The bigger bits you can see on the Radar. I have just come off watch, my brain is frazzled, probably from the Radar but the concentration you need is intense

N 73 50 W083 17 pressure 1008, water 1.2C, air 0C Lancaster Sound 11.00 UTC 12 Sept

Well, slowly up Prince Regent Sound, we came to our ice as forecast but it had nearly sealed off the strait, if we didn’t get through, then it would be a long slog back to Cambridge Bay to overwinter,

The ice has changed rapidly in the last few days, thickening and closing the route also to Resolute Bay, winter is on its way.

We plodded for an hour up the front of 5/10ths ice, too thick for us to go through but we could see clear waters the other side.

Mrs Irish came on watch, Holy Water in her pocket, and after 15 mins, she saw a possibility of squeezing through to the other side, and that’s exactly what she did, squeezed Northabout through to the other side,

Someone once said to Arnold Palmer after he won another Golfing competition how lucky he was, he said its’s amazing, the harder I practise the luckier I get. Well Mrs Irish had plenty of practise on the entire route of the Laptev sea, so she deserved a bit of luck.

The North West Passage is ours, just another day to go. The midnight toast tonight is Mrs Irish. We would still be going around in circles trying to find a way through if it wasn’t for her

BUT, and there is always a BUT, we are sailing down Lancaster Sound in the pitch dark trying to avoid small lumps of ice the size of a car. The bigger bits you can see on the Radar. I have just come off watch, my brain is frazzled, probably from the Radar but the concentration you need is intense. It’s like driving down the motorway next to a lorry in the rain, you can’t see a thing but hope you get to the other side when the wipers have cleared the screen. Horrible.

What a day, I have gone from thinking of overwintering in Canada with the boat, to now getting to Greenland as planned.

Did I tell you about the storm coming in ? Thats for tomorrows blog!

David