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News after July 2000 June 14, 1999 March 21, 1999 March 12, 1999 February 1, 1999 January 31, 1999 January 6, 1999 December 1998 The Expedition has received a major grant from the Norwegian Defence Construction Service for snow cover research to be conducted by the team during the wintering. November 1998 Learn more about the Magor family and the expedition in this feature article. Ashburton link to Arctic adventure (Ashburton Guardian) VIDEO
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Experience the yacht Northanger's 1996 mission to Antarctica. Download the Northanger expedition video. NEWS FROM
THE EXPEDITION YACHT NORTHANGER OTHER NEWS
October 1998 EXPEDITION
LEADERS RETURN FROM NORWAY July 1998 NEW SPONSOR The Expedition welcomes the S.M. Blair Family Foundation to our growing team of sponsors and partners. A REPORT FROM THE EXPEDITION IN NEWFOUNDLAND During the last week of June Expedition leader Graeme Magor travelled to St. John's, Newfoundland.... Read the report. April 1998 PRESS CLIPPINGS Clippings from the Globe and Mail and articles from Canadian Geographic are now available. Feature article in the National Post (27 January 1999) REPORT: Norwegian TEAM HEADS NORTH From February 5th to 7th, the Norwegian team members Guldborg and Lars went north to the municipality of Bindal, the place were Otto Sverdrup was born. Here he lived until he was 17. In this spectacular landscape the young Sverdrup lived an active outdoor life on the sea, in the forest and in them mountains. It is claimed that he shot his first bear at age 14. Through this education, he learned the attitude to be "aldrig raadløs" - to never giveup, which helped him so many times later in difficult situations. We were grateful to be invited by the council of Bindal who has also given an economical contribution to the expedition. Bindal is a small but active municipality with about 1800 inhabitants, on the south part of the Helgeland coast, about 320 km north of Trondheim. Situated close to the geographical centre point of Norway, it is known for its boat construction traditions (the famous wooden Nordlandsbåt) - and for Otto Sverdrup. The expedition team members hope to be present, when a Sverdrup monument will be unveiled hereon June 5th. We arrived in Terråk, the main village, Friday February 5th in the morning. Here we met Jens Christian Berg, culture consultant. We were also well received by the mayor Magne Paulsen. After a short orientation, and lunch in Jens residence, we went on Terråk junior high school to have a 45min. presentation about the history and our expedition there. Journalists from the newspapers of Namdal Arbeiderblad, Yttringen og Midt-Norge also showed up.After the school presentation, Jens had arranged a visit at Hårstad gård where Sverdrup was born. The farm is now owned by Fred Olsen in Oslo, who had kindly permitted a visit. It is discussed whether Sverdrup was born in 1854,1855 or 1856 but it turns out that it was most probably in 1854. One of the senior citizens in Bindal told us that his father and Sverdrup were born the same year, in 1854. One explanation of this confusion can be that Frithjof Nansen searched for young men for his trans-Greenland expedition in 1888,and perhaps Sverdrup arranged this small inaccuracy then. The large farmhouse at Hårstad is in good shape and we were able to visit the very room where Sverdrup was born. Hårstad was a large and rich farm by Norwegian standard. It has a rich salmon river which has attracted visitors for many generations, including "lakselorder", "salmon lords" from England. We then went to meet our hosts, Gerd and Olav-Håkon Dybvik in their beautiful old residence. After a meal and a nap, we went to the library and had a public presentation there. A small, but interested audience showed up, and we got many useful questions and comments. Later in the evening, Gerd andOlav-Håkon served a pleasant dinner. Jens, Magne Paulsen with his wife Solbjørg and landowners Simone and Frithjof Plathe were also invited. All of these are Sverdrup enthusiasts, and Mrs. Plathe is also leader of the Sverdrup monument committee. We had a wonderful and interesting evening, nobody wanted to leave, but unfortunately the expedition team members became very sleepy around 3 am and just had to say goodnight. The next morning we said goodbye to Bindal after a most inspiring visit. We are very grateful for all the friendly hospitality we were shown. The journey went on to the neighbour municipality of Nærøy where Sverdrups father Ulrik Fredrik Sverdrup was born in 1833, and were Sverdrup moved when he was 17. Here we met our friend Ivar Skjærvik, who has been supporting the expedition for a long time. Ivar is indeed a Sverdrup enthusiast and arranged the first contact between the expedition and Bindal. His wife Ada is a relative of Sverdrup, and Ivar had arranged a meeting with Ada's aunt Anna(age 85), who is actually the cousin of Sverdrup. At that meeting, the mayor of Nærøy, Steinar Aspli, and 4-5 other people with interest in Sverdrup history also showed up, we had a presentation and a long and interesting talk. Then we went on to charming Risvika where Ada and Ivar lives. We had a look at their farm museum and knitting factory and had a quiet evening and a very good and special dinner: moose from their own forest. Sunday morning, Ivar had arranged a visit at the beautiful island of Buøya,where Sverdrups father was born, and where the Sverdrup family has lived for many generations. The island only obtained a road connection with the main island a slate as in 1982. The young wife Hilleborg Sverdrup has now taken over the farm from her father Kåre and once again we were well received in the sunny weather and had an interesting conversation. The old farm house is also in good shape, which is very impressive in such a rough climate. This is a compliment to today's owners as well as to the builders of the past. The visit at Buøya concluded our journey to the North. We went back to Ada in Risvika, where she fed us well again, and then we headed south after intense and inspiring days, ready for our final expedition preparations. REPORT: SVERDRUP TEAM HEADS SOUTH Graeme and
Lynda Magor and their 2 year old daughter Keziah The planning and discussions jumped to a quick start as we piled into the rental car and headed off to the marina to step aboard what will be our home for the Expedition, the yacht, Northanger. It was exciting and a great taste of reality to finally meet Keri, Greg and the Northanger. We settled into menu planning and gear discussions for most of the week. Another focal point was the unexpected replanning of where our winter harbour would be. The re-supply flights, which are key to bringing the necessary food supplies to us for the dark months of the winter, were not going to be able to reach us in our intended location, forcing new discussions of where to anchor for the winter. Keziah settled into living aboard Northanger very nicely and especially enjoyed running along the passageway on the port side of the boat. Early indications are that keeping the hatchway to the deck closed is the only way to deal with inquiring toddlers! While the others continued planning Keziah and I took a break each day to visit the beach front of Ft. Lauderdale. We had lots of Canadian company with kids and families to play with in the sand. Taking on the waves was not part of Keziah's agenda and thus she remained a "beach babe"! Greg and Keri quickly adopted to being second sets of "parent eyes" for Keziah and she warmed to them easily! Greg still awaits his first diaper change....and I hear he is reading up on becoming a "potty training" (potty learning, for the politically correct term) expert for our Expedition! In other words, we're praying for a potty trained child to walk aboard Northanger in June. Hmmm...to borrow our Norwegian's favourite expression! We celebrated Keri's 35th birthday at a wonderful seafood restaurant on the "Lauderdale beach strip" a day before disembarking, waving good-bye for now and heading back to our snowy home in the woods. We all went away with a clear vision of our goals for the Expedition and the many lists of tasks to be completed in short order. (Back to work for me...and the rest of you too!! :) What the Sverdrup Team is Up To: Currently Lars and Guldborg are residing just north of Oslo. Lars is working full time while Guldborg continues to pursue her Phd. at a University in Oslo. They are working overtime after to help organize and secure the various amounts of gear from our loyal sponsors (see Sponsors page) and work on the logistics of the Expedition as a whole. The team dogs Bamse and Yukon are also training hard under Guldborg and Lars' ambitious schedule. In total, all four are getting plently of exercise! Greg and Keri have now hauled Northanger out in Ft. Pierce, Fla. and are finishing work on insulation as well as installing the all important new engine for the trip. Keri is working feverishly to get the menu and food lists prepared...this has to be THE most difficult and important job! Thanks Keri!! They will be loading the Northanger with gear and food for the Expedition and departing for Norway by the end of March. A tight timeline that only these two experienced Adventurers can manage! Graeme and Lynda are working on gear organization from the North American market as well as consulting with Keri on the menu and food lists. Graeme is also still working on securing some key funding for the Expedition. Lynda is working on signing up teachers and schools for the Education Program as well as preparing material for the Education site, when not chasing Keziah around in the snow! The Team is busy! We are all watching the calender and the clock these days, making every minute count as we get every detail organized for our winter North! We are all very excited and look forward to meeting together in June in Norway. The following video clips are now available for downloading: Video segments
are in QuickTime (.mov) and audio (.aif) formats. NEWS CLIP - CFTO NEWS (EXPEDITION
OVERVIEW) EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES EXPEDITION OVERVIEW ABOUT OTTO SVERDRUP ABOUT EXPEDITION LIVING CONDITIONS THE EXPEDITION ROUTE NORTHANGER VIDEO CLIPS NOW AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOADING. THE EXPEDTION YACHT HEADS NORTH - November 1998 Expediton co-leaders Graeme and Lynda have had some news here and there from Northanger as our Expedition yacht has sailed north. In September she left Valdivia in southern Chile where she had been based much of the last year being made over for her date with the arctic ice. First mate and skipper Keri and Greg's first words were "it floats -- we must have done something right!" We hear the boat is not only faster but more comfortable and roomier (this is important stuff for an arctic wintering...). Keri and Greg had to cope with dry, warm, tailwind, la-di-da barefoot conditions through the tradewind belt before Northanger pulled into the Galapagos (yes, that's Darwin's old tramping ground and more recently of volcanic reputation). On November 6 they reported in from a ciber-café in "hot, hot" Panama. Highlights of the trip from the Galapagos were: Not rushing and thereby avoiding Hurricane Mitch (thanks, guys!) a great snowy egret (in the heron family) landing on the deck exhausted and spending a night trying to get some sleep on a bouncing mainsail sheet. Bottlenose dolphins leaping and skimming about as temporary escorts. A boobie bird (don't see these guys too often around here) perched on the mizzen mast one night and left the following morning much lighter - having completed target practice on the cabin hatch, pillows, sheets, doorway, galley, stove, and the entire deck to windward! They switched off the GPS (global positioning system) for the entire crossing and had some practice with steering by the stars -- otherwise known as celestial navigation. After all this experience with the heat, these Antarctic veterans are pining for the colder climates. For the time being they have just come through the Panama Canal en route to Florida. They arrive there in early December to begin the next round of preparations. Graeme and Lynda with daughter Keziah will at long last get together with Kei and Greg in January for a very busy week indeed! EXPEDITION LEADERS RETURN FROM NORWAY - October 1998 In late September Lynda and Graeme Magor travelled to Norway together with the youngest team member, daughter Keziah aged 19 months. We have new respect for people travelling with a toddler....not a wink of sleep on the return flight. Movie, what movie? The week's main event was a reception in honour of the Expedition hosted by the Canadian Ambassador, Marie-Lucie Morin. Oslo has had a miserable summer, wet and cool, and so all were glad to have brilliant sun for the occasion. The Ambassador's residence is one of the more magnificent properties in the city, located on a peninsula jutting into Oslo Fiord and only a stone's throw from the Fram itself--the boat captained by Sverdrup and now preserved as a maritime museum. There was a most distinguished guest. Helge Ingstad will be 99 years young this coming December. He is a household name in Norway and may be known to people in Canada as the anthropologist who discovered the Viking ruins at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland. In addition to the centennial of Sverdrup, we are also on the verge of celebrating the 1000th anniversary of the Vikings' attempted colonization of the New World. The team had the chance to meet sponsor representatives and dignitaries including members of the Fram Committee who made a public funding pledge to the Expedition. The ambassador announced funding and endorsement by the Millennium Bureau of Canada. A descendent of Otto Sverdrup brought along the actual knife used by the explorer on the Second Fram Expedition 1898-1902! There were guests from the Sverdrups' home region of Bindal which is cooperating with the Expedition in celebrations planned for next June. Daily newspapers from Oslo and Bergen are covering preparations for the Expedition project. What would it be like to spend a year in isolation with e-mail friends one had never actually met in person before? This was the question in all minds as Norwegian team members Guldborg Søvik and her husband Dr. Lars Robert Hole came to call on Lynda and Graeme in Oslo. Wonder of wonders, we found a quick and easy rapport. We are as compatible as two couples can be in the lap of civilization. The team (less Keri and Greg now sailing north from Chile in the Expedition yacht Northanger) spent most evenings together going through equipment lists, checking specifications for the shelter to be built at the winter harbour, and enjoying each other's company. It is so fortunate the way this team has come together--Guldborg and Lars bring so much to the project as scientists and fellow educators. They also plan to bring along their two Greenland dogs, Bamse and Yukon, who developed a special relationship with Keziah. The dogs would be a valuable early warning system for polar bears and could pull decent weight on the sledging trips slated for spring 2000. It seems that people in Oslo are always on the go--often as not under their own power on bike or on foot. Graeme and host Vidar Sie had a lot of company on a 25 km run on forest paths to the north--a place where one can easily bump into a Norwegian nordic skiing Olympic medallist on dry land training. Activity there is usually rewarded by robust eating and we assimilated to the diet quite well--menu planning will prove an interesting area of cultural exchange! We had a very pleasant lunch at the offices of Norsk Hydro, our principal financial sponsor, and Graeme had the opportunity to present partnership proposals to a couple of other companies with interests in both Norway and Canada. There were discussions with the WWF (International Arctic Programme headquarted in Oslo) regarding cooperation in scientific and educational programming. Lynda gave presentations to school classes in Oslo and Sandvika, enrolling these schools in the on-line education program and preparing communications to go to teachers throughout Norway. All in all, a very full week ... we came back (jet lag notwithstanding) refreshed and inspired for a very busy winter of planning ahead. We are a team and we have momentum! Here's to Canada and Norway together... A REPORT FROM THE EXPEDITION IN NEWFOUNDLAND - July 1998 During the last week of June Expedition leader Graeme Magor travelled to St. John's, Newfoundland in the company of Shelley Stienstra from The Pinnacle Group. The show in town that week was the Newfoundland Offshore Industries Association conference and tradeshow. Many Norwegian oil and gas interests with extensive experience in the North Sea are looking to partner with North American companies in development of projects such as the Hibernia and Terra Nova oilfields. Graeme and Shelley were guests of the Royal Norwegian Ambassador to Canada, Johan Løvald at a breakfast reception. The Newfoundland Minister for Industry, Trade and Commerce, Hon. Judy Foote was in attendance. She indicated to the early risers that cultural connections must underpin commercial ties and that we need to develop bridges between our nations and peoples. That afterall is a major objective for this joint Canadian-Norwegian arctic wintering expedition honouring Otto Sverdrup! Good contacts were made and we await the outcome of discussions in Norway, hoping to announce new financial partners to the project. Not all was work and talk; Graeme had the chance to (literally) run around as well as up and down the town. There's a spectacular view of the natural harbour and the Narrows from atop historic Signal Hill - even one or two icebergs espied at sea in the last stages of melt. Also there was a rare treat in cheering Norway to victory over none other than Brazil in World Cup Soccer in a George Street pub - a pub probably having for that afternoon the largest Norwegian fan contingent on this side of the pond! In other news, the Expedition has applied for endorsement and funding from the Millennium Bureau of Canada as an official federal millennium project. The bilateral initiative is subtitled "Sharing a Past, Shaping the Future". Until next time.... April 1998 |
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