Prince Regent Inlet - 73° 06' 43" N 90° 32' 29" W
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| Our route (the PURPLE line) took us through 2/10 ice |
In a convoy of Garcias, we departed Burnett Inlet to head south through Prince Regent Inlet to Fort Ross. It was freezing. It is as cold as it has been as evidenced by the snow high up in the plateaus surrounding the channel out. As we made our way out of the inlet, the snow was heavier and lower. The ice charts showed some ice blocking the way but we were hopeful we could push through the narrow band to the open water beyond.
The ride back across Lancaster Sound was a crazy one. The wind was up and down and round and round. We sailed, motored, sailed, motored, sailed, motored then sailed again! You get the idea. The Polish (non-Garcia) yacht, Inatiz, lead the charge followed by Hauru, Voyager and Night Owl.
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| Looking for a way through the ice band |
The advantage of having boats in front became evident when they reached the ice. Hauru radioed back that they had found a gap through and we were able to follow their track. Well, sort of. They were several hours in front of us so while we could generally follow them, the ice moves, so the gaps open and close. We found our own gap and made it through. This was our first real ice experience. We dropped the sails and motored!! Suddenly, the seas were calm and the wind slight as we wiggled our way through the band of ice following leads through to the open water on the far side. Well, that was fun!
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| Slipping through the lead in the ice |
Big icebergs were spotted around and we passed through another couple of lightly-iced bands. The ice gradually started getting more frequent, then more dense and before long we found ourselves in a sea of ice! We wiggled through until we needed to use ice poles to push the ice to create a gap. We could see open water about 100m away but no clear path through.
Using poles and a few nudges from the boat, we managed to break through and we were at last in open water. And thanks to our trusty GoPro, we have it all on video!
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| Helming through the ice |
This is not solid ice, it is lots of pieces in varying sizes that are pushed together by the wind and tide to form a barrier. This ice is about a 2/10 meaning 20% of the surface area is ice and the rest is open water. But it is not all neatly laid out as 2/10! The wind and tide piles up the ice in patches so at times there is a wide open lead and at others, quite the barrier that needs to be forced through.
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| Hauru working their way through the ice |
We then had an ice-free run down to Depot Bay. We found Lumina bobbing prettily in the anchorage as our convoy filed in!
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