September 12-13 Dolphin & Union Strait and Amundsen Gulf – all at sea

 

The wind charts show not good conditions - high winds and seas. our position circled 

After a stunningly tranquil start to the day in Kitikmeot, the weather has deteriorated somewhat with a poor weather system in front of us - 100kph winds and biggish seas. It is a little exciting for me and Lins as we haven’t experienced any real sea for a while. We are rolling and pitching gently and will be for a couple of days. With bad weather up front, our leader and ship captain made the decision to hang around here for a couple of days until the front moves further away. Disappointing and unfortunate for the Inuit communities we were planning to visit because they have been preparing for our visit for ages but that is how it is. Not so easy to change plans up here in Nunavut (landing permits have to be arranged a year in advance). The conditions we are experiencing are a mere hiccup compared with what those early explorers faced. Today the sea is open, there is no ice and we are totally fine and enjoying the ride.

We spent a couple of days being spoilt with lectures, Citizen Science and catching up on pix etc. And we rounded out the day with a toast for crossing 122 46W the longitude where Amundsen met a whaling vessel which had sailed north through the Bering Strait and then travelled eastwards – this point was considered the completion of Amundsen's Northwest Passage. But it wasn't the completion for us!

Reported fires in the Northwest Territories

Over the last couple of days the air has been hazy with smoke from 118 fires in the Northwest Territories of Canada - hard to comprehend from our chilly watery location. Fortunately there have been no new fires in the last 24 hours as we head to a perpetually smoking area - the Smoking Hills. More anon .....