24th August 2023 – Day 21
We moored onto a jetty which looked like it had exploded under either ice pressure or a tug forgetting to undo its strength line. Nevertheless, it was pleasant to be alongside for the first time. It makes coming and going a simple afair. It was about 02:00 in the morning but we had a little mooch ashore with a celebration tipple in a coffee mug. We really enjoyed the outdoor museum with samples of each kind of dwelling that had been employed to house the Inuit community. Some were pretty basic. We went back to the boat for a snooze only to be woken by a Polish boat’s bow thrusters. At 10:00 we went on the usual search for fuel, water and fresh fruit and veg (FFV).
The delivery charge for fuel, excluding the fuel cost, was $500 which is a tad costly when you are only taking about 500 L. Our attempt to share the delivery charge with the Polish boat came to nothing as he needed aircraft JetA and kerosene. Will forked out the dosh and we filled her up, slowly letting the tanks balance out. After that, there was time for a quick visit to the library for WIFI and the supermarket for FFV. Dan bought a fishing rod and although the Arctic Char was plentiful in the bay, there was no time to try it out. The weather forecast indicated a strong 35 kn blast of headwinds in a few days so Will was keen to get underway to tick off a few more needed miles. We spent a couple of hours in the bay practicing MOB drills which we felt was time were spent.
25th August 2023 — Day 22
Friday
Slightly variable winds as we motor-sailed towards Edinburgh Island. We were pleased to see no dead birds on this passage.
26th August 2023 – Day 23
Saturday
At 02:00 we sailed past Edinburgh Island. As is was the only high island along the coast, it was rather a shame to pass by in darkness. As compensation we saw our first Northern Lights.
By 10:00 we were sailing near to Becher Point ( just south of Lady Franklin Point). At this point we need to head up into the wind into Cache Point Channel and thence Dolphin and Union Straight. The NW wind blows straight off the Arctic ice so the current temperature is only 1C but not so bad.We eventually gave up bashing into the wind and anchored in the Lee of Camping Islands in 3.5 m. The wind is due to die off at 04:00 tomorrow when we hope to set of towards Lady Richardson Bay.
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