... try and find us

After the success we had sticking to our 2024 plan (ha ha!), we decided to tempt fate and plot out our next year or so.  As always, this is very preliminary, lacks detail and is subject to change: but here goes... November - December 2024 Chinook splashes tomorrow after a four and a half month stint on the hard. We will move back aboard and reacquaint ourselves with her.  We have spent almost as much time aboard Voyager as we have on Chinook so we will be forgiven for thinking someone has moved the pepper shaker ... and everything else! We have a new sail to learn how to use (whoo hoo!) and lots of sorting and list making to keep us busy.  If we have a weather window, we will head to the Channel Islands for a week or so. Wendy and Graeme arrive on 1 December so we will give them a few days to get settled then start looking for a weather window to cross The Channel to England. For the rest of the 2024, we will be bobbing along the coast of England. 2025 Jan - May                UK/Ir

Our trips to Kate's homeland usually involve rushing around to catch up with as many of our friends and relatives as we can.  Luckily, we are getting wiser.  We have ensconced ourselves at Wendy and Graeme's farm and are encouraging everyone to visit us here, instead. Wendy and Graeme's house on the farm We did very well at getting people to visit.  In fact, the whole family showed up.   Oh, did I forget to mention that Wendy and Graeme's son and new daughter-in-law conveniently held a wedding on the farm, too? Congrats, you two crazy kids! Arriving a week early, we were heavily involved in the setup.  This involved the construction of a new bridge on the road up to the house and the installation of a new liner in the pool.  To the non-tropically located readers, a pool may sound like a luxury, but I can assure you that it is essential for a good portion of the year. Kate dusts off her bridge-building experience, inspecting the new abutments and bridge dec

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 left for

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 a return flight from Whitehorse and needed

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 chance to wander around the town.  It is the mos

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 Island because this is where the i

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.  Adriano managed some t