N70 26 W129 43 pressure 1003 water 6.6C air 4C 5th Sept UTC 0400 21.00 4th Sept local time
Well up early at 6 in TUK this morning. Wind had died down, and we were ready to go by 8 am. Tuk was grey and damp. We slowly made our way back along our inward track. Lots of shallows in there.
Tuk was a great tonic, and the place and people had been kind to us. What a great feeling to have a clean body and clean clothes. My under wear was getting whiffy. I use Norwegian wool under pants. Rune taught me, you wear them one way for 20 days, then turn them inside out for another 20. Problem was I was up to day 45 !!!
So up this Tuktoyaktuk shelf, where you can normally see bowhead whales, we just saw lots of timber from the Mackenzie Delta. You had to react pretty quickly to avoid some pretty big logs. We had the wind with us , so making nice progress. Lovely to see the West Longitude getting smaller. The Auto pilot is working like a dream, and I think I will toast Steve again tonight, best bit of maintenance in 5000 miles.
It’s very exciting to see history rolling out in front of us. Names you read in books and charts. Every Cape, Bay and Headland named after someone significant. The early explorers must have struggled to come up with so many original names on probably a daily basis. This was all new territory. As we head East along this fabled North West Passage, will it be kind to us? Will we beat the freeze ? Those old sailers would have appreciated not having a shower in 45 days. Like me, they just probably had a flannel wash.
Sir John Franklin was known for eating his boots, well Constance did a dinner tonight that would have broken his heart. A great Italian feast of pasta with sausage.
David