In the Footsteps of Franklin

It was only 10:30a when we returned from our bone-jarring, cold, and wet zodiac ride. Yes, the wet gear had done its job and we were dry under our layers of clothing. But my back was killing me.

So, I decided to see if Desiree was free for a hot stone massage. Aaahhh! So relaxing. My aches diminished and my body warmed up as she worked her magic.

While I was being soothed, blissfully unaware of what was going on outside the treatment room, Mui was attending a mandatory meeting. It wasn’t one that had been on the schedule for the day.

I left the spa and went to find Mui. The ship was eerily quiet. People were huddled together here and there … whispering … some gesticulating wildly. Hmmm … something was up. But what? Mui filled me in when I found him eating lunch at the Balena Restaurant.

I’ll cut to the chase and just say that we are NOT going to be following “In the Footsteps of Franklin” after all. In fact, we are not going to be exploring much more of Arctic Canada … maybe one more day in the region and that’s it. After that we’ll be hightailing it back to Greenland as we will need about three days to get back to Kangerlussuaq.

Why are we going back? It’s not ice blocking the way to Resolute, our original point of disembarkation. It’s not an issue with the ship. Nor is there some kind of medical emergency. A worldwide disaster is not the predicament either. The problem is the charter flight that is supposed to return us from Resolute to Toronto on the 16th.

Only specially-equipped aircraft can land on the short, gravel runway at Resolute. These planes are smaller in size. We need two of them to fly everyone back to Toronto. One of these planes is now apparently down for a couple of weeks due to mechanical issues. There aren’t many carriers that operate this type of aircraft, so another charter from Resolute is not possible. We’re heading back to Greenland because the runway at the Kangerlussuaq Airport is paved … and can accommodate a wider variety of planes.

Christian, our Expedition Leader, apparently got word of a potential problem yesterday — or maybe it was the day before. That just might answer why we’ve been dawdling in this area instead of heading across Lancaster Sound. Anyway, he was waiting to hear what the resolution was going to be before breaking the bad news to a shipful of passengers who came up to these latitudes with the “hope” of visiting some of the places in the annals of exploration history.

This was depressing news, but hey … what can you do? Nothing. Got to go with the flow. We have some decent offers from Quark to make up for our troubles. Which offer will we take? That is TBD … we have some thinking to do.

In the meantime, here’s why we’re regretting this morning’s outing. Had we not gone on the “zodiac-outing-that-made-no-sense,” we would have jumped at the chance this afternoon to go ashore at the Inuit community of Arctic Bay (Ikpiarjuk in Inuktitut … meaning "the pocket" … probably a reference to the hamlet’s location overlooking a wide bay). Hindsight and all that.

As it is, we’re both drained … physically, and in light of the changes announced, mentally as well. My back is still achy. I just couldn’t face a rough-ish ride ashore. Missed opportunity for sure, but hopefully fellow-passengers will share some of their experiences for the expedition photo journal.

Now to take a couple of pain killers, get a cup of hot chocolate — laced with a tiny bit of Baileys or Amarula perhaps — and relax so we can be ready for whatever tomorrow has in store for us.もっと詳しく