1600 Sun 31st July, 2016 South Kara Sea, N 76 16 E096 56 Anchored in our blue lagoon
Last night was the best nights watch for me. I have the late watch, so seeing the first sights of land in the distance, through drizzle. You could just see markers of the Northern Sea Route. From photographs, these were huge man made wooden structures, like light houses. If you could pick them out from our distance, they must have been huge.
Very exciting, to see a far off land ,was very comforting. This area is rich in Polar history, when the Russians had many Polar stations and bases on this entire route. Now all but gone with the idealism of the day. Ironically, with the reduction of Sea Ice, this could be the new transport frontier to the far east from Europe. Nothing new here, but we could see millions of tons a year transported on this very route, and the last few years has seen a massive increase in use.Probably in another month you would see big freighters. Now nothing.
Once we get good conditions we will be heading through the Vilkitsky Straight, the straight between Cape Chelyuskin and Bolshevik Island to the North. Great names. Apparently Vilkitsky was the man that discovered these Islands, the last Archipelago found in Russia. Bolshevik, well I can only assume Lenin was the inspiration for this name.
We are now at Anchor as planned. A great sheltered place to gather our thoughts, do maintenance and wait for the right Ice conditions. My good friend Borge Ousland who was the inspiration of this trip left Murmansk on the 1st Aug. Finally reaching this point around the 16th August. He did invite me on his trip, but I never thought he would be successful. I saw him in Murmansk before he left and I had always regretted not joining him.
However, having now sailed across the Barents Sea and the Kara sea in a much larger boat than their small Catamaran, I have even more respect for their journey.
So,on Borges timetable, even though he was frustratingly delayed, we are now 16 days ahead at this position, BUT will we be waiting 16 days for the Ice to clear ?We will all be praying in our own way, I will be certainly consulting my lucky beads tonight.
So my Russian Comrades have been teaching me their customs. After my watch, like naughty little school boys, we traditionally have a ‘splash, tipple, nip,slug ‘ of Whisky with a little sausage or Herring.
However, this morning once we had anchored, at our first anchorage and everyone settled, then the Luxuries came out. MAMONT VODKA. Supplied by my good friend Frederik Paulsen. I still can’t slug a shot in one go, but slowly sip it, to their huge amusement.
I have to say, it’s a custom that I am now relishing, and clock watch, until the end of my watch, but at 8am in the morning this a very dangerous precedent !!!
Na Starovya, Slainte, Cheers, Skol, bottoms up! Ok, explain that to a Russian!!
David
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Little old news.It is 138 years ago since Nordenskiöld and his ship Vega travelled the same waters .Hopfully you make it through in one summer.
Good luck to you all.
Thankyou. Yes we follow in the footsteps of others, which not doubt had a harder time that we are/ we will.
Firstly, wonderful, truly wonderful photo.
Secondly, if you would, from what era are the wooden route markers? You say ‘nothing new here’. I would love any further history of the polar route. The ‘West’ passage has opened in the past (eg Amundsen 1903-1908) but few speak of the equally important ‘East’ route. I’ve read of N.N. Zubov who detailed unprecedented warming of the Arctic in the 1930’s. I believe he was the first (in recorded history) to circumnavigate Franz Joseph Land, again in the 1930’s before the ice returned, peaking in the late 1970’s.
Lovely hearing about the sharing of customs. We helped a French couple last summer who were stuck in a motor home in boggy ground. I knew the area and so told him to reverse and take a run at the lower long grassed area. He ploughed through (literally) and was so happy with escaping the field that he came out of the camper with a bottle of elder wine and some glasses. It was a lovely fragrant and fruity wine, still with flowers in the mix. We had a small sample and prepared to depart, but no, once opened, the bottle had to finished! So as fast as you could drink, it was lovingly replenished. I love the French! But how he managed to drive after? How do they stay alive?
Best regards to all. Bet you can’t wait to venture forth?
Hello Geoff, funny! with the French couple. Without much worthwhile connection to browsing the internet we don’t have access to research such historical things, only what we already know and learn from each other and read in Benjis school books! So any further in depth knowledge/ research at this stage of our expedition would need to come from the ‘outside world’ from people like yourself… !