PROGRESS REPORT No. 10 Thursday August 23rd. PB
We got into Cambridge Bay on Thursday last, after a passage of 250 miles from Gjoa Haven.
After anchoring for shelter on the Tuesday night, the rest of that passage was uneventful; motoring in a flat sea, no ice, the barren south shore of Victoria Island beside us for mile after mile; although looking back at our log, I see that we did have a breezy enough time of it coming up south of Jenny Lind Island and were glad enough to alter our course to benefit from its shelter for 10 or 15 miles.
Cambridge Bay is definitely a town, not a village, not a hamlet. It is attitude that makes the difference. Busy, almost brash, people passing each other without much smiling, Cambridge Bay with its 1,500 population, is a government place. 80% of its people work in administration, education, supplies or government contracts. The 20% who hunt and fish do so in a serious way, for food and cash both, all with their Spilsbury Radios for contact and emergency both. Going 'to the land' is a constantly occurring phrase.
We had planned on a one-day stopover. The weather changed that. It blew and blew, from the west and then 40 knots from the northwest. We had to leave the jetty, we were banging too much alongside it, and go to anchor, 3 miles up the west bay, then lay out a second anchor, our brute of a 90 lb. Fisherman with another 60 metres of chain, as the wind blew some more. Getting all this ironmongery up from the bottom was a fair old job, before returning to the jetty.
It was eventually Sunday, before the wind fell to an acceptable 20 knots and we set off into it.
We had met some great people, individuals all, Pat who ran the Power Plant, Andy, an electrical contractor, Wilf, a general contractor. The town is a 'dry' one, but not with these lads at the weekend. The talk was of bear, the community can take 6 each year, bulldozers running ice-roads, a D8 went through 5 foot thick sea-ice last year, much to everyones surprise, particularly the drivers!, hunting ( and over-hunting ),the Beluga, the prospects for the new mine and what it would do for the area. With its 200 mile access road through caribou and musk-ox grounds, not everybody thinks that this is a good idea.
We played some music, in Andys mostly, and were royally treated, being driven around, and being loaned ATV's and jeeps.
The arctic char was running and catches were good. This gorgeous fish is a cross between trout and salmon. Helpings were high.
But the weather was brutal, dark with a wind that would cut you, the halcyon days of Greenland long gone. It didn't snow, but it could have. Houses here have insulation of 10 inches under the floor, 12 inches on the roof . Walls have 6 inches, and above the tree-line, which this definitely is, a further 2 inch cavity. Snow would be staying on the ground in September; it had left only 4 weeks earlier.
But the winters are getting less cold and the 'summers' longer, everyone agreed. Global warming in the arctic is real. It is changing animal migratory patterns, ice thickness, and the length of the hunting seasons.
Terry left. He had hoped to stay with us until Tuktoyuktuk, but a combination of our weather delay and opportunity changed that. The flight down to Edmonton was going to cost about
.$1,700. ( Yes, I kid you not, this is not one of your cheapy destinations-to wire a house down 'south' costs about $3,000, here it is $17,000 !)
Wilf, great doer and fixer, made a call to his travel man in Iqualuit, about two thousand miles away, a Eugene Magee of the North, who came up with a VERY affordable flightout. Terry left 'Donk', his much travelled mascot, to complete the NWP, with instructions to us to be nice to himl
There are several Christian denominations in town, including our own R.C. The Anglican is the only one with a full-time Minister, Cyrus Blankhet. His ministry is a tough enough old station. He does Services, not that greatly attended, and house visits. He would try to be seen as a sort of 'light-house' of Christian behaviour to the people, who don't pay that much attention.
On Sunday, now frustrated with weather and impatient to be off, we left, to shouts of
"May the water be deeper than your keel" and presents of frozen arctic char-and as is often the case, when you get out into it, the sea wasn't bad at all.
Our next destination, 650 miles on, was Tuktoyuktuk, ( or Tuk if you like, or are short of consonants. ) The first two days went grand, through Coronation Gulf, Dolphin and Union Straight, passing all the names from the pages of exploration history. Then in Amundson Gulf we met the ice, more or less where the current ice-charts had predicted. Progress slowed as we banged and shimmied through it. We can now get through about 5/10, depending on the ice type. Ice comes in various forms, old hard hummocked multi-year or softish(ish ) 1 year , small floes easily broken or pushed, or big immovable ones. 5/10 ice would give the impression that there is 50% water showing and 50% ice-and there is-on average. But it's not evenly spread. In the 5/10 or even 4/10 there can be denser bands, and these are the problem. Frank stands on the mast spreaders spotting leads, Kevin and Mike wield our long ice-pole, the off-watch try to sleep ( fat chance with the banging and changing engine-revs ). As I write we have just detoured from the direct route, to go about 60 miles south into Franklin Bay to get round some 6/10 to 9/10 ice. The Coastguard icebreaker 'Henry Larsen' had passed the direct route only about 16 hours earlier and told us on the radio that they met only 1/10 . Ice, like every thing in the Arctic, does not stand still.
Anyway, we're round that now and have a clear run ( we think ) to Tuk, 150 miles on. There we'll take on diesel and water and be on our way through the Beaufort Sea to the north coast of Alaska. The ice-forecast says
"Below normal temperatures are forecast for the Beaufort Sea for the second half of August-Northeasterly to easterly winds are forecast to develop the fourth week of August along the Beaufort Sea from west of Herschel Island to Point Barrow. A narrow open drift route may form for only a few days, but is expected to close shortly afterwards."
That's the one we want!
Some
wil
dlife observations -
Michael BroganHe
is well recognised among the
natives as an expert hunter
and would often travel 1000
miles with a dog sled team
in winter to hunt different
areas. Now in his 50s pat
still loves to hunt but only
to eat, and is very
concerned about the future
viability of wildlife in the
Canadian Arctic due to over
/and commercial hunting esp.
such animals as Narwhal,
Beluga, Polar Bear etc.
Ivory jewellery and
sculpture is still widely
available and Narwhal Tusks
are getting smaller???
Pat
took us on a three-hour
drive to see if we could
spot some wildlife while we
were weathered in at
Cambridge Bay. As we drove
along the dirt track we came
on a herd of 30 or so Musk
oxen [Ovibus
muskatos] with their
long shaggy coats hanging to
the ground. These animals
can weigh up to 450 kg with
enormous low-slung head and
two flat horns sweeping
across the forehead. The
large bulls stood their
ground as John Murray, our
filmmaker went to work. The
cows with their calves kept
a safe distance from us
[they are hunted for their
meat]. Pat advised us to run
in circles if they charged,
as they can't turn well at
speed. Luckily his theory
wasn't put to the test, as
they seemed more interested
in their cows and stomachs
than us. As we drove on we
spotted a movement beside
the pickup. It was a Short
Eared Owl [Asio flammeus]
beautifully camouflaged
against the background of
stone and lichen. Almost
immediately a family of
Snowy Owls [Nyceta
scandiaca] appeared in front
of us, flying ahead
but allowing us close
enough to get hopefully a
good photograph. One of the
young landed in the water
using its wings to swim
ashore.
Another
movement behind a stone; an
Arctic Fox [Alopex Lagopus]
popping its head its head up
occasionally, but again
wonderfully camouflaged grey
as it was changing to its
winter white. He is smaller
than our fox with short legs
and ears and a blunt face
and nose to lessen the risk
of frostbite. He peaked his
grey white tail and
disappeared off into his
tundra.
We
also saw Arctic Hare, Loons
Willow Ptarmigan
[Ornithorinchus anatinus!],
Eider and Other Ducks, Marsh
Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon,
and Snow and Canada Geese
preparing for winter
migration south [some no
doubt to Ireland.] Many
other birds we have yet to
identify with the help of a
book loaned by Gordon Darcy.
There were Wolves and Grisly
bear that didn't show on the
day.All in three hours; long
last the wilderness. M
Brogan.
