Northwest Passage Diary: We needed Mother Nature to help. She hasn’t
The Arctic rowing trip has run into heavy weather
PAUL - STOP YOUR BS DISINFORMATION REGARDING THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE - YOUR PLAN WAS TO ROW BETWEEN THE HAMLETS OF INUVIK AND POND INLET - YOU WILL BE LUCKY TO MAKE IT HALF WAY TO CAMBRIDGE BAY. YOU DID NOT START FROM THE PACIFIC OCEAN ARCTIC CIRCLE AT THE BERING STRAIT AND YOU DID NOT MAKE IT TO THE ATLANTIC OCEAN ARCTIC CIRCLE IN DAVIS STRAIT. ATLANTIC TO PACIFIC IS AT A MINIMUM 5,400 KMS DEPENDING ON WHICH OF THE SEVEN NORTHWEST PASSAGE ROUTE IS NAVIGATED. SHAME ON YOU, KEVEN AND MAINSTREAM FOR MISREPRESENTING THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE AND DISRESPECTING ALL OF THE EXPLORERS AND CREWS WHO HAVE GONE BEFORE YOU AND SUCCEEDED. HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE HAVE GIVEN THEIR LIVES TO MAKE THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE A DISCOVERY.
Our original intention was to row around the clock, seven days a week, to keep the boat constantly moving. Our team of four would row in pairs, 12 hours each per day. I did this when I rowed across the Atlantic a few years ago with Tori Holmes and it worked well.
However on this trip, the weather has interfered. Our boat, The Arctic Joule, weighs about 2,300lb fully loaded, so it is virtually impossible to make progress into any sort of stiff wind or swell.
ONCE AGAIN PAUL YOU ARE FULL OF RHETORIC NONSENSE. DIDN'T YOU RESEARCH THE ARCTIC WEATHER CONDITIONS? DIDN'T YOU HELP DESIGN THE JOULETITANTIC? WERE YOU NOT PART OF THE VALUED CREW? STEP UP MAN AND TAKE SOME RESPONSIBILITY - WE KNOW KEVIN WILL DUCK AND COVER - THE CREW TOTALLY MISSED THE MARKS OF DUE PREPARATIONS AND THE OPERATIONAL EXECUTION. DON'T BLAME MOTHER NATURE - HOW ABOUT YOURSELF? MOTHER NATURE WHIPPED FOUR LADS BUTTS. IT'S THAT SIMPLE AND EMBARRASSING!!! THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE WON ANOTHER ONE FAIR AND SQUARE. MATTER OF FACT I THINK MAINSTREAM SHOULD RUN A FULL PAGE NEWSPAPER RELEASE:
ARCTIC EXPEDITION SCORE CARD: ARCTIC 1 vs ARCTICJOULE 0
There is no Global Warming melting Arctic Ice - IT IS ALL A HOAX!
There is no Global Warming melting Arctic Ice - IT IS ALL A HOAX!
56% Increase In Arctic Ice Since Last Year
Last week, we were stuck on anchor for almost two days. On numerous occasions, the wind subsided enough for us to think we could jump back on the oars. But within 15 minutes, it would revert to a strong headwind and we would find ourselves back on anchor.
On a recent morning about 1am, although all three anchors were deployed, the wind – the strongest we have experienced on the trip – began to push us out to sea. Given how hard we had to worked to get here, the last thing we wanted was to be forced backwards.
We decided to wait for a lull in the wind, and then row as hard as we could to shore, about 2km away. I’ve never rowed as hard in my life. Denis and I went flat out for 30 minutes, and I wondered if an oar would snap. Kevin manned the steering wheel and kept us going with words of encouragement.
Adrenaline roaring through our veins, we made land and set about securing the boat. We began to set up the tent, but one tent pole bent and another snapped in half with the force of the wind. We decided to sleep on the boat, but after a few hours Kevin and Frank opted to sleep on the beach and kept a watch on the winch gradually tightening it as the tide came in. There was a real risk of damaging our centreboard, the retractable fin underneath the boat that helps with steering and manoeuvrability.
Shortly after 8am on Saturday, things had calmed sufficiently and we pushed off the beach and continued on our way. But the following evening, while filming underwater, Frank noticed that our centreboard was not down.
On investigation, which involved drilling into one of our hull compartments, we discovered that the lowering mechanism was no longer working. It took a couple of hours to rig up a homemade solution.
A shortened journey
It was the tennis player Arthur Ashe who said: “Success is a journey, not a destination. Doing is usually more important than the outcome.” His words have occupied my mind a lot over the past week.
It is now impossible for us to make our intended final destination of Pond Inlet. We knew we would need help from Mother Nature to pull this off, and the weather has not been favourable. We have less than five weeks before the ice begins to set in for the winter.
We had three objectives for this expedition: to make it to Pond Inlet and complete the voyage as intended; to draw attention to the topic of climate change and to carry out scientific data collection for the Canadian Department of Ocean and Fisheries; and to document this trip and share the experience with those who are interested.
However, we will not make it to Pond Inlet. Though the reasons are beyond our control, it still hurts.
As I write, we are 550km from Cambridge Bay, which is only our halfway mark, and it could be the end of August before we get there. If so, this is where our expedition will finish.We are still giving this everything we have but it has been a difficult week.
Comments (3)
I am happy that these men are safe but they put their lives in peril for a stupid stunt that was sponsored by a "green" rent seeking corporation. I see them as useful idiots in an ad campaign for corporate greed.
Did they mention how cold it was? This was the coldest Arctic Summer in the DMI record which started in 1958. Even if they had accomplished their goal it proves nothing as the Arctic Ocean was free of sea ice during the summer for much of the Early Holocene. 6,000 to 12,000 years ago these poor sods could have rowed an open Arctic Ocean to their hearts content with no ice to worry about. I'm not sure why they are pretending an open Arctic Ocean would be unprecedented. It's all hype to mislead the public.
Did they mention how cold it was? This was the coldest Arctic Summer in the DMI record which started in 1958. Even if they had accomplished their goal it proves nothing as the Arctic Ocean was free of sea ice during the summer for much of the Early Holocene. 6,000 to 12,000 years ago these poor sods could have rowed an open Arctic Ocean to their hearts content with no ice to worry about. I'm not sure why they are pretending an open Arctic Ocean would be unprecedented. It's all hype to mislead the public.
The climate Alarmists should worry about sun cycle 25 and the Maunder Minimum. Last winter Ireland and the UK lost many of its Farm Herd to snow. It will be getting colder for the next several decades as the sun has entered into its 200 low sun spot cycle. Ireland and the UK have lost many to famine in previous low sun cycle climates. Beware the AGW crowds expensive energy fix as you will be needing more BTUs not to mention steady power.
"It wasn’t long ago that the Northwest Passage was sole domain of steel-hulled ice-breakers. We hope by making this traverse completely under human power in a row boat, without sail or motor, in a single season we will be able to demonstrate first-hand the profound effects climate change is having on our world."
This is a quote from the expedition Facebook page. This ill-starred expedition will have had exactly the opposite effect it has striven for.
http://stevengoddard.wordpress.com/2013/08/26/final-score-amundsen-10-mainstream-1/
This is a quote from the expedition Facebook page. This ill-starred expedition will have had exactly the opposite effect it has striven for.
http://stevengoddard.wordpress.com/2013/08/26/final-score-amundsen-10-mainstream-1/
Final Score : Amundsen 10 Mainstream 1
The Mainstream rowers (blue dashed line below) made it almost one tenth as far as Amundsen (brown line below) through the Northwest Passage.
Of course Amundsen also devoted a huge amount of time to scientific research, exploration and map making.
They haven’t made it to Cambridge Bay, yet-:)
Q: “What do you say to climate change skeptics?”
O’Connor: “There is no such thing as a climate change skeptic.”