Open the below pictures in a full-screen slideshow by Flickr
July 23rd, 2009 – Barrow, Alaska
by Herb McCormick and David Thoreson
(July 23): When the locals here in the Arctic village of Barrow say they can’t ever remember a summer when they’ve seen the likes of it, they might be referring to one of two things. The first item is the relentless easterly breeze, which over the last five days has laced the near-frozen waters off Barrow at a tenacious, sustained 25-30 knots. The second is the view of the open anchorage from the vantage point right off town: Folks with long memories can conjure up visions of a pair of sailboats riding at anchor, but never three. And on overnight stop by an icebreaker called Sir Wilfred Laurier, dressed in the colors of the Canadian Coast Guard, introduced a vivid splash of red to the visual cavalcade.
In Barrow, where Ocean Watch remains on station well into a second week, these are apparently very rare days.
We’ll start with the wind, which simply won’t stop blowing. When we leave Barrow – if we leave Barrow? – our first stop will be a short 25-miles down the track, where we plan at least a brief visit with scientist and ornithologist George Divoky on Cooper Island, where he’s conducted research on black guillemots and climate change for the last three decades. If you’re reading this, George, we’ve got your inverter and your groceries. Well, sorry, we’ve been here longer than planned. But we’ve got your inverter!
Kidding aside, we’ve gotten to know George a bit this summer, and have become familiar with his work – which is flat-out remarkable and which we’ll discuss more in future logs – and his thoughts on this easterly are worth repeating.
“If it blew like this every year, I wouldn’t have lasted thirty summers in the Arctic,” he said over the VHF-radio the other night. “Everyone in Canada must be light-headed at this point because all their air is gone.”
So, yes, it’s been a tad breezy. And, certainly, we’ve been here a week longer than originally scheduled. But it’s given us the opportunity to get to know a lot of folks here in town, and that fact has been more than a sliver of the proverbial silver lining around the quite literal cloudy sky above. Barrow, as the northernmost town in North America and the U.S., is a crossroads for Arctic scientists and researchers who come here on all manner of projects and studies, many of them in concert with the fascinating Barrow Arctic Science Consortium (BASC).
Local biologist Craig George jokingly refers to the informal talks and lectures that visiting scientists regularly
 |
| Snowy Owl expert Denver Holt spent a day in the field with David Thoreson. |
conduct in town as the “science tax” imposed on visitors to Barrow. During our stay here, we met one such speaker, a scientist named Denver Holt, who like George Divoky, has been coming to the Arctic for many consecutive years. Denver’s focus is on Snowy Owls, and when he invited Ocean Watch photographer David Thoreson to spend a day with him in the field – despite the fact that it was about 35-degrees out, and the wind-chill factor was considerable – he didn’t have to ask twice. We’ll let David pick up the narrative:
“The crew of Ocean Watch was fortunate to arrive in town when Snowy Owl expert, Denver Holt, from Montana, was presenting a fascinating look into the habits of this key species in the Arctic. I was invited out into the field with Denver to look for, and hopefully photograph, this majestic owl.
“I awoke early to organize my gear. Barrow had disappeared in the fog and 20-30 knots of breeze would make the dinghy ride in an experience with waves breaking on the beach. I hated to even ask Mark for the shuttle. But there was Denver waiting on the beach with his ATV.
“Completely soaked, I jumped out of the dinghy, donned a pair of worn-out goggles, and jumped on the back of the ATV. It was 36 degrees, windy and misting…the worst conditions but off we went. The few roads out to the tundra surrounding Barrow are horribly dusty and now I found myself and my backpack covered in dust and mud.
Four miles out we suddenly stopped. I could not see a thing through my muddy goggles but Denver’s eagle eyes had spotted a female Snowy Owl and off we hiked into the mush of the Barrow outback.
“Snowy Owls feed on little furry animals called ‘lemmings’ which are important to the habitat of the tundra. Their numbers are very much diminished this year and the numbers of owls are way down, a direct correlation. Last year
 |
| Ocean Watch with a Canadian Coast Guard vessel in the background. |
there were over thirty Snowy owls in the tundra surrounding Barrow. This year only a handful of owls are present. But a walk through the tundra with Denver yields more information about this intricate ecosystem. ‘This is a grove of willow trees,’ explained Denver, much to my amusement. The trees were about two inches tall. ‘Here in the tundra the grasses and flowers are taller than the trees.’ Denver went on to explain the ‘polygon’ network in which taller knobs are formed over hundreds of years of the freeze/thaw cycle and the owls use these perches on which to nest and look for their food supply.
“Denver continued the discussion: ‘The Snowy Owl is a ‘key species’ in the Arctic ecosystem. People, and especially children, like big white animals such as the polar bear. I don’t know why. By bringing attention to the life of the Snowy Owl I hope to also bring awareness to the plight of other species and the delicate balance which exists in the Arctic as the climate changes.’
“Back in town, we stopped at the grocery deli for a hot coffee after thirty bone-jarring miles of ATV back roads and six miles of hiking. I could feel the grit in my teeth. We had seen four Snowy Owls. Even Denver was numb. I shook off what I could of the Barrow dust from myself and equipment, had a laugh, and pondered another great day completely immersed in the science of Barrow.”
Along with Denver and many, many other interesting folks, we’ve also met some like-minded sailors also venturing forth into the Northwest Passage this summer. The crew of the Belgium-flagged 45-footer Baloum-Gwen was one of the three sailboats anchored off town earlier this week, but they departed early yesterday, directly into the teeth of the easterly. Their shallow-draft steel boat was taking a pounding at anchor, and we can only assume that they’d come to the conclusion that if they were going to be miserable, they may as well be making progress at the same time.
Along with Ocean Watch, the third boat in our little fleet was the 40-footer Silent Sound, flying a Canadian flag and
 |
| The crew of Silent Sound set a course today for the Northwest Passage. |
skippered by Cameron Dueck, a journalist based in Hong Kong who’s taken a year’s sabbatical to sail the Northwest Passage and write about climate change. Cameron’s young crew is comprised of a couple of German sailors named Hans and Tobias, and it was a pleasure getting to know them all during our shared time in Barrow. Silent Sound weighed anchor and set a course eastward early today. We’re sure we’ll be seeing them down the line and will look forward to hearing more of their adventures.
With time on our hands, first mate Dave Logan took the opportunity to jet home to Seattle to attend to loose ends and pick up some spare gear and supplies for the next leg of our voyage. The extended forecast is finally calling for light winds on the weekend, and the latest ice reports are encouraging. The plan, though subject to revision, is to follow our mates on Silent Sound in the very near future once our man Logan returns.
So, don’t miss the plane, mate: With any luck, the easterly has had its fun. Come Sunday, it’ll be time to get the show back on the road.
- Herb McCormick and David Thoreson with photographs by David Thoreson
This crew log submitted by Iridium OpenPort and Stratos
To add a comment to this story click on the comment link below the post title. Please direct your messages for the crew to crew@aroundtheamericas.org instead of submitting them here. Thanks for following the Around the Americas Expedition.
