Category: Arctic
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Whoops rather a long gap between posts!
I’m still alive and really looking forward to 2019. The reason for the long pause was that something had to give way. The Arthur Beale project has proved surprisingly exhausting especially on top of the stress of running my other company so I had to let things go. It got so bad that I almost…
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Ski Touring in Arctic Sweden
29th March until 5th April 2015 Luckily we were invited for another skiing holiday in the Arctic by Charlotte and Svarte, an opportunity which of course we grabbed immediately. We flew to an airport which sounds a bit like a spicy Greek sausage and is just north of Umea. As we landed a little girl…
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Sailing Cancelled!
South Dock, Rotherhithe 11th January 2015 Boff! I was really looking forward to a long weekend away sailing to the Medway but had to bottle out when the best forecast I could find (after shopping around) was westerly gale force 8 becoming severe gale force 9. That may just have been workable but the wind…
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Arctic Club Dinner
13th December 2014 Queens College, Cambridge A few months ago I was invited to lunch at the Athenaeum Club, and a very fine lunch it was too! Not only was I fed halibut but I was also asked if I would like to be a member of the Arctic Club. I have to confess that…
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Pulks
April 2014 Sweden Being in Sweden they should really be called Pulkka (from the Finnish pulkka) but pulks or sledges will do. The one we used was made of wood to a design of one of Svarte’s relatives. The design was so successful that it became part of the Swedish army’s equipment. It was light…
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Russian Meeting No2
1st November 2013 Davy’s Wine Bar – Greenwich Maxine and Dirk had kindly agreed to meet us for a chat over dinner. By amazing coincidence we found out about Maxine’s amazing exploits early this year when we saw a car with Russian number plates parked in Greenwich. Asking if Dirk was Russian he replied that he wasn’t…
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Some Notes on Sweden
Swedish Precision We know the Swedes make the best adjustable spanners in the world. This precision can also be found in everyday life. English Charlotte had put out the wheelie bin at the end of the road as the Dustmen were due in the morning. Sadly this task was very poorly performed by Swedish standards.…
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It’s the big ski race day!
17th February 2013 As usual before a race I tend to detect little pains in my body and I noticed a nagging little ache in my knee. I rubbed in a bit of Ibruprufen gel and packed a few pills in case it played up. Last night we were shown by Svarte how to race wax…
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Journey to the Centre of the World
Descend into the crater of Yocul ofSneffels, Which the shade of ScartarisCaresses, Before the kalends of JulyAudacious traveller, And you willReach the centre of the earth. I did it.Arne Saknussemm. So we are now moored on the tyre wall at the base of Snaefell Jokull. Our long warps are weighted by my splendid bronze chum…
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Ice and Whales
Position N65,35.66 x W024,41.75. Wind Flukey SW F1-4 I am feeling a little bit sad that we are not going to see Greenland. Perhaps we should have pushed on but decisions needed to be made and I think it was the correct choice. I would hate to need to seek assistance if we made a…