DAY 4: FOG AND ICE



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This was the day we were supposed to visit Sunshine Fjord.  However, plans can and need to be changed in the Arctic. As we travelled North up the straight between Canada (Baffin Island) and Greenland we started to encounter ice and fog.  Fog we could deal with but ice is another matter, even on an ice-breaker.

Ice all day

One to avoid, 11% above the surface

And another

The problem was that the speed of the ship, normally around 14 knots was reduced to less than one as the crew navigated between the ice.  This meant that even though we were moving it would take far too much time to get anywhere.  We tried for most of the day but reality crept in and we gave up on reaching Sunshine Fjord and turned East from our northerly track to seek open water.

The blue track show where other ships have gone.  Our track is the black one and you can see the turn to the East as we sought clear water

We had access to the bridge most of the time.

This meant we could see if there was anything interesting in the air or on the ice.

There were birds

Seals at a distance

As usual there were talks available for those who were interested.  On this day there was a talk on Franklin and Forensics which described the efforts made to
determine who sailed on the Erebus, found on King William Island and died in their attempt to walk South.  The Erebus, captained by Franklin got stuck in the ice and was abandoned.  It moved South quite along way before it eventually sank.  It was only found quite recently in a mission which the Akademic Ioffe was part of the search team.

The second talk was given by an archeologist - Arctic As A Homeland. 

With no shore landing the tour leader was busy arranging alternative activities.  When we reached Pangnirtung we had been joined by a new passenger - Cory Trepanier, an artist.  He had walked with his daughter on a trail for 10 days that ended in Pangnirtung.  His mission included painting Mount Asgard.

 Over a ten year period he has made three films and we were privileged to see the third in the trilogy - Into the Arctic 3, essentially a premiere  There was another education item as well - Arctic Whales. As before we split into two groups and the film and the talks were given twice as the rooms used were too small to accommodate everyone at the same time.






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