Northwest Passage

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    • Day 12

      N Baffin: Welcome to Arctic Canada

      August 9, 2022 ⋅ ☀️ 41 °F

      We have arrived in Canadian waters. Ultramarine is sailing through Pond Inlet, a waterway that lies between Baffin Island and Bylot Island. We have yet to step foot on Canadian soil, however. We have to clear customs and immigration before that can happen. The formalities will be taken care of later when the officials come aboard the ship.

      In the meantime, here is the brief story of our morning thus far.

      When I awoke at 5:15a, I felt quite rested … thanks to the extra hour we gained overnight. Even with the curtains drawn, the cabin seemed brighter. Aha! The sun must be out. And it was. What a joy. I tried to step out on the veranda, but …the door wouldn’t budge! The wind was so strong that I couldn’t push the heavy door open. Oh, oh! Was this going to keep us on the ship for another day?

      There were lectures on the schedule this morning to continue our education in all things Arctic. I stayed in the cabin to watch the live-stream broadcast on the TV so I could keep an eye out for when land views replaced the ocean views.

      The first lecture went ahead as planned; the second one was postponed so that we could all go out on deck to enjoy the views. We were now at the mouth of Pond Inlet … making our way to Eclipse Sound.

      Luckily, by this time, the wind had died down so we could get out there and view the mountain landscape on either side of the ship … with glaciers streaming down the sides … jagged peaks reaching up towards the blue sky.

      Beautiful!

      Time for lunch and then … well, it all depends on the formalities to clear us for entry into Canada.
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    • Day 13

      There Be Orcas in Navy Board Inlet

      August 10, 2022 ⋅ ⛅ 41 °F

      Back on the ship, we had some time to while away before we got to our next anchorage.

      After watching Ultramarine skirt the grounded bergs to continue north in Navy Board Inlet, we grabbed some lunch and then settled down in the cabin to watch the live-stream of Laurie’s previously postponed presentation … the “Polar Bridge.” We listened and watched in amazement as he related the story of the 91-day long joint Soviet-Canadian expedition in which he participated in 1988. The goal of the expedition? To ski across the frozen Arctic Ocean from Siberia to Ellesmere, Canada … via the North Pole. Oh WOW!

      (More on the expedition at this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet–Canadian_1…)

      We were whiling away the time after the presentation, when a call went out over the P/A. Not for the expected zodiac cruise, but for ORCAS! WOW! WOW! WOW!

      Orcas have only recently been showing up in these latitudes due to the warming of the Arctic waters. They come up to hunt narwhals and belugas. Their presence, of course, is tipping the balance of nature up here since they are not a native predator of the region. Sam, our resident marine biologist, identified them as North Atlantic Orcas and estimated that there were somewhere around 40 individuals in the transient pod that was arrayed all around us. They were heading in the same direction that we were, so we got to enjoy their presence for quite a while.

      WOW again. What an encounter!
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    • Day 14

      Colorful Formations in Admiralty Inlet

      August 11, 2022 ⋅ ⛅ 48 °F

      We woke up to another overcast day … with on and off drizzle. Not unlike yesterday. But with a few differences in the conditions. The wind was much stronger. And even protected by the cliffs rising 1,000 to 1,500 feet on either side of Admiralty Inlet, the sea was considerably choppier.

      Landscape-wise, the area was very different … but in a good way. Colorful formations — red and orange dominant — added cheer to the scenery.

      The plan was to continue deep into the inlet to find calmer waters for zodiac operations. So, we bided our time, enjoying the scenery first from our veranda, and then by bundling up to go to the port side to check out the views there.
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    • Day 15

      Croker Bay: Our Highest Latitude

      August 12, 2022 ⋅ 🌧 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.
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    • Day 15

      Beechey in Presentation Only

      August 12, 2022 ⋅ ☁️ 41 °F

      WOW! We certainly rock n’ rolled last night.

      In his wake-up announcement at 7:15a, Christian, our Expedition Leader, said that the waves overnight were in the 15 to 20 feet range … with winds topping out at about 70 knots. He went on to say that the swells were not too bad this morning … the wind, however, was still a-blowing … at sustained speeds of 40-47 knots.

      Christian’s next words came as no surprise. There would be no off-ship operations this morning. No kidding! Nor would we be going to Beechey Island as planned. I had figured this out for myself. After all, when I checked the ship tracker on the TV earlier, it was showing Ultramarine on the east end of Devon Island … nowhere near Beechey on the west side. C’est La Vie.

      The plan now was to ride out the storm until the wind dropped to levels that would allow the captain to turn the ship around so that we could seek shelter in an inlet.

      What to do in the meantime? Going out on deck 5 to walk around the ship wasn’t an option. Not much of a scenery outside to entertain us either. A good time to write and download photos between listening to a fascinating lecture? Sounded good to me.

      I haven’t been writing much about the various lectures we’ve been attending on the ship. I’m going to make an exception in this case as the topic was directly related to what we’d had planned for today.

      The presentation by Ken, our expedition historian, was entitled “Frozen in Ice.” He was to have given this lecture after our proposed landing at Beechey Island … after we’d seen for ourselves the graves of three of the men from the Franklin Expedition. Instead, he brought history to life in words and images.

      The presentation, which came with the warning that there would be images of the dead, was based on a book in which the author, Owen Beattie, writes about how he and his team exhumed the bodies in an effort to determine the cause of death for the men … men who died well before the expedition met trouble … men whose remarkably well-preserved bodies allowed for scientific study after their families gave permission.

      I’d read the book, “Frozen In Time.” Ken’s presentation solidified what I remembered was Beattie’s conclusion. These three men had died from pneumonia and tuberculosis, which was common back in the mid-1800s. But there was also high levels of lead in the three bodies … lead that was suspected to have come from the tinned food with which the expedition was partially provisioned.

      Yes, these men died in the quest of Arctic exploration. Yes, that is tragic. But at least they did not have to endure the long-term sufferings of their shipmates … who eventually met their demise as well. The bones of those shipmates have been scattered across the Arctic tundra. These three men were carefully buried when they died. In fact, many books refer to them as “the lucky ones.”
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    • Day 14

      Modern-Day Polar Explorers

      August 11, 2022 ⋅ 🌧 43 °F

      Most of the post-dinner activities on the ship have been bar talks and the like where an expedition team member regales passengers with stories. We’ve not been attending them. For two reasons. One, we use the time to rest up for the next day. Two, gathering in large groups in an enclosed space for a couple of hours when COVID-19 can still rear its ugly head is not something we want to risk.

      (You might say that we gather in large groups for the lectures, so what’s the difference? There is no eating and drinking in the Ambassadors Theater most of the time, so people are more prone to keeping their masks on then.)

      Tonight, however, there were special guests onboard and they were going to give a presentation. So, we headed to the Ambassadors Lounge to be regaled by their story.

      Our guests: Borge Ousland and Vincent Colliard, a pair of modern-day polar explorers.

      The Topic at Hand: Borge’s winter crossing in the Arctic … entirely in the dark.

      Borge is the first person to solo to the North Pole … and he also did a solo crossing of Antarctica via the South Pole. He and Vincent are in the midst of their latest quest … to ski across the 20 largest glaciers around the world as part of an expedition called the Ice Legacy Project.

      In their words … “Glaciers are in fast decline due to rising temperatures, causing threat of long-term sea level rise. They are crucial as a fresh water source for millions of people worldwide. This is why glaciers need to be better known and protected. The world needs to find technical and political solutions to the environmental crisis. This long-term expedition is meant to be an incubator to that process, a visual example and a window to what is happening.” ~~ from the http://www.icelegacy.com/ website.

      Christian had convinced Borge and Vincent to join us at our first scheduled stop in South Baffin Island. Well, we all know how that turned out. Instead, we picked them up in Arctic Bay this afternoon and will drop them off in Dundas Harbor on Devon Island tomorrow. From there … well their plan is to ski across the Devon Ice Cap. We wish them good luck!
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    • Day 14

      Into the Storm!

      August 11, 2022 ⋅ 🌧 43 °F

      Once we left Arctic Bay and headed out of the calm-ish waters of Adams Sound for the Admiralty Inlet, it didn’t take long for us to encounter rough seas and high winds! The waves looked like they were at least 13 feet high. The winds … well, who knows … but going outside wasn’t the smartest thing to do.

      Ultramarine is handling the waters well. And since we’ve experienced worse conditions, we’re doing OK. However, I hope things calm down overnight or tomorrow’s plan for a landing at Beechey Island — an important Franklin Expedition site where three of the men who died early on are buried — is going to go down the drain.
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    • Day 14

      We Make a Mistake

      August 11, 2022 ⋅ ⛅ 54 °F

      When we reached Adams Sound, one of the many waterways that radiates out from the the sides of Admiralty Inlet, the call went out to prepare for a zodiac cruise.

      Mui and I had already checked the conditions outside. The water was still very choppy. The wind was blustery. And there was nothing to see outside … except for the views we’d already enjoyed as Ultramarine transited Admiralty Inlet to Adams Sound … and which we’d be seeing again when the ship retraced its route back out.

      Doing a zodiac cruise here made no sense whatsoever. We shook our heads, but decided to be good soldiers and participate in the outing anyway. After all, it looked like the sun was trying to break out. Perhaps conditions would improve. And thus the mistake we made. We definitely should have skipped this zodiac cruise.

      With Wayne — the Inuit guide who is one of the members of the expedition team — at the helm, off we went on a bone-jarringly rough ride in choppy waters, getting splashed repeatedly. The wind was blowing so strong that we had to squint to see anything. Needless to say, our cameras remained in the dry bag and we used our hands to hang onto the rope on the pontoon to keep our balance.

      Wayne tried to give us as smooth a ride as possible, but his efforts were to no avail. When he suggested we cut our ride short, we all agreed wholeheartedly that it was time to return to the ship.

      It was a cold, wet ride … and one that we deeply regret … especially considering what has come to light since our return to the ship.
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    • Day 13

      Welcome to Navy Board Inlet

      August 10, 2022 ⋅ ⛅ 39 °F

      An L-shaped series of named waterways separate Bylot Island from Baffin Island.

      Yesterday, we entered the area through the bottom arm of the “L” via Pond Inlet and made our way to Eclipse Sound, visiting the Inuit community of Pond Inlet along the way.

      Overnight, we transited Eclipse Sound and entered the upright arm of the “L” to arrive in Navy Board Inlet. We’ll be continuing up to the mouth of this inlet to eventually enter Lancaster Sound to get to Resolute on the 17th … stopping in places where the Franklin Expedition left its footprints in the mid 1800s.

      But first, we’ll be playing around a bit in this area. Before we head off for our hike on Baffin Island, a quick glimpse of the scenery we beheld from the ship at breakfast this morning.
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    • Day 51

      No pumpkins but a lot of pumped kids

      October 31, 2017 ⋅ ☁️ -21 °C

      You know who doesn't care that it's -8F and feels like -31F (-22/-35C)? Kids. Kids on Halloween. And they were RUNNING from house to house. For a place where treats and sweets are priced like gold, the opportunity to get FREE sugar from strangers is their utopia. I mean, kids everywhere love Halloween, but here, with the prices and luxury of candy, Halloween becomes the childrens' Shangri-La (if Shangri-La were not a place, but a day....you know what I'm getting at). AND, the kids are not dumb. They specifically target all the government housing units, i.e. all the government employees such as teachers, scientists, HR, IT, whatever. Anyone non-native and they're on the hit list. LIterally gaggles of children swarm the houses sometimes creating a line both UP the stairs to the door and DOWN the stairs as they flit away. Estimates range from 200-400 kids will visit your house. You are warned to be prepared. I was told by the HR person hiring me and told to bring candy with me in order to be able to afford enough. Yeah, right! I would have had to buy a crate load for all the kids that come out.

      I lasted a whole 27 minutes before I was completely candy dry. Trick or treating is not allowed to start until 6pm sharp. And, boy do they start sharp. Those kids are probably like thoroughbreds at the gates before the start of the race. I bet their parents can't get dinner in their keyed up bellies. Apparently, the hullabaloo ends at 8pm....though I'm not sure who still has candy at 8! I suspect these strict hours were established so that all kids had a fair shot at getting some candy since there are not limitless places such as malls, neighborhoods, community events to go to like there are down south. There is a very very finite number of resources here, and by resources I mean Hershey's, so making sure there's a chance for the kids to have some probably created these timing schemes......that's my professional, all of two months in the Arctic, opinion.

      I noticed a lot of homemade, altered garments for costumes as well as face paint. This makes sense since there is no "Halloween" store popping up on the corner to sell exclusively Halloween stuff and Walmart is a mere two day plane ride and roughly 3 grand away in Ottawa......yeah, not a lot of parents going down for a costume shopping trip. And, when the parents may have the opportunity to actually be south, Halloween costumes aren't out for sale. So, the get-ups here are definitely a more traditional sort. One kid had some great Spiderman face painting and I complimented his makeup. His mom or grandma was with him and she was totally stoked. She said it was her first time doing Spiderman makeup.

      Also the same same, but different is seeing kids roll up on snowmobiles and ATV's. The best is when they are being pulled by snowmobile in a qammitik (traditional Inuit sled). Instead of cars parked along the road, just idling off road vehicles.

      I'll know for next year to order up about 1000 lbs of candy.
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    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Northwest Passage, Northwestern Passages

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