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In the Footsteps of FranklinIn the Footsteps of Franklin
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In the Footsteps of Franklin

luglio - agosto 2022
After eight years of being away from the polar regions, we will be scratching our "Ice Itch" with a Quark Expeditions voyage that will take us into the Canadian High Arctic. Leggi altro

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  • Two to TravelIn the Footsteps of Franklin

    Croker Bay: Our Highest Latitude

    12 agosto 2022, Northwest Passage ⋅ 🌧 46 °F

    At some point during Ken’s lecture, there was enough of a lull in the storm to allow the captain to turn the ship’s bow and head up into a sheltered fjord along Devon Island’s southern coast.

    The deeper the ship went into Croker Bay, an arm of Lancaster Sound, the calmer conditions became. Still not good enough for zodiac operations, however. Nonetheless, we enjoyed seeing the two tidewater glaciers that drain the Devon Ice Cap … deemed as one of the largest in the Canadian High Arctic.

    Here’s a bit of trivia … so big is this ice cap, in fact, that should it melt in its entirety, it would raise the world’s sea level by .4 inches. That number might seem small, but consider that the meltwater will be spread across approximately the 140 MILLION square miles of ocean that cover the globe. Today we caught just a miniscule glimpse of the cap where it terminates in Croker Bay.

    We spent a bit of time in front of the southern glacier … the one further north barely visible through the mist. And then we turned south again to slowly traverse the fjord back towards Lancaster Sound.

    Since we will be turning east when we reach Croker Bay and then heading south through Baffin Bay in the remaining days of our expedition, I believe this little jaunt put us at our highest latitude. I’ll have to wait for the official number, but some of my photos of the glacier put us at around 74°48'46.7" N.    Leggi altro

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  • Two to TravelIn the Footsteps of Franklin

    Tundra Hike: Dundas Harbour

    12 agosto 2022, Canada ⋅ ☁️ 41 °F

    The storm that kept us on the ship during the first half of the day abated considerably by the time we were back out in Lancaster Sound. We even had patches of blue sky. And sunshine, too. Yay! Time to put the zodiacs in the water and get us ashore for one last landing.

    Dundas Harbour (Tallaruti in Inuktitut; meaning “a woman’s chin with tattoos on it”) was where we were going to drop off our modern-day explorers for their quest to ski across the Devon Ice Cap. So, it made sense that we go ashore here for a tundra hike.

    Once again, we were called down to the ready room by our hiking groups. We tacked ourselves onto the end of the medium fast group to get the lay of the land before deciding to go with the medium slow group instead.

    The plan was to hike towards the south coast to check out some Thule ruins and then hike across a ridge to the site of an RCMP [Royal Canadian Mounted Police] station that was abandoned in 1951. The first part of the plan worked out just fine; the second part not so much.

    Because we took our time walking across the tundra to the Thule ruins, we ran out of time to get to the RCMP station on foot. No problem. We were offered a zodiac transfer to get there instead … similar to the contemplative group. The problem? The ride required going out into open waters and making our way around a headland. The water was rough … the landing beach, even if we could get there, inaccessible due to heavy swells rolling ashore. So back to the ship we went.

    Thus, for all intents and purposes, we have wrapped up our expedition. Yes, we still have several days left before we board the charter flight back to Toronto. However, those days will see us speeding back … no time to stop and explore along the way.    Leggi altro

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  • Two to TravelIn the Footsteps of Franklin

    And the Saga Continues

    13 agosto 2022, Baffin Bay ⋅ 🌧 41 °F

    Seeing a lone iceberg glistening under the sun soon this morning was a good start to the day. That was at 9:17a. A little more than an hour later, the seascape grew misty … but the light was bright … the sun looked like it was trying to breakthrough. By 1:00p, the mist was gone … but the skies had grown overcast and dull. We even had some rain. At least the motion of the ocean, which was better than yesterday but still noticeable, calmed down further as the day progressed.

    This being a day at sea — and with not much more than expansive views of the blue waters of Baffin Bay stretching in every direction — there were a number of lectures on the schedule.

    Fabrice kicked things off with “Life in the Freezer: Birds and Mammals’ Adaptation to the Cold” … morphological, physiological, and behavioral. Ken followed with “Mounties, Mushing & Muktuk” … what was the RCMP doing up here? … how did they survive and what did they learn? … these were the questions he pondered. Finally, Dave presented “Editing the Arctic” … covering basic editing tasks he undertakes on pretty much every photo he snap … good tips, and especially useful since he uses the same software I use.

    But this isn’t the big story of the day that led to the title of this footprint. Nope, it surely isn’t.

    Having Christian invite us to the daily recap and briefing is something we’re used to. That he said he had important news to share about the charter flights didn’t sound bad. Something in the tone of his voice after he said “we have a charter flight,” however, suggested there was a “but” that he wasn’t sharing. I could hear the “virtual groan” reverberate around the ship!

    Here’s the short story … in bullets …

    * We have a flight on the 16th
    * Charter company cannot fly from Greenland to anywhere in Canada
    * Flight will depart Kangerlussuaq around 5:45p
    * Arrival Airport will be Niagara Falls International
    * Buses will take us to the Sheraton at Toronto Pearson
    * Arrival at hotel expected around midnight
    * Everyone must complete ArriveCAN again
    * Alternate arrangements for those who don’t have visas to enter the USA
    * Work session scheduled for those requiring ETAS to enter the USA

    There you have it. Another jiggle in the travel plan.

    For a minute, Mui and I thought about flying from Niagara Falls to Denver and skipping the bus ride. We quickly scratched that idea. Not only do we have a bag at the Sheraton, but our flight home on the 17th is already set. No need to further complicate things.

    We have two more days before we arrive in Kangerlussuaq. Could anything else possibly go wrong? Fingers crosssed that it won’t. Enough jiggles already.    Leggi altro

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  • Two to TravelIn the Footsteps of Franklin

    Nanoq Qaqortoq … For Real

    14 agosto 2022, Baffin Bay ⋅ ☁️ 46 °F

    I’ve been teasing you with images of polar bears … in the form of a painting, a tail logo of an airplane, a wallpaper in one of the stairwells on the ship.

    Not this time. This polar bear — nanoq qaqartok in Greenlandic — is for real.

    We were at breakfast when the call went out over the P/A that there was a polar bear on one of the ice floes near the ship. Mui had already left; I was enjoying a cup of tea. I stood up to go outside, glanced out the window, and there it was. Right by the ship. Good … all I had with me was my phone … it would do.

    I walked out the access door to the outer decks — right behind the table — where I found Mui with his video camera in hand. No more than ½-minute had passed since spotting the bear. It was gone! Where? It had jumped off the floe and was swimming towards some distant ice.

    Disappointing that the bear didn’t stick around? Sure, but not nearly as disappointing for us as it was for those passengers who’ve not had close encounters already.

    By the way, the consensus amongst our resident experts, is that the bear was a young female.

    (Link for our bear encounters in Churchill, Manitoba … https://eenusa.smugmug.com/North-America-US-Can…)    Leggi altro

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  • Two to TravelIn the Footsteps of Franklin

    Baffin Bay Crossing: Day 2

    14 agosto 2022, Baffin Bay ⋅ ☁️ 43 °F

    I wrote about our bear encounter out of sequence, so back to today’s story.

    Waking up to the banging and clanging as Ultramarine went through a band of sea ice had me jumping out of bed to enjoy the experience … likely our last time being in the ice on this expedition. It made taking a break to go to breakfast at. 7:30a difficult, but luckily I did or I might have missed our brief bear encounter.

    There was a bit more ice after we saw the bear, but by 9:00a it was all left behind. Clear waters ahead for Ultramarine to speed up in order to get to Kangerlussuaq on time.

    The rest of the day was filled with lectures — Jodie spoke about “Glaciers as Sculptors;” Wayne talked about the effects of climate change in the polar regions and the “Inuit Adaptations” to these changes; Adrian’s topic was “Feathers” … the small miracle that is the feather.

    There was a bit of fun, too … Colin hosted a Greenlandic beer tasting in the late afternoon.

    Our education continued with mini-lectures during the recap & briefing — Sam regaled us with tidbits about the top predator of the Arctic … the polar bear; Samantha talked about Arctic governance … underlining the fact that although there are a number of countries that have committed to supporting search and rescue operations in these latitudes, only one country has the wherewithal to actually conduct such activities … Russia.

    One last day at sea awaits us tomorrow.    Leggi altro

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  • Two to TravelIn the Footsteps of Franklin

    Davis Strait: Kangerlussuaq Bound

    15 agosto 2022, Davis Strait ⋅ 🌧 43 °F

    “We’re homeward bound I hear them say …” ~~ From Goodbye Fare Thee Well Sea Shanties

    The above is the first line from the quote featured on today’s daily program. And indeed, we are homeward bound. We’ve left Baffin Bay and are in the Davis Strait now. Close to the shoreline of Greenland … getting close to our disembarkation in Kangerlussuaq tomorrow.

    Our day featured some lectures in the morning.

    Ken kicked things off with a presentation entitled “Ghosts of Cape Sabine” … an account of the disastrous Greeley Expedition of 1881 … filled with adventure, abandonment, and human tragedy. Then, Sam spoke to us about “Hoods, Beards, Rings, Harps and Walrus: Seals of the Arctic” … a review of the phocids (true seals) and otariids (eared seals) … only a few of which we saw on this voyage.

    The disembarkation briefing came right before lunch. We now have a general feel for tomorrow’s schedule. It’s good to see that we won’t be kicked off the ship bright and early. For the eagle-eyed readers who will notice a flight to Copenhagen … no worries, that’s not for us. This is the solution for those passengers who don’t have visas to enter the USA at Niagara Falls International Airport on the regular charter flight/bus transfer arrangements.

    We started out the afternoon with a session called “Baffin Bay Banter” … a time for shipmates to regale us with their own adventures. I considered participating by talking about either our polar bear encounters in Churchill; our brown bear encounters in Alaska; or our North Pole trip on 50 Let Pobedy. But the wifi wasn’t strong enough for me to download photos to accompany the words. Should we find ourselves on another Quark expedition, I will go prepared.

    Then we began what I would describe as “expedition-in-review” sessions.

    First up was a “Chocolate Bar and Bubbly with Photo Show” … designed to have us “admire” images taken by staff and guests these past two weeks. A few hours later, we had the Captain’s Cocktail Party … for final cheers.

    Our post-dinner get together featured a slideshow … a look-back on our journey. Dave did a great job. That said, I have a bone to pick with our shipmates. Namely that participation in the photo journal on this expedition was abysmal. I checked the laptops set aside for sharing purposes — a PC and a MAC — every few days to upload my contribution of 5-6 photos Dave had asked us to share. Rarely was there more than a few others in the folder. While it was fun to see my photos in the slideshow, it was a shame there weren’t more from others as such sharing gives everyone a different perspective.

    (Speaking of the photo journal … in the past, we’ve received this information on a CD. This time, everything, including daily programs, lectures, photos, etc., will be uploaded online for us to download … in about 4-6 weeks we were told.)

    Thus we’ve officially wrapped up the expedition. Our bags are packed and ready to be put outside the door tomorrow morning. One more sleep left on the Ultramarine.    Leggi altro

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  • Two to TravelIn the Footsteps of Franklin

    Kangerlussuaq: Back Where We Started

    16 agosto 2022, Groenlandia ⋅ ⛅ 50 °F

    Ultramarine was quietly sailing up the fjord when we woke up at 6:30a. By the time we finished our breakfast, the ship was at its anchorage.

    Nearby, Scenic Eclipse was preparing to exchange passengers in preparation for its next Greenland expedition. Adventure Canada was not far away … its Arctic Canada expedition impacted by charter flight troubles as well.

    Our tummies sated, we returned to the cabin, set our checked bags outside, and went to find a comfy spot to while away the hours until disembarkation. The Panorama Lounge on deck 7 forward afforded fjord views, a fairly strong cell signal with our T-Mobile phones, and outlets to plug-in our devices. Perfect.

    Yes, perfect. Except that the P/A came alive to advise us that our departure schedule had been revised. You see, Kangerlussuaq Airport is quite small … and there was only one agent to check us all in for the charter flight. Airport authorities wanted us there earlier. Lunch was to be moved up to 11:00a … zodiac transfers to take us ashore were going to start at 12:30p.

    Alrighty then. Better go for a walk on the outer decks to stretch our legs and burn off the breakfast calories.    Leggi altro

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  • Two to TravelIn the Footsteps of Franklin

    Our Navigation Map

    16 agosto 2022, Groenlandia ⋅ ⛅ 50 °F

    On a wall in the corridor leading to the Restaurant is the navigation map for our journey. It’s updated with our noon position each day.

    Too bad it doesn’t show us going all the way to Resolute (approximate location marked with a red arrow).Leggi altro

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  • Two to TravelIn the Footsteps of Franklin

    Ashore in Kangerlussuaq Fjord

    16 agosto 2022, Groenlandia ⋅ ⛅ 52 °F

    We were called down to the zodiacs by our groups. Fram was to be second.

    Mui and I headed down to the ready room soon after the first group was called so that we could put on our wet gear. Yes, if was calm outside … but why risk getting wet when it’s so easy to slip on rain pants. By the time our group was called, we were ready to get in line for the next zodiac.

    And now we’re sitting on the bus … waiting for it to fill up so we can head ashore. One or two more zodiacs should do it.    Leggi altro

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  • Two to TravelIn the Footsteps of Franklin

    Aboard NCR716 @ SFJ

    16 agosto 2022, Groenlandia ⋅ ⛅ 50 °F

    We’re onboard the National Airlines charter plane … comfy in our first row seats … with plenty of legroom for what we’ve been told will be a flight exactly 4 hours in duration. Everyone else is in their seats as well. We are all ready to take off from SFJ (Kangerlussuaq Airport). Except that the headcount for the number of souls onboard is not jiving with the manifest. While that’s being worked out, I’m going to catch up on my writing.

    Our bus was the first to leave the pier for the 30-minute or so bumpy ride to the airport. Wouldn’t you know it, there was one more glitch in this last bit of our journey. Just as we were in sight of the airport, there was a loud bang. Suddenly, the bus grew quiet … I don’t mean the passengers but the vehicle itself. It felt like we were gliding. Never did find out what the problem was, but luckily we had enough forward momentum to roll up to near the terminal entrance. Last glitch 🤞🏻🤞🏻

    Anyway, we grabbed our checked bags from where they were lined up and went to the check-in counter. There were no signs to tell us where to go, but luckily one of the agents pointed us in the right direction. I’m grateful we were amongst the first to check in as the line behind us quickly grew with fellow-passengers.

    The airport is small … but busy. The seats in the waiting room were already taken by other passengers waiting for their flights to be called. Luckily the day was warm enough that Mui and I found a picnic table where we could while away the time and watch the planes land and take off.

    When the National Airlines plane landed, we made our way through the security checkpoint and pretty much straight into the boarding queue since there were no seats available. Luckily, the incoming Quark passengers — only 69 we were told — deplaned quickly straight onto the buses waiting to take them straight to the pier. It wasn’t a long standing-wait before we were called to board the aircraft.

    And that catches up the footprints for the day thus far. The Quark rep has worked out the manifest issues and the cabin door is now closed. Time to pay attention to the safety briefing that is about to start.    Leggi altro

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