Position update 04.26 CEST: 71.13184 N, 127.01215 W
Position update 05.59 CEST: 71.07563 N, 126.49583 W
Position update 07.55 CEST: 70.99861 N, 125.97055 W
Position update 21.51 CEST: 70.27368 N, 121.99657 W
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Call from Børge, 22.42: ...all is well. On our way to Cambridge Bay...
(Editor’s note: The rest of the conversation was inaudible due to poor Iridium satellite coverage.)
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Expedition Report, 03.57 CEST:
We are sending spot messages as before so we must be in a blindspot for the moment. Our position is 70˚16’31” N, 122˚00’15” W, and as you can see we have chosen the southern route and continue to Cambridge Bay as planned. Eric will arrive there tomorrow and Ibrahim will sign off here.
We have been blessed with good winds and good conditions since we keft pont barrow. Finally! feel that we deserve it after all that struggeling in the east. Now we are cruising along with a good tailwind and good speed. People we have spoken to say that there are very little ice this year, and the water temperature is increidbly 7 degrees even here, (was 11 in Point Barrow) so we dont expect the passage to freeze up before the beginning of october. Huge changes have rapildly altered the conditions up here, good for our voyage, but it is of course a very bad sign if this trend continues. Inuits I spoke to in Point Barrow said that 20 years ago it started to snow in August. People walked around in shorts when we were there recently and they said that winter nowadays come in October, sometimes November.
Thought I should say a couple of words about the routines onboard. We are a very minimalistic expedition, one reason for that is the weightlimit we have on this type of boat, but also because thats how we like it. We planned this trip as any other sled expedition, with focus on efficciancy and low weight. I also wanted to copy some of the routines I use on sled expeditions. We have one little stove (which uses the same fuel as our outboard engine), and this is only used to boil water. We do not coock any of our food, its all prepacked expedition rations, lightweight, high in calories and easy to eat. So we only boil water and add to the food. We took 75 litres of water from Murmansk and has since used ice and rainwater to supply it. We dont use water for washing, and use only sanatizing gel for hygene.
So far we have not used any heating on board at all, and have not felt that we needed it. Its an increaibly dry boat. When it rains it can be a bit of moisture inside but as soon as high pressure and dried air moves in, the boat dries out very quickly. We are accustomed to the 4.5 degrees average and use wool underwear, socks and sweathers to keep warm. Our sleeping bags are good for minus 20 so we have never had any cold nights either. The insulated rubber boots gets a little damp, but the trick is to have two pair of socks. The moisture always deposits in the outer layer, and this pair we dry on our body at night, this way we have almost always more or less dry boots.
After more almost three months on boar (at least for Thorlief and me, we left 23rd of June), we are very accusomed to the small space and this way of life. We do 4 hour watches, exept at night when we double up sometimes due to the darkness. The only thing I really miss is to use the whole body, go for a walk or a run etc. But that oppertunity will come soon enough. Now we have to enjoy this great adventure when we can.
Regards,
Borge
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