Bellot Strait to Cambridge Bay

Following our little stopover in Fort Ross, we tackle the Bellot Strait. The strait is notorious for strong, unpredictable currents. Often more than 5 knots in one direction on one side with a counter current on the other side. Add ice floes into that mix and there is a recipe for disaster. Just in 2018 a 45-foot aluminium sailboat was crushed by the ice and sank very close to the anchorage. Our goal is to make the passage boring. Today we have an extended slack tide that should give us hours of time of calm water to do the 18-NM transit.

Vanuily and Coro Coro leave the anchorage at 0930, we are not in a rush and give them an hour head start. The transit requires attention and even at slack tide the boat is at times thrown in the currents. With hardly any ice at all the transit is a piece of cake and we actually have lunch while underway. We pass “Zenith Point”, the northern most point of the North American continent, marked by a pile of rocks.

The transit remains as boring as hoped for. Leaving the Strait we are greeted by a proper northerly breeze. Yes! We hoist the main and unfurl the genoa and immediately accelerating to 10 knots. What fun! Unfortunately the ride was short lived. After about half an hour the wind dies and we end in an annoying situation: the swell from further north where 30+knot wind raged in the past day is throwing the boat wildly around. We reduce sail to 3rd reef and start the engine. After a few hours the swell is settling and the wind picks up. By 1 am, we finally hoist the main and set the gennaker for what will turn out to become a wonderful 150-NM long high-speed run.

The ice charts indicate ice floes along the way, which calls for full concentration when fog sets in. Also we have real nights again: the sun actually sets and we have darkness for a few hours. The 24-hour sunlight was such a nice feature! The skies are awkwardly brown-colored - a consequence of the enormous forest fires in Canada.

Nearing the 69°N parallel we make a detour around Jenny and Lind Island as the “Icebreaker Channel” is still ice locked. Sailing continuous until about 0800 when the wind dies and we go back on engine for the last 40NM.Read more