Bellot Strait: Attempt 1 - 71° 59' 58" N 94° 36' 55" W

The route we have chosen, or the one the ice has chosen for us, includes passing through Bellot Strait.  Bellot is a narrow strait that rounds the northernmost point of the Americas mainland!   It is notorious for ice and there was a most unfortunate incident in 2018 when a sailing vessel transiting the strait was crushed by ice and sank. Lordy!!

Our route through Bellot Strait

We have been sitting at the east end of Bellot Strait since Friday waiting for the ideal conditions.  A few of the boats have made it safely through and are anchored off Prince of Wales Island waiting for the ice to clear in the Franklin and Victoria Straits.  Due to a narrow stretch between shallow water and a rock at the start of the Strait, the advice is to approach at slack water to avoid the eddies that can through both the boat and the ice around. This is where the sailing vessel was caught in the ice and was sunk so we followed this advice to the letter!

Myhann in Levesque Harbour

We left the anchorage, timed to reach the narrow section on the correct tide. We were with a second boat Myhann, a French-flagged 35 year old Garcia. They were about 100m behind us when we hit a band of ice. Finding a gap, we headed for it and just as we were passing through, the gap closed but Voyager barged her way through safely to the other side. We had calm, windless seas with blue skies. There was a lot if ice but most was pushed up against the southern shore and we could find plenty of leads to work our way through. Looking back, we could see that Myhann was still struggling to get through the ice band.

Ice in Bellot Strait

A radio call confirmed they were stuck so we hovered around to ensure they made it through safely. Over the next 30 minutes, the radio calls became more and more strained and urgent. The band they were caught in had increased in size significantly from a narrow band of several metres to about 60m wide. And there was Myhann, sitting up on the ice at a slightly skewed angle. It was terrifying to watch, particularly as it happened so quickly. We remained on stand-by until we got the call - ‘please, we need help’. Yikes!

Just getting back to them proved a challenge. We wanted to approach from the seaward side to prevent both boats getting caught but the ice had filled in in that short time and we had to run close to the shore and against the current to find a clear lead. Fortunately, it was deep. We also had the other problem of what to do when we got back to them. Getting a line to them would involve someone walking over the ice as there was too much ice to approach by dinghy. If they had to abandon ship, just what happens? Them deploying their life raft would have resulted in it sitting on the ice. These were the questions we were asking ourselves as we wove back through the ice.

As we were working our way around the finger of ice that had them trapped, it looked like they were moving. With the currents and eddies swirling around, it was hard to tell. Were they? Yes? Maybe? The ice had moved around on the eddies and opened up a clear lead for them to motor out towards us!

Looks like they found a way out!

Both crews let out a huge cheer of relief. They followed us through the ice to the anchorage and came aboard bearing gifts of wine and dinner (one of their party is a chef) to debrief. The thing everybody agreed on was just how fast it happened. This included the professional watch-captain who has worked on a passenger sailing vessel in Svalbard.

Working our way back to the anchorage and we spotted bears on the ice. So exciting!

Everyone and both boats are safe but now we find ourselves on the ‘wrong’ side of Bellot Strait moving from anchorage to anchorage as the ice moves in and out on the tide. It is both tedious and tiring. We are just happy both boats are safe.  Having us close at hand in this remote, cold and barren corner of the world made all the difference to Myhann and if it had been us, we would be forever grateful for that moral support.

And check out Marisa and Adriano's video @our_tern on Instagram:

Chapter 97 - Two steps forward, two steps back