Expedition Update # 8 - Direct from the High-Arctic! These updates are composed on our sub-notebook computer, which is powered by solar panels courtesy of UNSW, then sent using software from Global Marine Networks, over a satellite mobile phone provided by Landwide Satellite Solutions. Thanks very much to all involved! Date: 19/7/05 Time: 11:00pm Position: 69.114 Deg N, 105.055 Deg W Summary: Swimming in the Arctic? Location Map: Click the map to the left and a new browser window will open, directed to Google's new satellite maps feature. The map view will be centred on our current location. Zoom in for more detail. Weather: Touch cold actually, light rain, snowed a little Temperature: 5 deg C Message: Now where were we? Sleeping on musk-ox skins overlooking a bay of ice - I remember. One of the first long sleeps we've had in months. Brent woke us at 10:30 and - along with everyone else we meet - is determined to fatten us up for our expedition, so we were fed several helping of something resembling spam / lard / beef. God was it good!! Soon after, Brent then put us to work (He used to be an outfitter - training teams for North Pole missions etc) - first some sled hauling training - Clark and I together inched a massive wooden dog sled around collecting big flat rocks from the coast. Eventually we abandoned that sled in preference to a lighter smaller plastic one (see pic). We later helped him deck-out the front of his cabin with these flagstones. It was tiring work, but satisfying and definitely good for us! The three of us paddled out to the edge of the ice flow where Brent taught us to how get in and out of a kayak up against a sheet of ice - something along the lines of "very carefully". A difficult operation when the ice is moving, the kayak's moving, the water's lurching, and all that joins the three is your paddle - which doesn't grip slippery ice too well... A few more grey hairs today. His wife and son turned up by ATV with some seal meat. Yum. (that's the official line - "yum"). Plenty of large Arctic Char (like salmon to look at) kindly entangled themselves in Brent’s net, and we practiced filleting them the correct way using the traditional semi-circular blade (the name of which escapes me). "Oh look, it's a female - here you go boys, eat the eggs.." (oh god no! raw?) slllluurrp. Wince. Smile. Swallow again for backup. "and here's the liver too, (hiding amongst the rest of the offal) that's good for you... here..." Certainly good for our hearts anyway - anything that raises your heartbeat to 200bpm is like exercise right? Slllllllurp.. chew... "And the stomach... " (lifts it up... we look at each other desperately searching for an escape route) " The stomach - is traditionally eaten, but I don't usually." Phew. THAT was close. The nightmare continued as he proceeded to try to push the eyes out of the fish's head... Thankfully they held firm and he gave up, remarking that, strangely, "some people have difficulty eating something that's looking back at them." (Really? I'd never have guessed it.) In all honesty though, none of it tasted that bad, and in a survival situation, it's good to know what we can eat. Brent then proceeded to show us some edible plants that grow around the island - quite sweet & tasty actually. Further along the lines of living off the land, we cooked a slab of Char on a flat rock - until it exploded from the fire sending fish shrapnel everywhere. Mental note to self - find DRY rocks to use as hot-plate, else the water inside boils and shatters the rock. Although swimming amongst the ice in our drysuits has become quite the past-time (see pic), swimming in nothing but our boxer shorts came as a bit of a shock!! This was only made possible by first sweltering inside his home-made sauna until we had to run out and dive into the water to save ourselves from catching on fire. Nothing like a good 50 deg temp change to reset your heart. (Look at Clark’s expression in the pic!) After another night on musk ox fur, we left for the arduous paddle home, just the two of us. The wind picked up and in the end we were faced with large whitecaps (breaking waves) all around us! Our kayak's would slam into one wave, rear up, and plough in to and UNDER the next, icy water running back over the cockpit. If we stopped paddling we went backwards. The waves came from all directions which was interesting - trying to face each one so it wouldn't flip us. Slipping into the right frame of mind, Clark transformed into a pirate - hollering "Arrghh.. Scurvy... Batten down the hatches..." and such like, and between rantings and ravings we sang Row Row Row Your Boat.. all the way back across the several km open water crossing into Cambridge Bay, where Erika - a little girl in the house next door - ran to the shore to greet us. She is so adorable, and visits us often to play hide and seek (it's easy to hide amongst the mess we have made in Doug’s House!) So.. our Kayaks are still stuck in Vancouver due to the truckers strike - all efforts to extract them have so far led nowhere. However we are having an awesome time here, learning, training, eating and even getting in some sleeping. Back to updates list To send us a message, please contact us anytime!