, and thank him in person for his help.

As they moved West the weather has been rough with 10 foot waves washing over the front of the boat and up the windshield (waveshield). Thankfully the waves were coming from head on so the boat was able to buck them without as much rolling. But this means tiring work and constant switching of drivers. Today the weather improved and is calm, clear and about 38ºF when they called. The Forecast says it should hold like this for about three days. Yes! In other weather news, as it gets later in the summer it is starting to get really dark at night instead of just dusk. This means that they are spending less time driving at night. Still, they are able to cover about 130 miles per day.

Today they saw a new sailboat also going West. It was Australians Peter & Maeva Elliot aboard their 34 foot aluminum sloop Tyhina. The crews had spoken over the radio via Peter Semotiuk, but was the first time the two crossed paths. They are also headed for Alaska, so it’s probably not the last time! You can read about their adventure and see photos at: http://www.tyhina.com/

The crew reports the scenery has dulled. There’s no lovely icebergs to look at! Ha! Also the landscape has flattened out and is nearly as flat as the sea. A far cry from the majestic mountains and towering bergs of Baffin Island. This means that they’ve turned to baking as the chief source of entertainment. Muffins and bread were mentioned. My mouth watered. Too much information?

I also got a tentative schedule from the crew (keep in mind this is subject to weather and whim): 
8/24 – Tuk (Tuktoyaktuk), NWT
8/27 –  Prudhoe Bay, AK
8/29 – Point Barrow, AK
9/03 – Nome, AK

Also note: The satellite image in the website map is NOT built with current images. It is stitched together from images taken at different times of year over the past few years. Often if you zoom in, you suddenly change from summer to winter. I mention it, because if you zoom in on todays coordinates, you’ll see the area choked with ice. Not so. — Randy

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A while back, Kip sent a batch of photos they had collected of inukshuks they’d encountered during their travels through Nunavut. They are a manmade pile or stones that mark harbors and hunting grounds. It is also featured on the Nunavut flag, and on the Winter Olympics logo for Vancouver 2010. I’ve been waiting for a lull in the news before posting. Here is a link where you can find out more about them. Without further ado:

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We left Cambridge Bay and passed another boat named Tyhina with a couple making the same journey as we are only a few weeks behind us.  The Canadian Coast Guard ship Amudsen was anchored behins us in Cambridge Bay doing Arctic research.  After leaving in sunshine we encountered some bad weather.  Shane the man just had to go out front to the bow to make a cover for the chain anchor locker which was starting to link.  As he went our a wave just happened to come along and drench him!  All had a good laugh including Shane!

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(69 deg 06.8′ N, 105 deg 03.6′ W) We just arrived at the city dock at 12:45 am and are ready to fall into bed.  We made water today with the new parts and it all seems to be fine so far.  It was a mostly sunny day with calm seas in the afternoon finally.  The sunset took two hours and was so beautiful as was the moon rising. The picture during the sunset that looks like ice bergs is a mirage and not real.  The satellite pictures say we are completely out of the ice now.  We will find internet access in the morning and get caught up with pictures.  Shane said Rebecca is excited because they are both in the same longitude now! There is a storm brewing east of us, but if we are headed west in the next 30 hours we are predicted to miss most of it. Good night! 

Next morning: A local office invited us to use their internet so I am going to quick send the photos to add to the site. We slept until 8:30 this morning and are feeling better from the late night and several days of traveling in shifts. Pat and Shane went on a walkabout and came back with some groceries and souvenirs. We were warned to leave a person on the boat as children who are so curious will climb all over your boat and take their own souvenirs if you are not there. We saw that level of couriosity back at Nain in Labrador, but not here in Cambridge Bay. Anyway, I am here to get my job done and get a peek at town. All of us want to get to the site to see the comments which are like getting mail. We read them together and have a good time connecting with home!

Editor’s Note: Check back as far as 8/14 for photo updates

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We are going to make it! We have successfully worked our way through numerous bands of ice last night and today. We just talked to the Canadian Ice Service and learned the worst is behind us and we should expect minimal ice from here on. We will again run through the night traversing Larsen Sound into Victoria Straight. The day is grey, overcast, foggy with snow flurries. We are all up at the moment and feeling pretty jovial but not wanting to let down our guard until we are really through. We have started a tradition that Sunday means Chocolate Chip Cookies and they are about to appear!

We had a good laugh today. There is a guy, Juan, from Majorca, Spain who’s boat passed us yesterday. We were on the radio hooked in with Peter (our boat-traffic and ice updater) and having a conversation with Juan. He wanted Walt’s email. Walt goes: “alpha queen uncle alpha tango oscar alpha delta dot com.” Silence. Juan replies, “Walter, you sound like hiccups. Say again.” Walt says it again only with the q being Quebec. Juan tried to respond back, repeating the sequence, but accents and trucker lingo prevented it from ever working. By the end of it we were all hysterical. Maybe you had to be there!

Last night it was much darker than we have experienced from 11:30 to 2:30am so we are seeing the days shortening as we head south and August advances. Walt and I were on our shift at sunrise and it rose at our backs for the first time. We are headed home! We saw a huge male polar bear up on a cliff and Pat thinks he was eating bird eggs. He just stopped and watched us motor by, probably wishing we’d hang around a while so he could move beyond eggs. Fat Chance!

You may wonder what it is like to sleep while the boat is running. The waves crash against the side for huge slamming noise effects, throwing Geraldine up an down and side to side for weightlessness effects. So it is like trying to sleep riding a bronco bareback at a rodeo. But if you are tired enough you can do it! Pat has seen Shane levitated in bed with only the cacoon of his blankets restraining him!

Photos from 8/17:

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Photos from 8/18:

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