... try and find us

There are terrible reasons for wonderful events. This is one of them. After being picked up Lorne in Tuk and enjoying a high-speed and surprisingly non-bumpy drive down the Dempster Highway, we overnighted in Dawson City and the next day continued down the sealed road to Whitehorse. Lorne had a plane to catch, so he deposited us in front of our hotel, we said our ‘goodbyes’ and he left us to make our own way back to Calgary. Then the email came. My brother, Jeff, let me know that Uncle Mark, one of the reasons we were inspired to transit the NorthWest Passage, had passed away last night. Generally in good health, he had been managing some heart issues and had woken up the previous night with chest pains. An ambulance ride to the local hospital took place with him joking with the Medical Technicians on the way.   A helicopter transfer to the regional hospital was next, then the rest of the day in Intensive Care with a brain bleed. By 3 am the next morning, he quietly...

Tuktoyaktuk Hang on.  Whoops, that's not the right photo:  This is the one... Tuktoyaktuk ... again. Who would have thought that we would be in Tuktoyaktuk with one year and one day between visits. It was this time last year that we were on the epic family trip up the Dempster.  This year, we sailed from St John's.  I wonder just how many people have visited Tuktoyaktuk by both road and sea?

Polar Bound - skippered by the legendary  David Cowper From the protection of Summer Bay, we watched the storm clouds pass over and around us and listened to the wind whistle through the rigging.  All the boats in our convoy had pulled into shelter.  Thor, Hauru and Night Owl in Summer Bay, Lumina in Letty Harbour on the east side of the Parry Peninsula and Sky Dancer and Myhann at Pearce Point to the east. We were also joined by Polar Bound and a tug boat with two huge work barges.  The break gave us the opportunity to rest and do some forward planning. Wind and rain - but the blue sky started to peep through! Due to time constraints and concern for the weather slowing progress, we planned to disembark from  Voyager at Tuktoyaktuk.  Our friend Lorne was driving up from Whitehorse to meet us.  He had flown up from San Francisco just to make this journey.  Lorne, you are a legend!  One small complication was he needed to catch...

Forest of masts in Cambridge Bay or  Iqaluktuuttiaq     We rafted up to Hauru and the weather was glorious for our reunion with other west-bound boats.  Unable to get fuel until the next morning, we were all able to relax and enjoy the sunshine. Our plans to dine out, however, were thwarted by it being a Sunday and everything was closed!  Sean contacted the hotel and the lovely April offered to make pizzas for us and deliver them to the boat.  She wins the hospitality award for the trip!  We enjoyed our pizzas aboard Lumina then headed back to Voyager . As we stepped across Hauru , we were invited in for a drink... or two... or three! As close to a muskox as we will get on this trip A touch of Constable red - Mum will be pleased! This is a stunning art installation.  It was created by a youth group under the guidance of an artist using scraps they found at the tip.  While we were waiting for the fuel truck, we had a chan...

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. 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! East-bound DogBark! And note us hugging the coast... Sean monitoring the fleet as we edge along the coast 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 ...

We woke to a glorious but cold morning. It had snowed overnight and the hills around the bay were frosted white.  And to our excitement, there was a herd of muskoxen grazing on one of them! The last major critter on our list now had been sighted.  Okay, even through the binoculars, they were tiny, moving black dots but they were not 'muskrocks' which we had seen many, many of!  Snowy hills with muskoxen - you are going to have to trust us on this one! Snow dusting the deck Snowy lines The sunshine suited our moods.  We were through the notorious Bellot Strait and now had only Larsen Sound and Victoria Strait to contend with and we would be through the ice.  And we had the day to rest, laze around, write emails, edit video and generally pat ourselves on the back. Making life easy for The Garcia Marketing Team! Adding to the excitement, we could see belugas swimming along the shore.  Their white bodies make them remarkably easy to spot, even at a distance....

The ice-filled Levesque Harbour On the change of tide, ice started to fill the harbour so we up-anchored, escaped the ice and drifted for a bit while we considered our options.  We decided to head back to Depot Bay and assess the ice situation there.  As we dodged through the ice on the 5nm jump, Thor contacted us to say they were nearly at Depot Bay along with  Sky Dancer  and  Nashichata.   So once again, we were five boats anchored in a remote corner of the globe! Rugged up and ready! The call went out and we are off! The ice is clearing and, despite the wind and the rainy forecast, it is the ice that rules. We headed out in a convoy -  Sky Dancer, Thor, Voyager  and  Nashichata  - charging along to make Magpie Rock on slack tide.   The ice we had experienced coming from Levesque Harbour was gone.   There were a few growlers and small lumps of ice but nothing of the wide band from 12 hours before.   It was cold an...

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 Leves...