August 22, 2019 Mo with Alioth in tow rounded the corner into Cambridge Bay at 11pm last night. Alioth came to anchor over a forty foot shelf in the bay’s West Arm, and Mo took a berth a few hundred feet further on. Another consort to Alioth, Mandragore, also took shelter nearby. Shelter. Because, Read More
August 21, 2019 This log is out of order because I can’t keep up given current happenings. So, a short update now and a more thorough report in coming days. Mo and I are still closing The Crux of the Matter chapter by an entry into Cambridge Bay. Here awaiting us are a few, Read More
Aug 16th4:30amUnderway from Graham Harbor All day the sea birds are flying the other way. They are headed out of the ice maze, out into Lancaster, back into Baffin and south. Winter migration has begun. All the while, Mo pushes further into the heart of it. Last evening’s ice charts show improved conditions. Above, Read More
August 19, 20191845 local70 32S 97 27WLarsen SoundThe Arctic Just a quick note to report that Mo is through the ice and sailing fast on a N wind for Cambridge Bay, 235 miles SW. I have been pushing to get to Alioth’s position for two days. She has a busted gear box and can’t, Read More
Hello fabulous followers of the Figure 8 Voyage. If you’ve been following the voyage you’ll know that Mo and Randall are currently navigating a pretty tricky portion of the North West Passage. Like you, we’re all holding our breath here a little. Randall won’t be posting today as we want him watching for bergs, Read More
August 16, 2019 Days at Sea: 262Days Since Departure: 320 Noon Position: 74 20N 90 54W Course(t)/Speed(kts): WxS 6.5Wind(t/tws): –Sea(t/ft): –Sky/10ths Cover: Clear 0 Bar(mb): 1015, steadyOn-deck Temp(f): 57Cabin Temp(f): 68Water Temp(f): 35 (note water temp is steadily dropping.)Relative Humidity(%): 36Magnetic Variation: -25./3 Sail: Under power with double reefed main as steadying sail Noon-to-Noon Miles Made, Read More
August 15, 2019 Days at Sea: 261Days Since Departure: 319 Noon Position: 74 27N 85 02WCourse(t)/Speed(kts): W 6.5Wind(t/tws): 0Sea(t/ft): 0Sky/10ths Cover: Clear/0 Bar(mb): 1014, steadyOn-deck Temp(f): 60Cabin Temp(f): 63Water Temp(f): 38Relative Humidity(%): 43Magnetic Variation: -34.4 Sail: Motoring under double reefed main Noon-to-Noon Miles Made Good (nm): 42 since departing DundasMiles since departure: 33,850 Anchor down, Read More
Aug 14, 2014Tay Bay “Travel in the Arctic takes great patience and great determination,” said Tony Gooch in a recent note. Presuming those two qualities are applied at different moments of a journey, then it’s patience I need now. I itch to be moving. There are still so many miles. But Lancaster Sound blows, Read More
Yes -it’s the same one. But this time with photos. Aug 11, 2019From Tay BayBylot Island73 29 6N 80 45 5W Departed Hatt Trick Harbor at 9am after a few more surveys of depths in the arms. I wanted to explore the mountains, the back country, to sit on the bluff and watch the, Read More
August 10, 2019 Yes -it’s the same one. But this time with photos. Soon after departing Pond Inlet, Alioth and Mo become separated. Alioth is a sleek vessel with a lifting keel and a waterline length greater than Mo’s overall, which is to say she’s a knot faster without trying. And too, our agendas, Read More
Aug 11, 2019From Tay BayBylot Island73 29 6N 80 45 5W Departed Hatt Trick Harbor at 9am after a few more surveys of depths in the arms. I wanted to explore the mountains, the back country, to sit on the bluff and watch the snowy peaks on Bylot change colors as the sun circled., Read More
August 10, 2019 Soon after departing Pond Inlet, Alioth and Mo become separated. Alioth is a sleek vessel with a lifting keel and a waterline length greater than Mo’s overall, which is to say she’s a knot faster without trying. And too, our agendas differ. Vincent wishes to sight the Narwals said to frequent, Read More
August 9, 2019 Days at Sea: 257Days Since Departure: 313 Noon Position: 72 46N 77 26WCourse(t)/Speed(kts): W 6.6Wind(t/tws): S 7Sea(t/ft): —Sky/10ths Cover: Fog and clear sky 4 Bar(mb): 1022On-deck Temp(f): 58Cabin Temp(f): 64Water Temp(f): 45Relative Humidity(%): 53Magnetic Variation: -35.1 Sail: Under power. Noon-to-Noon Miles Made Good (nm): 155Miles since departure: 33,633 Miles to Pond Inlet:, Read More
August 8, 2019 Days at Sea: 256Days Since Departure: 312 Noon Position: 72 38N 68 48W Course(t)/Speed(kts): W 6Wind(t/tws): SW 3Sea(t/ft): –Sky/10ths Cover: Overcast/10. Fog to <1/2 mile viz all afternoon Bar(mb): 1024, steadyOn-deck Temp(f): 53Cabin Temp(f): 68Water Temp(f): 45Relative Humidity(%): 41Magnetic Variation: -37.6 Sail: Under power. Noon-to-Noon Miles Made Good (nm): 141Miles since departure: 33,478, Read More
August 7, 2019 Days at Sea: 255Days Since Departure: 311 Noon Position: 72 18N 61 03WCourse(t)/Speed(kts): W 6Wind(t/tws): NW 5Sea(t/ft): NW 1Sky/10ths Cover: Fog, viz 3m. Last 12 hours: Fog, viz 200ft Bar(mb): 1021, steadyOn-deck Temp(f): 55Cabin Temp(f): 68Water Temp(f): 46Relative Humidity(%): 45Magnetic Variation: -31.6 Sail: Under Power. Main one reef. Noon-to-Noon Miles Made Good, Read More
August 5, 2019Anchored Sondre Upernavik72 09N 55 31W Past the Vaigat, the concentration of icebergs thinned. Most were hidden behind a merciless fog, but the radar warned of a steady five to ten within its range. What it could not see were the growlers that swung off from behind the larger bergs like comet, Read More
August 4, 2019 Days at Sea Since Departure: 253 Days Since Departure: 308 Noon Position: 70 11N 55 19W Course(t)/Speed(kts): NNW 6.5 Wind(t/tws): 0/0 Sea(t/ft): 0 Sky/10ths Cover: Fog, Viz varies from two boat lengths to two miles Bar(mb): 1023+ On-deck Temp(f): 52 Cabin Temp(f): 68 Water Temp(f): 44 (In the berg field described, Read More
August 3, 2019 Departed Fortune Bay at 1200 today. Aiming for Upernavik. Heavy fog right down to the water. Wind N at 5 knots. Temperature 50 degrees. Bergs are visible at less than half a mile, and from what I can tell, they are the size of city blocks. We pass four or more, Read More
August 1, 2019 Fortune Bay, Disko Island 69 15N 53 45W One cannot have too many books aboard. By way of a proof: this morning I would like to know why my anchorage on S Disko Island is named Fortune Bay. I can guess it is something to do with whaling, but not a, Read More
July 31, 2019 Departed Sisimiut at 1900 hours and motored due north overnight for Disko Bay. Another uneventful passage of 140 miles, remarkable only for utter calm and a sea so smooth that boat motion was imperceptible. Disko Island came into view in the late afternoon of the next day, as did the progeny, Read More
July 30, 2019 The leak came from between the engine and the transmission and was black as coal. At its height, there were but five seconds between drips of this indispensable fluid, and upon arrival in Sisimiut, I found that we’d drained ten percent of the engine’s lube oil into the bilge in twenty, Read More
July 30, 2019 It’s Mo’s third morning in Sisimiut, and I still haven’t made it much past the Seaman’s Home and the chandlery near the harbor. Luckily, Greenland is such a place that everywhere one turns is an exotic scene. Here are a few such to keep things going while I work to stop, Read More
July 27, 2019 Mo and I departed Nuuk in the late afternoon for the short climb to Sisimiut, Greenland’s second largest city, population 5,500. The leg was uneventful, a mix of fast sailing and fast motoring on a fast north-setting current, except in two ways. One, at 1800 hours on July 26, 2019, day, Read More