Adventure in Burnett Inlet

We have some time to spend on Devon Island but not too much either. The western arctic of Canada is beginning to open up! We decide to make one more stop on Devon Island after Cuming Inlet, it shall be Burnett Inlet. Without any wind at all we do the 50-NM passage in eco-mode: one engine, 5 knots. About mid-way, I spot a solitary Musk Ox roaming the Devon’s shore. We change course to reduce distance and take some photos of the animal. Another creature of a fairy tale. Musk Oxen relate to sheep and when you know this, you see the sheep in them. But they are known to be aggressive.

When we arrive in Burnett Inlet, Vanuily and Coro Coro are already there. They plan to depart next morning, whereas we intend to spend a day in this magnificent place, scale a mountain top and then continue directly to Fort Ross at the Bellot Strait. That day in Burnett Inlet shall become a well-spent one!

As we wake up, an entire group of Musk Oxen is grazing the green patches ashore. Wow! Following a rather splendid breakfast, Yann and me head out to climb to a protruding mountain peak towering above the anchorage. We take a bit of a detour around the oxen and make good progress. It is warm, we are breaking a sweat but no mosquitos. Atop the mesa, an endless, monotonous, rocky surface awaits us. As we reach the target area, I radio to the mothership that we are about to arrive and Jörg starts the drone and captures some outrageous footage, which I later try to cut into something viewable - once again, I see that I am not a video editor.

The way back doesn’t go as smoothly as the ascend. In an effort to take an easier way down than we took up, we chose a wrong turn and have to back up to the mesa to take a second effort, which eventually works alright. We called for drone assistance from the mothership but communication on the VHF with us sitting in a creek is so bad that that wasn’t very helpful in the end.

Back aboard we are exhausted but happy. Tomorrow morning we shall leave this beautiful island.

Link to movie in better quality: https://youtu.be/AIWaJE4fxJgRead more