Editor’s Note: Got this update from the crew, right after I posted the update from Charlotte.

We are anchored at the northern most town of our journey. It is all south from here. How does south to Alaska sound?

This day started out with a bang as we saw two polar bears from our anchorage climbing the cliff behind us. From then on the day was a bust as we were mugged by winds and waves, dodging ice as we went. The winds were 20-30 knots on the nose, all day. But we did fine and we got here amidst snow flurries, finding a message waiting for us from the mayor of Resolute offering to help us in every way we need. What could be nicer than that? When we had dinner Walt thanked the Lord for breakfast, lunch and dinner as we didn’t eat anything but nuts until dinner because it was so rough! Hopefully our parts have arrived and we can get the water maker going. All reports indicate that the ice is softening and will be opening up. Please keep praying! We look forward to your questions and the chance to answer them. Love to you all.

[Show as slideshow]

Editor’s Note: I just got off the phone with Charlotte (parts shipper extraordinaire) who had heard from the crew via satellite phone. They arrived at Resolute, population 300, while snowing and cold at 7:00pm after a day of rough weather. Headwinds and choppy seas made for taxing driving which fell mostly to Pat and Shane. They were in bed at the time of the call! They did say they managed to see more polar bears today. They are anchored in a sheltered spot and will be sleeping on the boat with the heater cranking. They are comfortable but tired.

Laying low for a bit

The watermaker parts have not arrived as scheduled in Resolute. Charlotte said she would track them down as soon as the shipping office opened at 6am (3am for her!). I told her if there’s any justice there will be a pound of Peet’s left for her. Though the parts are delayed, the crew will likely be in Resolute for the next day or two as they wait for the weather to improve. This is good news on the sleep front, but also will allow for the parts to arrive. There are still two other boats waiting to traverse the heart of the Northwest Passage. One is going East to West along with the Geraldine, The other is waiting in Cambridge Bay to go West to East.

Next steps

The ice forecast continues to improve. Since the crew left Pond Inlet, the changes have been dramatic. From Resolute, the Geraldine will head almost due south before turning west again. The area ahead once choked with ice are breaking up and The Passage is opening up right on schedule. The next “major” stop for Geraldine is Cambridge Bay, which is on the other side of the current ice bottleneck (and after the turn West). They expect to be there in about a week if the melting trends continue. Once to Cambridge Bay, the ice should become less of a concern. That is the big picture, tomorrow calls for doing laundry (nobody wants to be O-U-T, haha!)

The crew is currently only 300 miles from the magnetic north pole! Amazing! Thank you very much Charlotte for the update and for your diligence in shipping and tracking parts.

The morning was sunny and glorious with tons of birds everywhere. About 3:30 PM it grew grey and rainy. Pat noticed that when the fresh water rain drops hit the salt water ocean, they stay as a little pearl on the top of the water for a few seconds before disappearing. We are motoring along the north side of Lancaster Sound and the seas are calm and views of land good. We have been making bread nearly every day and today’s was cracked wheat with walnuts, onion and dill! We make a huge loaf in a big glass bowl and it is fun for us all to watch the rising, smell the baking, suffer through the cooling before we plunge in! Geraldine is running so well and we’ve all showered finally thanks to the full water tanks. Everyone is ready to do laundry in Resolute. We haven’t done it on the boat to conserve water and we are O-U-T! We have hatch and window covers that snap on. I made some black felt pieces that fit in under the covers to make the bedrooms dark so we can sleep during our shift. Since it is light all the time we need them all the time.

We saw a pack of seals herding fish today which was really neat. There were probably at least 20 seals popping up “waist high” and swimming with a dolphin like motion. We passed a glacier at water’s edge and got very close, but saw no calving. Then we came around a corner to see three polar bears on the shore! A mother and two large cubs. Wow! Pictures are so cool from today! Some have asked about the total eclipse 8/1 and if we saw it. It was totally cloud covered that morning and we were south of the total eclipse track so we missed it. There were many tourists in Iqaluit to see it who were disappointed.

[Show as slideshow]

[Show as slideshow]

[Show as slideshow]

We are really heading west today and clicking off minutes of longitude! We are in the central time zone now and had to change our watches. Going west is easy when you are this far north. We got into Dundas Harbour on Devon Island (74 deg 31.8′ N, 082 deg 25.9′ W) at 1:30 in the morning and slept until 7:30 and departed.