On leaving Willis Bay, we hugged the coast to keep out of the worst of the ice. There was scattered bergy bits and growlers but nothing significant as long as we stuck to the coast and ducked inside the islands.
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| Our planned route to Cambridge Bay |
And that literally means hugging the coast! We were only about 100m off shore. Fortunately, it was deep. We saw polar bears, seals and most excitingly, the East-bound fleet! We passed three of the five boats that has come from Alaska. Not only is it fun to see fellow sailors but if they had come from where we are going, it means we can get through!
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| East-bound DogBark! And note us hugging the coast... |
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| Sean monitoring the fleet as we edge along the coast |
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| Kate helming through the mist and the ice |
Having negotiated the ice just to the south of Willis Bay, we had a clear run down through Larsen Sound until we hit the ice in Victoria Strait. The more usual route is to head down the east coast of King William Island because this is where the ice usually clears first. Victoria Strait is usually icebound until a little later in the season. This year, however, Victoria Strait opened first.
With the ice charts showing 2/10 ice and the reports from the east-bound boats saying there was ice but it could be negotiated, we decided the best strategy was to stick close behind Sky Dancer. As a bigger, heavier boat, she was able to barge her way through thicker ice than us. Also, being from Svalbard, both the boat and crew were far more experienced in ice!
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| Sticking close to Sky Dancer |
Keeping close to
Sky Dancer meant we were motoring along at 8kn. And this did not change once we hit the ice. All we had to do was follow but it did feel like driving a rally car as we weaved our way in and out. It was great fun and something we certainly would not have done had by ourselves! Our approach would have been much slower and much, much more cautious!
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| Weaving through the ice at 8kn on the tail of Sky Dancer! |
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| Lots of ice but plenty of open leads |
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| Some of the last of the ice we encountered! |
And once through the ice, Sky Dancer went on their merry way and we continued at our own pace. The skies cleared, the wind died and we motored along in calm, ice-free conditions through Icebreaker Channel and into Cambridge Bay.
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| Beautiful but calm conditions |
As we came down the channel into Cambridge Bay, we could see a forest of masts -
Hauru, Sky Dancer, Thor, Initiz, Lumina and
Abel Tasman. And on the AIS, we could see
Night Owl getting the jump on us all starting their journey towards Tuktoyatuk.
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| The channel into Cambridge Bay |
We are now in Cambridge Bay safely rafted up to
Hauru, who is rafted to
Inatiz, who is rafted to a local trawler/exploration vessel! We will be snug here while we rest, then refuel and get ready for the next passage.
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| Tim (Lumina), Gerd (Thor) and Jason (a local), chilling now that everyone is safely tied up. |
Sooo exciting. Love following.
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