Børge Ousland

Position update 07.59 CEST: 70.60403 N, 160.30981 W – Passing the little town of Wainwright

Position update 12.18 CEST: 71.02143 N, 159.865 W

Position update 19.28 CEST: 70.94073 N, 158.46678 W

Position update 00.48 CEST: 70.93648 N, 157.59128 W

Position update 03.56 CEST: 71.19276 N, 157.0192 W
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Expedition Report, 10.14 CEST:
After five days of tacking in the Chukchi Sea, we could finally feel the smell of the Alaska wilderness, even far out at sea. We reached the coast this morning and had a friendly chat with the skipper on a passing tugboat. “Welcome to America!” said the unmistakable accent. We expect to reach Barrow tomorrow, where our crewmembers Vincent and Ibrahim are waiting and have prepared everything for a short pit stop.

It has been a tough voyage for our little trimaran. Just an hour ago we discovered that the forestay is partly broken! With this eventuality in mind, we always have had a halyard attached to the bow – and that saved our rig! We hoisted an inner stormstay and storm jib (our “Katalysator” sail), contacted Corsair Marine to urgently supply us with a new forestay, and worked out a plan for an improvised forestay solution should the spare stay does not arrive in time at Point Barrow. We have to be in the Northwest Passage further east before the cold season and passage starts to freeze, roughly at the end of September.

For that we will need favourable winds. In that respect the forecast is not good at the moment. We will also meet ice east of Point Barrow. In other words, this is not an easy match. However, we have established good routines on board that have enabled us to manage vicious gales, incessant headwinds and extensive ice fields even in the dark of night. And so we feel confident that we will also cope with the challenges that lie ahead. Rest assured: the “Northern Passage” is operated by a small, but strong team!

This will be the last night with our Russian crewmember and friend Stas on board. He has achieved his goal of sailing the entire Northern Sea Route, from Murmansk to Alaska. Fifteen years ago he skied and dogsledded through the Russian and Siberian wilderness, from west to east. That is an incredibly long overland journey! Now Stas has sailed the entire coast, and in this way he has “embraced” the beautiful and enormous land that is Russia.

Last night Stas prepared a meal of light-salted Arctic char and Russian bread for the night watch – and he shared his collection of Russian soldier songs from the Second World War. Thanks so much for everything, Stas!

We are ready for Alaska! And we are looking forward to welcoming our new crewmembers on board: Vincent and Ibrahim.

Thorleif, Captain
“Northern Passage”
Alaska

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Another challenge: our forestay is partly broken.

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Note: The “Northern Passage 2010 Expedition” is attracting attention amongst many interested in climate change. Here is an article in the largest and most widely read American climate blog, ClimateProgress.org

At Point Barrow there will be a change of crew.

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Stas will soon be flying home to his girlfriend Irena…

…while Vincent and Ibrahim are eager to help challenge the Northeast Passage!

This entry was posted on September 5th, 2010 at 7:16 AM and is filed under Northern Passage - 2010. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.