Position update 12,50 CEST (16 Sept): 69.03712 N, 105.2364 W
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Expedition Report, 18.36 CEST, 15 September
"We are finally in more sheltered waters along the coast of Victoria Island. The winds are still strong, but we are following the coast and are sheltered from big waves. We expect to reach Cambridge Bay 9 UTC tomorrow. We had a rough night again, with snow showers and gale-force winds. This is our first snow, a reminder that winter is on its way; it is wise to soon head south again. The moonless nights are completely dark, but luckily we have not seen any timber floating on the Beaufort Sea, so it feels quite safe. With our navigation devices we always know where we are. The only problem can be the waves. Normally we are able to steer clear of the biggest ones, but that is difficult in the darkness.

Thanks for all the applications to join from Pond Inlet. It warms our hearts to see that we have so many strong candidates would like to join us for the last leg on this epic adventure. Due to the gales and double night shift, we have not yet had time or energy to go through the candidates, but we expect to do that tomorrow or the day after the latest. Bad weather has also prevented me from sending photos, but here are a couple from the last days of sailing."

Best regards,
Børge

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Position update 17.24 CEST: 69.21032 N, 116.605 W

Position update 00.48 CEST (15 Sept): 68.96507 N, 114.87015 W
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The “Northern Passage” is showing what she’s good for, speeding well along through the Dolphin and Union Strait. All is well on board.

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Today’s forecast:
Weather: very cloudy to overcast with periods of rain and sleet becoming sleet and snow. Cooler.
(For a more comprehensive forecast, with explanations, please see Weather4Expeditions.com.

Wanted: Experienced sailor ready for adventure now!

Are you ready for a real challenge? Would you like to join an exciting expedition? The “Northern Passage” seeks an additional crew member for its upcoming crossing of the Atlantic Ocean.

Experienced open-sea sailors of multi-hull boats are especially welcome to apply.

We expect to depart from Pond Inlet on Baffin Island, Canada, around 23 September. The best option is if you can join us for the entire three-week voyage to Oslo! Alternatively the journey can be split into two stages, with embarking/disembarking either in Iceland or Southern Greenland. Your airfare will be covered by Northern Passage 2010 Expedition.

Interested? Please contact Børge Ousland’s right-hand man, Lars Ebbesen: lars (at) ousland (dot) no.

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

Position update 04.06 CEST: 71.05634 N, 132.88951 W

Position update 07.57 CEST: 71.17963 N, 131.94939 W
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Expedition Report, 08.28 CEST:
“Report from the Beaufort Sea: It’s nice to be racing along at 8 knots! We really get the sense that we are getting some positive payback from Mother Nature and the wind gods after all the headwind we struggled against in seemingly endless northern seas of Russia. And best of all: good winds will be with us all the way down to Cambridge Bay, according to our weatherman Marc de Keyser.

Our friend and sailing companion Ibrahim is really enjoying the voyage. Yesterday he spent 20 hours in the cockpit just watching the sea and the sky! He obviously knows the art of travelling.

We are still surprised and worried about the high water temperature. At the moment we are registering around 7 to 8 degrees Celsius, which according to the experts is far higher than normal.

This crossing of the Beaufort Sea is kind of a rest before the challenging zigzagging through the ice that we expect beyond Cambridge Bay. We even have time to read books! The ships limited library is getting some wear. There are some page-turners, but also philosophy. Vince is deeply into Le Monde de Sophie, while some other readers are trying to understand Henri Bergson’s concept of time. This book was a gift from our expedition from friend and sailing philosopher Håkon Lorentzen. Actually this is the perfect place to reflect on the ideas of time; when you spend a four-hour watch at night on your own and undisturbed, it’s the perfect opportunity to think. That’s quite a luxury – to truly have peace for contemplation and be able to string thoughts together for hours on end without interruption! But do we really understand Bergson? Is the past present? That I cannot tell you for certain.

The “Northern Passage” is a happy ship at the moment. She is now entering the waters above the continental shelf in the southeastern part of the Beaufort Sea. Depth has decreased from 2000 to 80 metres in just the last two hours. On the sea chart we can observe some circular features described as pingos. This is submarine ice, columns of permafrost columns rising 20–30 metres above the seafloor …”

Thorleif, captain
“Northern Passage”
12 September

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Thorleif and Ibrahim on watch on the “Northern Passage”.