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News after July 2000
WHAT'S NEW MARCH 23 -A trip to Muskox Fiord As I watched Guldborg walking into the gale up the river valley, I felt responsible for the situation we were in. The idea of skiing to Muskox Fiord was mine. It was I who didn't want to turn around when the visibility became poorer and wind started to pick up. Now we did our best to find our way back to Hourglass Bay over the mountain pass from Rendalen. We had talked about a trip to Muskox Fiord in the fall, but we spent a lot of time to get the hut up and then the autumn storms started and dropped a lot of loose snow on us. Now in March, the weather and snow conditions had been excellent for weeks and weeks, but we were hoping for temperatures to become more decent before making the two night camping trip. However, when we started out last Saturday, the temperature was still -33 C. The going was easy and Bamse and Yukon were eagerly hauling the pulk as we climbed up the ice cave valley once again. Soon we were on top of the plateau between Hourglass Bay and Muskox Fiord. With the small scale map we had, we were a bit too casual with our navigation, and dropped down in a different river valley than planned. This was not a big problem, since we just got a small detour via Rendalen (Caribou Valley), in stead of dropping directly down to Muskox Fiord. Rendalen was named by Sverdrup when Per Schei managed to hunt a couple of caribou here during the Fram Expedition. These were the first Caribou they saw, and not being a experienced hunter, he was very surprised to be able to get them. His report on the hunt in "New Land" is hilarious reading. Weather was still calm and nice, and the breeze we had from south-east in the morning had dropped. We camped about 5 km from the fiord as planned, looking forward to ski into the end of the fiord to look for the muskox herds we hoped to find there. In this Fiord, Sverdrup gathered most of the game that was so essential for his expedition's great achievements. But, waking up the next morning, weather was dull, and the tent material was flapping in the wind. We hesitated what to do. The weather was not really bad, but it seemed unstable, and it wasn't tempting to leave the camp for a 30 km sightseeing to the fiord bottom. At about noon, after some discussion, we decided to ski down to the fiord and have a look at the conditions. The canyon we followed was an endless labyrinth and it took forever to reach the ice. It was a very interesting and beautiful route, though. Some places we felt a bit uneasy passing under big drifts that had accumulated over the winter. We left the pulk behind after a while, because the snow cover wasn't good. Eventually we reached the fiord ice but had still 10 km to go to the area where we could expect to see muskoxen. Visibility was poor, and we decided to turn back. For some reason, it felt much faster to ski back, and after a few hours we were back to the old campsite. Weather wasn't too bad, so we decided to go on for a while to make the return trip the next day shorter. That was a smart move. We camped in a side valley of Rendalen, so that we knew exactly where we were. The snow was extremely hard, and we worked for a long time securing the tent properly, and digging out a ditch in the vestibule. We wanted to be safe in case the wind would pick up more. We did a thorough job with covering all the snow flaps. This is essential, since drifting snow penetrates even the tiniest holes. Fortunately, all the equipment worked fine, and we spent a comfortable night there. Next morning, visibility was worse, and the wind had picked up. We decided to push on home because the others were expecting us, and because we only had food and fuel for one more day. The distance was only about 15 km as the Raven flies, but navigation was not straightforward. A compass is of little use up here, but we were lucky since the sun was visible through the clouds. A few km to the west, we found the river valley we had come down two days before, and were relieved to find our own old tracks. We started the ascent up to the plateau as the wind gradually picked up. We had only the sun and the slope of the terrain to guide us. On the top we left the valley, and tried to retrace our own steps from two days ago. We used the sun to go straight south into the wind and then turn west down towards the ice cave valley. Visibility was perhaps 100 m. It started to get really unpleasant, the face mask froze up and my eyelids froze to the face mask, making it hard to see. Then we had the very welcome sight of our own tracks again. We knew we were on the right way and we dropped quickly down into the valley were it was calm! The dogs had been clever the whole day, and pulled the pulk into the wind. Now they needed some assistance to get down the steep slope. We got a bit of food and drink and went on. We put the skis on the pulk and walked carefully down the rugged valley to not damage the pulk. Once out in the main valley we were able call the boat on the VHF to tell that we were OK, and to tell them to have hot chocolate ready! They reported -22 C, 30 knots wind and - 60 C windchill. But the hard travel was not over. We now had 5 km to go in hard headwind. The ground was really rough, we stumbled over the sastrugi, and the dogs wanted to go everywhere else than into the wind. But after a while Bamse realized he had to take some responsibility, and started to pull in the right direction. At the same time, I noticed that Yukon had a frostbite around his left eye which was iced up quite badly. He was bleeding a bit, but there was little to do about it now. We went on and on, and it took us forever to reach the bay. It was now was gusting at 45 knots. Visibility was really bad along the ice, but after a while, Bamse took the lead again, and turned straight towards the boat. Graeme was outside and came to meet us. He took the dogs with him to the hut to thaw up the frozen fur. They are still sleeping there the next morning! Weather is now even worse, so we are glad we made it back and didn't stay in the tent. It had been a tougher trip than planned, and we got a good test of ourselves and the equipment. I had managed to get a small frostbite in my neck and a sprained thumb. That was all. Yukon is also OK now. -Lars What's
New March 18, 2000 What's
New March 16, 2000 I saw a polar bear...two in fact! It was a mother with a year old cub. Graeme & I took a 2 day vacation from parenting & went skiing to the west of Hourglass Bay towards Goose Fiord. We had glorious weather, blue sky, sunny & calm! As we skiied along on our first day out Graeme suddenly hesitated in skiing foward; just as I was saying "what" I caught sight of something beige moving about 500m ahead, amongst some pressure ice. We stopped, assessed our position & decided to move closer to the shore line to give the bear more room to "wander" past & hopefully keep going! Once she came closer we were able to see that she had a cub with her & it was a relief to realize that what we thought was one (more likely to be a single male) was actually two & therefore more likely to be a mother & a cub, thus less likely to attack. She did catch our scent & come in closer (about 300m), stand on her hind legs to get a better look a couple of times & then continued onwards slowly. With our heart rates slightly elevated & our firearms, noise makers etc. at the ready, we waited until she was well past to ensure she would not circle back to follow us. Once we did resume our travels it was with frequent glances all around for any movements! Yes, it's neat to have seen polar bears, but it also makes one quite nervous to see the "king of the arctic" roaming about & know we are somewhat vulnerable! Camping that night was not only a chilly experience, but a bit nerve wracking too! It is with a deepened sense of awe that I came back from my two day camping trip...the arctic is truly an amazing place to be & I would not trade my experiences this year for anything!
March
11 2000 Two hours of chipping the ice around Northanger's stern is the morning prelude to more pleasureable activities. That said, it is nice to see results and we've convinced ourselves, at least, that the stern is coming up at a rate of 5 mm/day. Certainly the drip in galley salt water intake tap has slowed measurably - and this is good news. Our ice chisels are frightening affairs; at 2 m plus in length they would suit polar jousters very well - and we have the sleds for steeds and some approximation of the armoured costumes. Lars and Guldborg went north up the valley at the head of Hourglass Bay, along the route that we will take next month when sledging to Goose Fiord, Norwegian Bay, and on to Axel Heiberg Island. They report very gentle gradients and full snow coverage for our first land crossing. And...there is indeed a world outside of Hourglass Bay. No end of things to get together for the sledging: food inventory, baking of molasses bread, adjustments to skiing equipment, communications to sort out, maps to study, lists to make. Lynda and Graeme will make a sortie this weekend - sans enfant - and will ski out and back along the north shore of Jones Sound west of Bjorneborg. At first blush, it seems early in the season for tenting. Consider, however, that Sverdrup's men began their sledging campaign of 100 years ago on February 23, just 9 days after their sun came back. An interesting astronomical tidbit about that spring of 1900: northern Canada experienced a total solar eclipse on May 28 that year - and the men on Fram used the timing of the predicted eclipse to reset their chronometers two years into their voyage. Well, we on the OSCE are planning an Hourglass Bay reunion here on August 1, 2008 - when northern Greenland and a narrow belt extending into northern Nunavut will be favoured by a similar event. You heard it here first. Write to reserve your lawnchairs at the Hourglass Bay Lodge and pray for clear skies at 4:30 am on that day! We found out about this celestial happening - and were able to "see" the eclipses of 1900 and 2008 - on a wonderful CD called Starry Night Deluxe. Travel in time, travel to any place in the solar system..an immersive experience we've enjoyed all winter long with these wonderful night skies now fading. See www.siennasoft.com, no apologies for the commercial!
What's New March 3rd It is cold again today, cold and clear with a little wind from the south. Our last longer skiing trip was over two weeks ago, so Lars and I are eager to get out again. Tomorrow it may be blowing, so off we go! Our goal is the mountain on the west side of our bay, that is unexplored terrain for us. The surprise of the day is a living lemming that we meet among gravel and ice on the western shore, a round, little ball of grayish-white, fluffy fur that runs across the snow. I am very excited. A Canadian lemming, a Dicrostonyx groenlandicus! Luckily the dogs are busy elsewhere, so our little friend wanders safely on. This is the second lemming I see within a short period of time. The first one I found dead outside the hut. Bamse and Yukon are under suspicion! I have started to believe that a lemming year might be on its way, especially since Graeme tells that he saw lot of tracks after the small animals in April 1997 on Axel Heiberg Island. So the timing is right. It is also quite normal to see lemmings on the snow during mid winter when there is a peak year the following summer. We climb up the river gulley we picked out from the ice. There the snow has accumulated in big drifts. The rest of the landscape is quite windswept, and from the boat it looks as this side of the bay is only rocks and gravel. But we manage to walk on skis all the way to the top. The view gets more and more magnificent the higher we rise. We can see the outer part of Hourglass Bay and far out into Jones Sound. After a while we also see Jones Sound west of the Bjørneborg Mountain, and further out, in the south, the light-blue mountains of Devon Island. Our mountain is flat on top. Looking west, we are quite sure we can see the depressions in the landscape where the Goose Fiord and the Walrus Fiord must be. Otto Sverdrup and his crew wintered in Goose Fiord from 1900 to 1902. We will pass by on our spring sledding trip north to Axel Heiberg Island. Furthest west we can see only blue clouds, there Ellesmere Island must end and the Norwegian Bay start. From the highest point on the plateau we see miles and miles to the north and east as well. Rounded, rolling hills and mountains, one blue mountain after the other. Unexplored places for us - New Land! We think we can imagine how the Fram-fellows must have felt when they came here one hundred years ago and knew that they were the first white men in this land. Not much has changed since then. The mountains are unchanged, and on the whole Ellesmere Island there is but one permanent settlement. Lars mentions that perhaps we are the first people on this very peak... It gets cold standing looking, so we don't bother pulling out the thermos, the warmth of the boat is more tempting. Skiing down is quick, in spite of the hard snow and all the drifts. Bamse keeps up with us, while Yukon prefers to descend more carefully. The sun disappears behind the Bjørneborg Mountain when we come down into the river gulley again. It is cold in the shadows. Half an hour later we are back at the boat. - Guldborg
What's
New Feb.27 by Lynda Magor What's New Feb.12 by Lynda Magor WE SAW THE SUN!! YAHOO! What a great sight for 7 people who have not seen the great ball of fire in the sky for about 100 days!! We jumped, we yelped & hooted & of course ran for our cameras!! It seems we have been positively giddy for the last 24 hrs or so!! Wow...the daylight was good, but this huge ball of colour moving across our horizon from east to west is really something to behold! We reluctantly go inside during the time the sun passes by the mouth of the bay between 12 & 2pm., but alas, things must get done even with the sun up!! It has been busy around here! With the arrival of the sun we have also had the arrival of a guest for a few days! The presence of someone new to speak with in camp has definitely made us all so very social!! But that's not all we have been up to...it's been 2 weeks since our last birthday celebration, so it was time again to churn out a birthday cake, put up the well worn birthday banner & sing the "happy birthday" chorus to Lars, the next youngest team member next to Keziah!! His cake was heavily laden with 29 candles...threatening to send the smoke alarm into a frenzie if he couldn't get them all blown out in the first attempt! We celebrated in fine style with chips, a fabulous meal of goat meat, fresh salad (thanks to our visitor!) potatoes & then the yummy cake with berries!! It tastes so very good, even after only two weeks since our last cake!! Phew...one begins to wonder if we will have any energy left at all for the last round of birthday bashing in two weeks time again!! For one we have to scare up another 10 candles for Greg....yep, he's closing in on "the edge"!! In the meantime, we have more work to do on this boat to keep it from tilting further to stern...must quickly get to work now that we have proper tools (ice chisels) to pick away the ice after removing some 3 feet of snow burying the stern! We are able diggers, no question about that! Stay tuned, you never know what "News" you'll see next! Quoi de Nouveau? C'est en francais! Si on regard notre premier page de web, il y a deux choix des langues marquées: l’anglais et le norvégien. Il y en avait une autre, et pour nous, les canadiens de l’éxpedition, une de très important: le français. Tristement, on n’avait pas trouver une commanditaire qui s’interesserait à traduire les pages pour l’Éxpedition Otto Sverdrup. Donc, Graeme et moi (Keri), on a combiné notre connaissance de la langue française et on va essayer de vous donner des nouvelles d’ici. Ici, en Baie d’Hourglass, la nuit se diminue et d’ici six jours, l’orb du soleil doit monter au-dessus de la ligne d’horizon. Depuis le fin de septembre, le bateau a été pris dans la glace de cette baie sur la coté sud d’ile Ellesmere et, maintenant au mois de février, il reste encore septs mois avant qu’on va avoir de l’opportunité de sortir. Nous avons été ensembles, nous septs, depuis le fin de juin, quand on avait parti le pont de la musée du voilier fameux le Fram, à Oslo et on a navigué vers l’Atlantique du Nord, et puis en passant la Groenland pour arrivé à la village le plus nord du Canada, Grise Fiord. À la fin d’aout, on a arrivé chez nous, notre baie, communauté et place du résidence pendant ces mois d’hiver au grand nord, jusqu’à le moment en été lorsques les glace de la baie et de Jones Sound devront nous lacher et on pourrait naviguer enfin vers le sud. Notre communauté comprime les nationalités de trois paie: on est deux norvégiens, quatres canadiens anglais et un nouvelle zélandais; trois couples et une gamine de trois ans. On vivre ensemble parmi le bateau et une petite maison, ce dernière qu’on a construit à terre particulièrement pour cette éxpedition. La raison d’etre de léxpedition c’est plutots pour l’éducation: on utilise nos aventures combinés avec l’histoire d’un explorateur norvegien, Otto Sverdrup, qui a descrit cette region d’Ellesmere et Ile d’Axel Heiberg il y a une centaine d’années. Il y a plusières autre projets, incluant des études scientifiques et aussi une voyage en traineaux de notre baie d’hivernage jusqu’au nord d’ile Axel Heiberg Et entre tous cela, on vivre ici sur un bateau pris dans la glace. Les routines quotidiennes nous occupent beaucoup. L’éxistence dans un environnement autant différent des moillages du monde (fluides, non gelés) ajoute des problèmes uniques. Il y a la froide, les vents qui rammasse des graines de neige et les deposent entour du bateau, la noir de la nuit polaire, et une vie partagée aux confins du bateau, aux confins aussi de la baie, avec septs persons, les personalités diverses. C’est vraiement une expèrience super et on a l’espoir qu’on peut trouver une manière de la partager aussi avec nos compatriotes, les canadiens français. Les volontaires (pour aider avec des traductions)? À la prochaine….
1 February 2000 Jan 28, 2000 - We had planned to be prepared and get out of the boat and watch as the lights of the two or three snow machines approached! But we forgot to keep a watch out, and besides we expected them later in the evening. So in the middle of a game of 'Canasta' we were suddenly interrupted by the sound of engines outside. That was the end of that game. We all jumped up and some of us climbed out of the hatch, out into the cold, to greet our visitors. Two figures, completely wrapped in furs and thick clothes, stood besides their snow machines: Seeglook and Jeff. The first people (other than ourselves of course) that we had seen since the beginning of October!! How exciting! Even the dogs were excited, barking and pulling at their chain. When we started getting cold outside, we pleaded our guests to come in and to sit down and asked if they were hungry. How great to talk to some new people! We had all sorts of questions for them, how had the ride been, had they seen any polar bears on the way, how had the winter in Grise Fiord been, were other people coming out to see us?? There are approximately 120 km from Grise Fiord to Hourglass Bay, and the ride on snow machines out here takes about 3 hours. They had been looking for seals on their way here so they had used some more time. According to Seeglook this winter hava so far been milder than usual, and with less wind. Last year they had long periods with temperatures below -40 already in December. They could also tell us that very likely more people were coming to see us. It sounds like the inhabitants of Grise Fiord are curious about how we are doing out here. Jeff and Seeglook brought us a lot of mail as well, mostly for Keri and Greg though, but they willingly share their received candies so they are forgiven! And we were able to send some mail out. I had started writing my letters already in the end of November when Seeglook first talked about coming to see us. Our two guests stayed with us that night and slept in the hut. Keri cooked a great dinner with Norwegian goat the next day. Around three in the afternoon Seeglook and Jeff left for home. We were all standing outside watching as the red lights of the snow machines dissappeared out the bay. The long dark, quiet winter seemed to have come to an end. - Guldborg Jan. 26, 2000 Deprived of sun as we have been for the last 80 days and more, we welcome any shows in the heavens above. We have been treated to a couple of meteor showers and faint aurora - but our dearest friend has been the full moon. For days on end around full phase it circles the now familiar skyline of Hourglass Bay without setting. It provides incredible lighting in our white and reflective surroundings - and I suppose it is indirect evidence for us that the sun is still out there doing its shining thing. Recently our wintering was enriched by an eclipse of the moon. During a total lunar eclipse the moon falls entirely within the shadow of the earth. No sunlight reaches the moon's surface directly. The change in lighting was dramatic. In the early evening, we had 5 km of visibility in brilliantly lit conditions; Northanger's 50 ft main mast cast a long moon-shadow to the north. Orion's belt to the south, normally a readily visible "sky-mark" for us, was bleached out by moonlight. As the moon moved into earth's umbra, its centre shadow, it was as if a curtain was being slowly pulled across the moon from east to west. Some shadows persisted on the snow until roughly a quarter of the moon remained illuminated; then those too shrank away and we were cast, rather suddenly it seemed, into a cold darkness. The moon was reduced to a cold and ruddy red sphere. The surrounding hills were dimly outlined now - but untold numbers of stars blazed at us from the darkened sky, Orion restored to its conspicuous self. A little over an hour later the process reversed itself and our winterscape emerged once more as our astral beacons dimmed.Totality lasts anywhere from 1-2 hours. Lunar eclipses are graded by magnitude, the fraction of the moon's diameter which falls fully into earth's shadow during the deepest part of the eclipse (this January 2000 eclipse was magnitude 1.2). Even though I understood what was happening, I still found the experience vaguely unsettling. The effect was, for want of a more precise word, spooky. Perhaps it is a reminder that wheels are in motion on a scale that challenges our ability to conceptualize and that most certainly is beyond influence by mere humanity. Light is and then it isn't. We're blocking sunlight from a star we haven't seen for months... Clearly aboriginal peoples felt something of the same. Eclipses were not good news to Inuit living on the land. Greenlanders had the graphic explanation that the moon had gone off somewhere to relieve itself. There were many rituals that had to be observed during a lunar eclipse: in east Greenland, pregnant women had to hide under skins if the baby were to be born healthy. Elsewhere it was felt that an eclipse predicted an epidemic which could enter via kitchen utensils and all pots, buckets, and dishes had to be turned upside down for the duration of the eclipse. We didn't quite go to that extent - and hope that we will be spared - but perhaps we did breathe a little more easily when the man-in-the-moon resumed his full grin.
Perhaps,
being a common occurrence, or at least a possible experience for those out there with a
bathtub and running hot and cold water, this may not seem like something to get overly
excited about and write on a What's New in the Canadian Arctic web site. Ahh, but for me,
who has lived aboard this boat for the past 10 years and has not had a real hot bath in
the past 2 or three years, it was the best birthday present I have ever had. Especially
since I just turned a whopping 36! I don't know how, when we live and breathe the same
secrets in such a confined space, how everyone was able to keep the bath a surprise.
Saturday, which was my birthday, was also a communication day and was Greg's & my turn
to do the run to the Logan tent. After a successful few hours run across the bay to the
tent, we returned to the boat just to be ushered on past towards the hut. We arrived at
the hut, and I, not suspecting a thing, wanted to unpack the sled and continue on back to
the boat and so refused Lar's offer to go inside for a bit. After a bemoaned "But we
have hot chocolate ready for you" I acquiesced. Entering the hut, to my great
surprise, was the dirty diaper barrel, cleaned out and filled with steaming hot water just
waiting for someone to plunge in. That someone was me! What an experience! What a great
gift! What a soak! Thanks guys, I'll never forget. Jan.10/00 This past week has been a busy one! Moving always does entail some of that! Graeme, Keziah & myself managed to pack all of our things into 4 sleds to move from our shore shelter, dubbed "the hut" to Northanger or "the boat" last Tuesday. It was a calm day so the whole process was easily accomplished other than trying to put everything away in our newly adopted spaces. We were happily tucked in with little more shuffling to do by nightfall, so it was rather simple compared to moving house in urban centres! After a few days of life aboard Northanger, Graeme found himself staring down into Greg's mouth aided by several crude instruments making do as "dental equipment"! Greg had lost one of his molar fillings during the week & it needed some sort of temporary fix. Thankfully, our kind dentist Dr. Paul Grigg in Owen Sound, ON had supplied us with all of the correct mixes for a temporary filling, we just didn't have those handy suction tubes & air spray tools you find in your mouth during such procedures at the dentist. Graeme is no dentist, doctor yes, but the two professions are worlds apart really! We happened to have a small air compressor handy which, when fitted with a football pin valve inflator, acted as our aeration tool & then a small baster was pressed into service by Keri, Greg's wife, who acted as dental assistant for the proceedings. The scene did not resemble the quick efficiency of the usual dentist office, but was rather like a circus! The whole affair was of course video taped so it could be a good comedy release in the future! Nonetheless, poor Greg did manage to come out of the whole ordeal with a filling which should hold until his next landfall near any form of dentistry offices! So, we headed into the weekend with good humour & enjoying the ever increasing amounts of "dusk light" which we hope to soon call "day" light with the fast approaching sunrise. Tune in next week for more interesting news! "Christmas in the Big Igloo"!
Keziah did not think Santa had come when she woke up for she could not see over the bundle of blankets covering her that indeed, her stocking had been filled to the brim & carefully placed at the end of her bed! She quickly removed its contents briefly inspecting the more interesting goods...lollipops, chocolate & such. It was a picture perfect time...ah, the joy of a child's Christmas! We played & chatted in bed for awhile & then prepared to get up & inspect the presents under our little tree. It was alot of fun & quite emotional to open presents thoughtfully purchased, wrapped & sent to us 4 months ago by our loving families! It is strange to celebrate without them, but we also feel quite privileged to have the opportunity to focus on what this celebration is really all about. What a day it must have been long ago! In contrast to Otto and his crew, we were lucky enough to be able to dial up our families & wish them a Merry Christmas over the Iridium Satellite phone provided to the expedition courtesy of Infosat Telecommunications! It was the first time many of us had spoken to our families in six months! Our planned brunch at the boat with our team mates was eventually cancelled due to high winds which had been threatening to ruin all celebrations for the past 24hrs. We waited the afternoon out & finally the wind backed down enough to allow visibility & safe travel to the boat with Keziah in her sled. We bundled her into her caribou outfit & headed over to celebrate Christmas dinner & more present opening! What a treat to have so much to be thankful for! We had all managed to make something for each other for Christmas which makes each gift so unique & special. Bamse and Yukon each received a specially baked bread bone from Keri! The dinner was nothing short of fabulous, given it was composed entirely of freeze dried foods! Keri worked her kitchen magic once again & pulled off the best imitation of the real roasted turkey any of us had eaten! Hats off to Bauly Foods, we are indebted to this company for their wonderful products! We completed our "Canadian Christmas" feast with another round of fruit cocktail & whipped cream! Our stomachs were full & the familiar feelings of post Christmas dinner were ever present! It seems that Christmas in Hourglass Bay has brought much cheer! We can only hope that others around the world could know this feeling! And now
for our seasonal appeal: The Expedition is a project of the Canadian registered charity
The Wild Places Fund. Expensive satellite communications from Hourglass Bay support an
educational programme distributed across Canada (as well as the US and Norway) via
Learning Outfitters. We need help to ensure this ball keeps rolling throughout the
project. Donations from Canadians will be recognized with a tax receipt. Please send
contributions to The Wild Places Fund, c/o Graeme Magor, Vice-president, RR One, Markdale,
ON N0C 1H0. Thank you from all of us!
Graeme's Gourmet Gashes! He is our leader, and a very good one in most departments, but the kitchen is where Graeme does experience some measure of anxiety. We found out that it is for good reason! One day, Graeme decided that after a few "shadowing" experiences with Lynda making bread, that it was time he struck out on his own & made bread from start to finish. The art of making bread lies in keeping the yeast warm, hard to do in a boat sitting at 6C! The secret is to put the water & yeast in an insulated mug while "brewing". Graeme decided that putting it on the heater would keep it nice and warm...so warm he killed it! Take two: he mixed the yeast into the water with a wisk! Dead again! Take 3: he got past the yeast brewing phase and was ready for the flour. Well, I still can't type this out without laughing to the point of tears. I discovered Graeme diligently trying to work in 4 cups of whole milk powder he had added to his precious yeast! He had inadvertently grabbed the wrong container out of the bilge storage area. With little to say, I simply tiptoed away after pointing to the lid after letting out an "oh oh" just audible by Keri who sat in her cabin nearby chuckling. Graeme has not attempted bread since this experience & is seeking out a bread makers support group. He also does not believe there is such a thing as "active yeast"! Another food foible which recently occurred is the identification of "navy beans", an admitably deceiving name! Graeme was asked to retrieve some navy beans from one of our storage barrels & dutifully went outside and dug deep into the barrel pulling out 3 bags of beans. Upon producing the beans out of his backpack once at the boat I realized his mistake when I discovered he had removed black beans (looking navy in the dark), thinking that navy beans would be navy! He will never understand why these white beans were ever named navy beans! Each cooking day brings a new challenge for Graeme & we eagerly await what lies ahead in the kitchen for Graeme in the year 2000!
14th of December Yesterday was a 'dinner-in-the-hut-day'. Lars stayed to baby-sit Northanger, while Keri, Greg and I went with Bamse and Yukon to the hut. The moon was up for the first time as we left the boat, standing yellow-red and new just above the southern horizon. It did not give us much light, but it was certainly a welcomed sight. Now we can look forward to bright nights again. I had Yukon on a leash, while Bamse was running round freely. Yukon pulled hard so I was a bit ahead of the other two. As we approached the hut, the dogs started staring at something behind the hut, their ears straight up. Then they started barking. I directed my head lamp into the dark and tried to look as best I could, but the only thing I could see was the tent of Lynda and Graeme, newly being put up. To be on the safe side I shot of a flare in the direction of the tent, but nothing came running out from behind it. By then Keri and Greg were there as well, they had heard the flare going off and wondered what was going on. I felt safer now and took Bamse and went over to the tent to inspect. There were no footprints around it except from boots. Bamse had a closer inspection as well, and concluded that all was well by marking on the tent (before I could stop him). Anyhow, it feels safe to know that they both react when seeing unknown, big, black shadows. Guldborg St.
Nicholas Day
Hourglass Bay Nursery School
Greg cutting the ice around the stern of Northanger using a chainsaw. When they had the large snowfall some weeks ago, with warmer temperatures following, the weight of the snow pushed the ice down. The bow and main body of the boat, being rounded with no protruberances, "popped up". The stern, with skeg, propeller, etc, is "locked " in the ice, therefore was dragged down. First efforts to free the stern were quite frustrating (see KP journals Nov.14, 17 and GL journal Nov.22) because of the "warm" weather, now that it is colder they can cut blocks of ice with the chainsaw. Once most of the ice is removed, the stern should also level out. EXPEDITION NEWS AND BACKGROUND INFORMATION FREEZE-UP
-- A VISIT TO THE EXPEDITION LOCATION Keith Morton is the Equipment and New Products Editor for Explore Magazine and author of “Planning a Wilderness Trip in Canada and Alaska”. He provided equipment consulting to the expedition, and along with renowned photographer and arctic traveler John Dunn, visited the overwintering site for ten days from 09/29/99 to 10/08/99. After a three day delay due to weather-cancelled flights, John Dunn and I were finally deposited by First Air Twin Otter on a beach 20 km from the Expedition overwintering site, mid-morning on 99 09 29. We’d circled the yacht and hut and made a tantalizingly low pass, but the pilot had decided a landing there was too risky. We were now on the huge Andersrag Beach, just east of Cape Storm. The location was spectacular, with the clearing weather allowing the low-angle sun to illuminate the faces of ice floes in Jones Sound, and the hills over towards Baad and Muskox fjords. But beside us was a strange 300 kg assortment of gear. There was a suitcase containing the Bike Friday folding bike, and the box containing the stand that would convert it to an exercise bike to keep expedition members fit when holed up for long periods by winter darkness and storms. Then there were four lengths of 3 inch ABS pipe for extending the air vents on the Northanger (conveniently filled with cans of beer and bamboo plant stakes for use as route markers in snow). Also 100 kg of high energy dog food, five pulks (cargo sleds) ranging from 2.5 metre monsters to a kid-hauler, skis, ITT Night Vision binoculars, several large boxes of parts for Northanger, and a heavy piece of electronic scientific equipment for Lars’ research. In addition there was the box of equipment I was to install to monitor the temperatures and humidities in the various parts of the hut. And in pride of place, a carefully nursed box containing several bottles of Ice Wine from expedition sponsor, Vineland Estates Winery! Definitely an odd assortment for a September day at 77 degrees North, though less improbable items in the pile included our two packs containing our skiing and winter camping equipment! Contact through our Spillsbury HF radio indicated Lars and Graeme were on their way to meet us with a sled and two dogs, but were still several hours away. We loaded most of the gear into three sleds and commenced hauling in relays towards a likely rendezvous point. Although the gravel beach was largely swept free of snow by the wind, making it a good landing place, there were strips of snow in the hollows that interconnected and provided a sled-hauling route in the right direction. The first days of a sledhauling trip are always a bit brutal - it’s not an activity you can realistically train for in summer in Calgary without getting some very odd looks! However, we were soon well away from the beach and from the greatest likelihood of a bear encounter. And as we ascended to higher ground, the views over Cape Storm and iceberg-scattered Jones Sound became more and more interesting in the even lower afternoon sunshine. Memories came back of another tough haul in a similar location last year, portaging our canoes around a 5km canyon where a river dropped into the Arctic Ocean! The meeting with our welcoming party occurred at a good time and place to set up camp. We tethered the dogs to skis buried in trenches and made the first of many pots of tea. During a long evening of eating and tea drinking I renewed my friendship with Graeme, whom I’d last met when he was searching for Sverdrup relics on a nearby icebound fjord several years ago, and I started to get to know Lars and the dogs. A clear 9C dawn arrived and along with it the daunting prospect of the remaining 17km haul to the site. Being by far the oldest and smallest of the party, I was concerned about keeping up, but they gave me a lighter pulk with only about 70kg while the others were over 100kg. Care about staying hydrated and “snacked” paid off, and I was relieved to be not far behind at the lunch stop at the top of the 300m pass. I also found that the small Tubbs aerobic snowshoes were ideal for sledhauling. In the dense snow they provided plenty of support, and the crampon under the ball of the foot gave good traction. They survived the abuse of the heavy work and being used with skiboots instead of the intended light running footwear. Then it was all downhill, though manhandling the pulks down a 30 degree slope in a deep gully slowed us a little. A short side trip into an ice cave was a pleasant respite before the final leg down the valley to the site. The first real problem came in the last two kilometres to the hut. The night of clear, colder weather had put a skim of ice on the bay, and we were not able to use the dinghy to bypass the final section of steep shoreline between us and the hut. The necessary traverse on steep hard wind-packed snow above a 50 metre slide onto a rocky shoreline was not something I relished with a heavy backpack at the end of a hard day. I was keenly aware of the dire consequences of a slip, and took my time and kicked my ski boot toes firmly into the snow. The sight of the reddish ruins of a dropped bag of dogfood on the rocks below made me really want to take care! But the cheery smile and welcome from Guldborg coming to meet us boosted spirits for the final leg of the journey.
Over the next few days, John and I had a busy schedule of photography to ensure that the Expedition’s sponsors would receive good images of their products in action and to obtain images for the education component of the website. The weather was getting colder and the down jackets from The North Face began to see some serious use. We kept our bodies well “fuelled” by hot chocolate drinks and great Norwegian chocolate provided by Freia Sjokoladefabrikk. I spent a full day installing electronic temperature and humidity monitoring equipment at various locations in and around the hut. These devices, some installed at various points through the thickness of the walls, would record all winter, and provide valuable information to the hut’s designers, Scanada Consultants. Once it became apparent I was something of a handyman, various other fixing projects appeared, and my Leatherman Tool and Leatherman tool adapter saw lots of use. I was really pleased to be wearing my Smartwool socks and the Sorel minus 100 boots getting any work done is more difficult if your feet are cold. My Lowe Alpine Dry-Flo underwear did a great job of keeping me warm and dry, especially during periods of widely varying activity levels. And the expedition members worked long hours on the laptop computers supplied by Toshiba, typing reports that we would bring south on disk and email to numerous sponsors and well-wishers. Power for the computers, radio, and lights was coming from the big 12V batteries supplied by the Surrette Battery Co., kept charged with wind generators and the Balmar generator. The Statpower Prosine 2.5 inverter was also doing sterling service in the “electrical department”. The wiring in the hut was not complete, but in the boat some of the light was coming from really nifty LED lights from Davis Instruments. These produce a lot of light while using a tiny fraction of the power consumed by normal incandescent bulbs. The cool clear snap that started the freeze-up and prevented us using the dinghy didn’t continue, and significant amounts of warm snow fell much more than is normal in this desert area. But it made for good skiing! We needed to reconnoitre a more direct route to the landing ground for our return journey, and this gave us an excuse to climb up into the high country above the site. And of course we didn’t miss the opportunity to make some telemark turns on our Asnes skis in the unusually good (for the high arctic) powder snow! There was also a significant wind that broke up some of the ice and made it difficult for the yacht to stay in the desired overwintering position a trying time for the crew on board. But then the temperatures dropped and freeze-up got under way in earnest, although a stretch of open water positioned itself inconveniently between hut and boat. Finally on 9910 04 John and Graeme made a successful attempt to reach the Northanger. This called for a celebratory dinner, and the next night we all crowded into the Northanger’s main cabin for one of Keri’s superb dinners, complemented with some splendid Vineland Estates wine. Northanger ‘s 4000kg lifting keel is a major intrusion into the living space, and my mind boggled at how the party had all found room along with a year’s worth of supplies on the journey to the bay. But with most of the stuff offloaded earlier by dinghy there was room for us all to eat and socialise. For two nights I was allocated a comfortable bunk beside the passageway that runs alongside the keel casing to the bow cabin and workspace. Heat from the kerosene cookstove and oven, as well as from a small space heater kept the boat comfortably warm at around 10C, and it is well lit using electricity generated largely by the wind generator. We had some days gorgeous weather flat calm and sunshine for part of the day - and took lots of pictures in and around Northanger, even hoisting the sails and seeing the nifty Profurl headsail roller system in action. While us photographers were hard at work, the Northanger crew had to get on with the winterizing jobs the engine cooling system could be finally drained, the toilet would soon freeze up, the sails could be stowed, and preparations needed to be made to remove the rudder so it couldn’t be damaged by ice movements. However the weather deteriorated for our journey back to the landing beach and our flight home. Rudely awakened by the alarm on my Suunto Vector altimeter watch at 0600, we were soon out into the pre-dawn gloom with the falling snow and mist down over the hills indicating bad flying weather. With Keri and Greg keen to get on land and stretch their legs after two weeks on the boat, we had lots of helpers to haul the sleds. This was important as the new shorter route started with a 300 m climb up the gully behind the hut and onto the plateau. There was lots of fresh snow, so hauling was not easy. Visibility was very poor on the top, but luckily on our reconnaissance trip, Guldborg and I had spotted a gully route down the other side that would be easy to find, and taken a bearing to it. Most compasses are unreliable this close to the magnetic pole, due to the large and varying declination (about 71 degrees west) and the needle-jamming downward pull (inclination) on the compass needle. However, my Suunto MC1-G is designed to eliminate the jamming effect of inclination and it worked accurately, though more slowly than further south. Soon five of us were making good progress following the gully downhill through the now-thinning mist, and in a few hours of steady travel we were at the landing zone. I had got myself well into the idea of camping out and waiting for better flying weather, but the sky cleared, we radioed First Air in Resolute, and were told the plane would be there in an hour and a half. Frantic activity then ensued to prepare the site for a landing there had been a lot of fresh snow and the strip was entirely white, which makes it very difficult for pilots to judge where the ground is. We had to shovel and boot-kick snow from two strips 50cm wide and about 300 m long, exposing the dark gravel beneath. The plane soon arrived and we unloaded more supplies and loaded up our personal gear and the precious mail and computer disks, as well as 50 kg of frozen used diapers! As the plane carried John and I off into the evening twilight, I felt a pang of regret at leaving our new-found friends, who were quickly becoming three very small and lonely dots in the midst of the vast arctic landscape. There was still a daunting task ahead of them, but having seen how much they had already achieved, I felt honoured to have worked with them and confident in their ability to meet the expedition’s objectives and obligations over the next eleven months.
Some kilometers from the camp is Bjoerneborg (Bear Head), where the Danish zoologist Edvard Bay spent three months alone during the spring of 1900. Here he looked after a depot of seal and bear meat. The depot was used to supply dog sledding trips to the north part of Ellesmere. We found remains of his tent canvas, nails, wood, broken wine bottles etc.
Sept 28, 1999 Today the wind from southeast finally ceased. So, it has been a day of work. On the roof, cracks were sealed with silicon. Then we added a wire to secure the roof against the winds which are sure to begin again. Tomorrow, we are expecting visitors from the south (John Dunn, photographer, and Keith Morton from Explore magazine). They will fly in to Cape Storm (10 -15 km). Graeme, Lars, and the dogs (Bamse and Yukon) are going there on foot/skis and pulling sleds (or pulks) to pick them up. They are taking extra skis for John and Keith. The dogs are going for the exercise and to warn in case of bears. After their one week visit, John and Keith will leave again, (if weather permits) and then we won't see other people until March. Days are filled with organizing and reorganizing the hut and boat, and shuffling food around. It is difficult to believe we will eat all this food, but we probably will. No bears in camp so far!! Construction of the Hut
August 27, 1999
We had tense moments sounding our way into Hourglass Bay. The outer bay is crossed with shoals and we struggled to find a way forward in at least 4 metres of water. The good news is we managed to get in beyond the pinch of the deltas on either side (whence the hourglass shape) and the shoals will protect us further inside from icebergs and severe ice pressure. The bad news is that the best harbour for Northanger is in the east section of the upper bay. To get the hut and boat close together for dark winter walks, we have to move 3000 kg of Thermapan structural insulated panels and lumber over to the west side - about two kilometers by three metre dinghy. We've dug trenches for placing structural anchors in advance of the soil freezing and the transportation epic is 2/3 done already. We'll have a separate communications hut on the west side delta from where we can "see" one of our communications satellites to the southeast. A polar bear came swimming by the boat this afternoon, startling cook Keri just a wee bit...
Photo Graeme staering Northanger across the Atlantic Ocean. We are in Canada!!! Excitement abounds and we had a small "Canada Day" party last night to mark the occasion while anchored off of a small nook on the south east tip of Coburg Island. What a thrill to see the Canadian Arctic! It is Lars' first trip to Canada! The team must now shift into thinking of what must occur next in this phase of the trip. We must prepare for functioning on land and be aware of the ever inherent dangers that come with Polar Bear territory. Lots to think about before just going ashore and heading off to explore this beautiful land!! We are making way to Fram Fiord for tonight's anchorage and then we will
head into Grise Fiord on Sunday to make preparations for loading our boxes (some 80+ in
number) which were posted from southern Ontario over the last two months. We will likely
take advantage of our final opportunity for doing laundry in washing machines and taking
nice hot showers without having to turn the water off between washing and rinsing our
hair! Perhaps a few haircuts will be in order as well!! Short is best it seems for a
winter with a small supply of water!! The sailing and weather have been very good for the
trip up the coast of Greenland and over Baffin Bay to Ellesmere Island. We have had to
motor sail a fair bit, but had some good winds at times. The
Photo: Graeme, Keziah
and Keri on
July 20, 1999 |
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What's New March 24- The Lodge at Hourglass Bay Today it's mild for the high arctic in March,
only minus 25, but it is extremely windy. Spindrift is blowing past the hut at 35 knots;
sorties to empty the spills bucket or to fetch snow for melting have to be carefully
rehearsed. Most of the time, I'm anxious to dispel myths about the "hostile
wastes" in the north; today it's plainly and simply "the howling arctic".
Days like these we take great pleasure in our lodgings here in Hourglass Bay. When
planning for the Expedition, it was important to provide for accommodation additional to
that afforded by Northanger, frozen here into the bay ice. The shore hut would be living
quarters for 2-3 of our crew, storage space, and back-up shelter for all in case of fire
aboard the boat. It had to be warm, functional, and congruent with the environment. The
Expedition brought together the expertise of Scanada Consultants, who have for years been
designing buildings for demanding arctic conditions, and Thermapan Industries who market a
foam core panel building system. The frameless construction is based on interconnecting 6
inch foam panels ("Structural Insulated Panels") made of expanded polystyrene.
No studs are required; splines between floor panels, floor headers, top & bottom wall
plates, fascia boards, and roofing cant strips comprise the only lumber used. Our
application was a touch more modest than the 28,000 sq ft roof system installed by
Thermapan at the Mont Tremblant, Québec ski resort - but the priorities are similar:
insulation, snow load tolerance, wind-resistance. We also had to make sure that polar
bears couldn't make an unannounced entrance - a rarity, I'm sure, at Mont Tremblant. The
National Research Council of Canada was a party to our project through the Industrial
Research Assistance Program - and we are monitoring building performance (temperature
gradient through the wall, relative humidity, etc) throughout our year on Ellesmere
Island. The building stands out bright and friendly red in the snowy landscape. It is
wired in to buried 4 x 4 deadmen anchors and propped up on cribs of wedges permitting
adjustments to level at any time. Snow and wind blow cleanly underneath the building. Both
ends are three sided to shed wind better. There are 2 x 2 triple glaze windows with
integral vents on each side of the building. Both the vestibule and inner doors open
inwards to prevent our being socked in by snowdrifts. The vestibule is the work area: fuel
drum cradle, tool storage, freezer, honey bucket, etc. Inside we have a drip heater fed by
fuel line from the vestibule drum, a small kitchen platform with a camping stove, heavy
duty utility shelving, a work table made from a spare foam panel, bunks, drying nets, and
loft storage. The building and its furniture as well as heating and powering systems (100
W wind generator with gas generator back-up) took this inexperienced gang of 6 only 3
weeks to put up last September - working around child care and preparing Northanger for
its icy entombment! So how are we doing? We have more than survived and, in fact, are
getting downright nostalgic at the thought of having to leave this home. To date, writing
in mid March, we have used only 900 L of kerosene heating fuel for the 1900 cu ft
structure - in ambient temperatures down to the mid minus 40's and in tremendous blows at
times. December's mean temperature, for example, was -30 with max/min of -18/-37. We have
left the hut unheated for the better part of the day at times in mid-winter - and still
returned later to above freezing inside conditions. Proof in the pudding: 3 year old
Keziah has never complained about living conditions. Our only mistake was to mount the
wind generator mast on the roof instead of free-standing. At times like this, we live
inside a jackhammer. Overall, we're impressed - and warm in a demanding environment! We
like to think we've clung stubbornly to our sanity throughout as well, attacks of cabin
fever here and there in the arctic night notwithstanding. Dr. Leon of the University of
Minnesota psychology department, consultant to the crew selection process at NASA, will be
the judge during her site visit next month. Martian habitat, this, perhaps? 
It is still quite dark here
after about 8 pm in the evening. Last night we saw a bit of aurora, or northern light,
perhaps for the last time this season. We have not seen much of it here here. The reason
is that we are too far north! We have only seen it as weak, pale green bands and arcs on
the southern sky. Sometimes they are rather stationary, and sometimes they move and dance
a little bit. Anyway, up here without any light pollution, it is a spectacular view. But
it would probably be hard to take a picture of it here. You can probably see just as much
aurora further south in Canada and Norway as here if you are in the mountains or in the
forest on a clear night in autumn or winter. There is aurora in summer too! But normally
it is then too light and hazy to see it. So why is there not more aurora here? One should
think there was more aurora the further north you go, but it is not that simple. In order
to understand this, we have to talk about something called the aurora oval. Along this
oval the northern light is at its maximum. The further south or north you go from this
oval the less aurora you see. The aurora oval is centered around the geomagnetic north
pole. And what is that? When people talk about the "North Pole", they normally
talk about the geographical north pole at 90 degrees north (we are at 76 24 N in Hourglass
Bay). Then you have the magnetic north pole which the compass points towards. This point
is actually not far from Hourglass Bay. For the moment it is situated at Graham Island, at
about 79 degrees N, a bit northwest of us. We will pass just by this island on our skiing
trip to Axel Heiberg Island this spring. The magnetic north pole is moving all the time,
and is at the moment heading north. But, of course, the Earth is not a perfect magnet. It
is quite asymmetrical. So, if you think about a perfect magnet bar with the same magnetic
field as the Earth, the magnetic north pole would be situated somewhere above the west
coast of Greenland at about 79 degrees N. This very theoretical point is called the
"Geomagnetic North Pole". Thus, returning to the aurora oval, it is centered
around this point, about 100 to 300 km above the Earth's surface. The "solar
wind", which is the charged particles that are streaming out from the Sun, are
trapped by the Earth's magnetic field. The highest concentration is found along the aurora
oval. Oxygen- (O) and Nitrogen (N) particles in the atmosphere are hit by the solar wind,
and sends out a green (O), red (N&O) and violett (N&O) light. In Canada, Iqaluit,
the capital of Nunavut, is situated at about the right latitude for maximal aurora. In
Norway, Tromsø is at the right latitude. There the aurora is much stronger and more
colourful than on Svalbard in the Norwegain Arctic for example. The northern light is
called Aurora Borealis in Latin. In the southern hemisphere there is southern light or
Aurora Australis. One other thing: Since the northern light is more than 100 km away when
we watch, we can not hear anything! But it is easy to imagine that when you stand alone
staring at the sky a winter night. -Lars 
Jan 16, 2000 - I had a BATH! 
We read a story from this book
while the team gathered around the cozy table aboard Northanger on Christmas Eve or
Julaften. We would have forgotten where we were if not for opening the hatch once in a
while to see the wind whipping snow around! Graeme read the story of how Otto Sverdrup
& crew celebrated Christmas 100 years ago aboard their vessel, Fram. It was a
comfortable experience it seems as they "kept Christmas until Jan 4th"! Not a
bad party for the time! We have discovered that the Norwegians are indeed good at
partying! Lars & Guldborg put on a great feast for their Julaften celebrations! First
we enjoyed Julegrøt, a wonderful rice pudding to which one can add sugar, cinnamon &
sour cream! The tradition with this pudding is that there is one white almond hidden in
the pudding. The person who discovers the almond in their bowl of Julegrøt must try to
conceal this until everyone is finished. The lucky person gets a marzipan pig for a treat!
Good thing the pudding was delicious since Lars ended up with the almond...hmmm,
suspicious outcome! We played & chatted for the afternoon while our Norwegian team
mates prepared the dinner...rack of reindeer! Yum! Along with the rich meat we had
potatoes & pea stew, all great! We took our time feasting on seconds & more! Then
came the fruit cocktail with whip cream & berries on top! Keziah had endured patiently
throughout the dinner, waiting for the traditional dance around the Christmas tree singing
carols! Lars & Guldborg could hardly believe that she actually wanted to do this, for
no other Norwegian child wishes to endure this part if it can be avoided before present
opening. Keziah loves music & was highly motivated by what comes AFTER the music so
she joined in for a few ditties to which they sang & danced with great joy! The
present opening came at last & everyone enjoyed the fun! It was a wonderful start to
our festive celebrations! Christmas Day! 
The hut looked great - and not just
because I was tired and looking forward to some shelter! In just one month of very hard
work the team had moved the construction materials for the hut across the bay from where
they had been landed by the Coast Guard. Then, using panels pre-cut by Salvatori Custom
Homes, they had already built a solid haven from the arctic blasts. Scanada Consultants
who specialise in arctic building design, had designed the building to be built from
Thermapan, which is 15 cm thick sheets of styrofoam between 11mm oriented strandboard
facings. The sheets are joined together with edge splines and sealed with silicone and
injected foam. The Refleks Olieovne kerosene stove had been turned down to pilot setting
for many hours but the hut insulation is so good that I was soon peeling off clothes as
Lynda handed me a big bowl of soup. This was the first of many great meals to emerge from
the Seal Line drybags being used for food storage. Looking out of the triple-glazed window
I could see the yacht 
Keziah
in Caribou clothing
Walls are coming up. The hut panels fit almost
perfectly. We just had to trim the last one a bit? 
After two weeks (around September 15th) the hut was
up, and it started to become homey? 
The Canadian coast guard had
left some surprises for us in one of the food barrels. The dogs were also curious about
the contents. 
It's pretty here; last night a crescent moon
rose over the eastern ridges while deep orange glows lingered from sunset in the
northwest. Our water pond is freezing over and nights are quite frosty. All are well and
busy as squirrels before winter. 
Havnefjord: We found the rock in Harbour
Fiord to which 
Ove Braskeruds
grave: Ove Braskerud died in October 1899 in Harbour Fiord (probably of pneumonia). His
body was sunk in the sea, but the crew made this cross on land. 
Grise Fiord is Canada's northernmost settlement. We
have not figured out why Sverdrup gave the fjord this name. It must be related to the
supper on 
Inukshuk:
Bad weather: 
August 20, 1999
temperatures have been very mild for this time of
year, but as we head inland to Ellesmere Island there is a noticeable change to the crew's
attire….hats for everybody and steam emitting from the crew when breathing inside!!
We are indeed in Arctic Canada, and here for the duration of the winter!! A great
milestone indeed!! .jpg)
August 9th 1999.jpg)
e afternoon. We still haven’t been
ashore, but we have already met some locals, that is, they came out to the boats to meet
us. Tomorrow will be a busy day in town with gas filling, shopping, e-mails and visit to
the research station, in addition to a visit to the danish guy, Mads, who came out here,
and who has a dog team of seventeen Eskimo dogs! 
July 23, 1999