Category: Arctic
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North West Passage – Day 3 – Iqaluit
5th August 2023 We have arrived in Iqaluit on the southern end of Baffin Island. I refrained from buying a cool cotton tee shirt in Ottawa as I wrongly assumed that the temperature would drop as we move northwards. I am now roasting in my expedition thermals. This place feels more like Texas than Baffin…
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North West Passage – Day 2 – London to Ottawa
4th August 2023 A misunderstanding regarding check in times at Heathrow resulted in me booking a night in the airport Premier Inn ready for an early start. I met Dan in the bar where we remained until midnight. The flight to Paris was uneventful other than needing to queue for donkeys to check in oversized…
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Preparations for the North West Passage – One week to go!
26th July 2023 Rotherhithe Reading time: 5 Minutes The adventure seems to be attracting a fair bit of press. The Telegraph had this write up and PBO had this. Stirling and Son’s Facebook page has this amazing video of what I should expect and, although I have sailed on Integrity before, this looks like pretty…
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How long does it take to prepare for an Arctic voyage from the UK?
16th May 2023 – London Reading time: 15 minutes Clearly there is no straightforward answer to such a wishy-washy question. It depends so much on whether you, and your boat, have made previous high latitude voyages. Even the location of your boat in the UK could affect the timing. To stick my neck out, I…
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And now long trick is finally over
Day 83 Scoresby Sund Expedition Rotherhithe, London Last Thursday we collected our Parson Russell Terrier from the Dog Sitters. My fear that Tilman would no longer recognise me was soon dispelled! It was so nice to see him again. I now can officially declare the failed Scoresby Sund Expedition is over. It is the first…
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Life in Husavik, Iceland
Scoresby Sund Expedition 2022 Day 44. 24th July 2022 Position: Moored Husavik, Iceland Weather: Not too bad at all Ice: Awaiting a new Ice Chart Sumara has the best position in the harbour being the only yacht on a pontoon. On the harbour wall lies Dagmar Aaen, the crew of which are all waiting news…
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All systems go but..
Scoresby Sund Expedition 2022 Day 42. 22nd July 2022 Position: Moored Husavik, Iceland Weather: Not too bad at all Ice: Looking better. OK to make landfall a bit further south. Yesterday morning I went up to the Grimur engineering shop at 07:00 which was pretty stupid because they didn’t open until 08:00. So I went…
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Would you believe it!
Scoresby Sund Expedition 2022 Day 5. 15th June 2022 Position: Dunstaffnage Dry and sunny – so far but those clouds tell a different story! After living through a couple of years of Covid ravished London, after travelling on the packed tube trains, after enjoying meals in busy London pubs and after shopping in crowded supermarkets,…
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Scoresby Sund Expedition Update
21st May 2022 – London 23 days to go. . . . . .and I’m not panicking yet! Loads of jobs have been accomplished and deleted from the lengthy list, a task which gives me a pleasant tingly sensation. Some jobs are only part complete and so only get half a tick, and some are…
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I’ve just built a Classic Wooden Drone!
It will fly at 24 feet above the deck and point in exactly the same direction as the boat. That is because it will be fixed to the upper spreaders! It is typical of a wooden boat owner to solve a technical problem with a piece of wood and six coats of varnish but at…