Crossing Baffin Bay and our short passage through the Other World
Isolated in Qaanaaq
Crossing Baffin Bay and our short passage through the Other World
Isolated in Qaanaaq
Change course to Pond Inlet and Northwest Passage
Within minutes our psychology reversed. We left behind the negative energy of our multi days of blockade and the little explorer hidden inside us prevailed again. Course for Pond Inlet.
All or nothing!
Nothing was holding us back anymore and we were hoping the forecast would change the next few days so we could find an escape window.
We really wanted it.
We had worked endless hours on the most legendary passage on the planet.
We couldn't bear to return without soaking up even a little of its mythic aura.
We knew all about the Northwest Passage, that epic seaway north of Canada and Alaska, some 5,780 kilometers long, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
The most dangerous passage on the planet whose history is connected with shipwrecks and missing sailors. For centuries, skilled sailors such as Henry Hudson and James Cook failed to cross it. Harsh weather, thick ice and invisible reefs forced many expeditions to turn back.
A very prominent expedition, which ultimately turned into tragedy, was this of British officer John Franklin in 1845 whose wrecks of his two ships were only recently found.
DAY 39th - Wednesday, August 10
07:00΄ in the morning local time.
The weather throughout Baffin Bay was so good that it gave us the opportunity to turn our bow wherever we wanted. We have put down the special ice concentration maps (eggs codes). Grise Fjord may still be frozen, but the road to Pond Inlet looked clear.
340 nautical miles way.
The only thing we were considering was the case that due to the ice we could not go deep into the Northwest Passage and would have to return to Greenland by crossing more than 400 nautical miles.
After a few days, however, it seemed that a weather window was starting to appear.
This was what finalized our change of course.
08:45' we untied the bow lines.
Time 11:45΄
Position: 76°26΄N 72°00΄W
The sea was calm, the fog quite thin and so we were traveling at speeds of 23 to 30 knots.
Within 3 hours we covered 76 nautical miles and burned 305 liters of fuel.
Time 14:45΄
Position: 75°01΄N 73°36΄W
The sea continued to be by our side so we were able to maintain an average speed of 30 knots.
In the next 3 hours we covered another 89 nautical miles with our consumption dropping to 3.65 liters per mile.
We were already halfway there and the icebergs we had encountered so far were very few.
Time 17:45΄
Position: 73°36΄N 75°11΄W
We continued to travel at 30 knots with Lancaster strait to our right which is the main entrance to the Northwest Passage. Our spirits were high as the aura of the legendary Northwest Passage now ran through our blood and had watered our thoughts with tales of mystery and superhuman adventures.
Time 20:45΄
Position: 72°341΄N 77°58΄W - Pond Inlet
After 12 hours of riding we arrived outside the settlement of Pond Inlet.
We burned a total of 1231 liters and traveled 340 nautical miles. Average 3.6 liters per mile.
We were now off the coast of Canada and inside the Northwest Passage.
Our joy was indescribable.
Fortunately for us, 2 years ago a very safe harbor had been built with 3 large wooden floating platforms.
We docked over to the first one and got out observing the houses down the hill where the name of this small town, in which about 2000 people live, is written.
Pond Inlet is the largest community in the north of Baffin Island and attracts many visitors throughout the year who arrive by plane or cruise ship.
With long dark winters and temperatures that reach -35 °C, it is one of the most inhospitable parts of Canada.
It has two large markets and two hotels that offer Wi-Fi, hot baths and food, which are located high on the hill, 15 minutes' walk from the port. There is also a petrol station nearby, but the supply of petrol is difficult as you need to rent a van to transport it.
A few meters from the port, the offices of the Canadian police are located and of course we did not go unnoticed. Two uniformed women came on board, welcomed us politely and we signed the necessary documents for our entry into Canadian waters.
After talking with them for a long time, we got the first necessary information we needed, while they were kind enough to take us to the hotel with their car as they had seen us quite exhausted from our whole day's travel.
DAY 40th - Thursday, August 11
Our stay at the Sauniq hotel may have been quite expensive but it was great for the area. We took our breakfast and once again focused on our daily standard checking of the forecast for the next few days. Our aim now was to proceed deeper into the Northwest Passage, towards Arctic Bay 200 nautical miles to the west.
Our first concern was to secure the fuel we needed. So we headed to the Co-op, Pond Inlet's largest market across the street from our hotel. That's where the gas station manager's office was.
This is where our unprecedented and incredible Odyssey began.
Upon hearing just the fuel amount we requested, since we needed more than 1500 liters, the manager replied that it was impossible to supply us with that fuel because, as she told us, the tanker that supplies the village had not yet arrived and was on its way.
For many hours we were there trying to convince her that without fuel we could not leave. She was adamant, however, as the petrol reserves were small and just enough for the needs of the village and the locals who need it for their boats with which they go hunting and fishing.
He even pointed out to us that they have never had such a big problem with gasoline in the last 30 years, which was of course due to the delay in refueling from the tanker.
When we asked when the tanker was expected to arrive, we got the vague answer that no one knew.
After the enormous pressure we exerted, we learned that the estimated arrival of the tanker was expected from 5 to 15 days, duration of course, extremely prohibitive for us.
Totally disappointed we went down to the harbor and were trying to collect small quantities of 20 liters from local fishermen.
We asked everyone and reached out everywhere.
But no one could really help us and certainly no one seemed to understand the impasse we were in.
The whole day passed and after a lot of effort we managed to find only 100 liters which of course was an insignificant amount compared to the minimum 1500 liters we needed.
Luckily for us, a small cruise ship captained by Franck Catsuris, a Greek-American from Samos, had just docked outside the port. He generously gave us 100 liters which happened to have in his boat showing an excess of humanity which is probably an unknown word in these places.
Of course, we couldn't sleep that night.
We thought of every possible solution but it was obvious that we had to stay here for many days stranded and frustrated by our bad luck, waiting for the ghost tanker.
The pressure we felt once again was unspeakable and certainly unbearable.
No matter how hard we tried to keep cool, we couldn't and this was clearly visible in our behavior to each other which was very bad.
DAY 41st/42nd - Friday/Saturday August 12/13
In a state of near panic, I put out a request on social media for help through our Consul in Canada. The response was immediate from friends and non-friends, at every corner of the world, who had been following our mission breathless from the beginning.
I received hundreds of messages of support from people who went out of their way to help us even though they were thousands of miles away.
Their response was very touching and warmed our hearts in this frozen place.
On the eve of August 15, the Virgin Mary performed her miracle.
On Saturday morning, the ghost ship was moored outside the harbor and its large-diameter pipes were pouring fuel into the village's huge tanks. The afternoon was over and as we later found out, it was carrying 100,000 liters of petrol.
We quickly ran to the fuel management offices to get permission for refueling.
We were speechless again when the manager told us that she could only supply us with 700 liters because she did not know when the boat would come again.
It was then when I lost the last reserves of my patience.
I was ready to explode.
Cris tried in vain to restrain me.
I was going around her office and not with the best way I asked her to understand that she had to give us more fuel because we simply needed it to return to our homes, to our families.
Of course, the apathy I received was extremely shocking.
At the end, we managed to save the rest of the fuel in a Mediterranean way, crucial though for our return.
While we were fighting for fuel, another bad news came to sadden us. Carlos had to return to his home country urgently.
Lost in thought, we waited in our rental van in the line that had formed at the gas station to fill our flexible tanks.
Until late after midnight we were transporting and transferring fuel.
Completely exhausted, both from the incredibly accumulated tension we had inside us and from the fatigue of the multi-hour transfers, we fell exhausted to sleep.
DAY 43th - Sunday, August 14
Trying to calm down from our incredible changes in emotions, we took the jeep we had rented and drove around the village looking around and talking.
Of course, there was no chance of going deeper into the Northwest passage because the problem with the ghost ship and refueling was affecting all the villages along the passage, and after this incredible adventure, all we wanted was to disappear as quickly as possible from this inhospitable place.
With mixed emotions we were going for walks here and there until late in the afternoon.
Finally, we decided to cook next to the boat, on the wooden platform and enjoy, for the last time all together, a special farewell dinner.
On Monday morning, me and Cris would untie the bow lines heading to Greenland while Carlos would fly to Barcelona after a few hours...
...keep Ribbing!
