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August 20th, 2009 – At Sea 68 38N, 098 34W
by Mark Schrader
(August 20): Pea Soup. That’s one rather roundabout saying sailors have for dense fog. If you’ve never been in fog so thick you can cut it with a knife (another favorite foggy description), you might not make the connection. But if you’ve ever been engulfed in fog, enwrapped by fog, enveloped by fog – if you’ve ever been on a small boat at sea where the sum of your universe consists of the gray, shapeless, mesmerizing vapor encircling your boat – then you know what we’re getting at here. Yes: Pea soup.
By mid-afternoon today, Ocean Watch had been underway for about fourteen hours, and during that time, the crew had not seen a single item in any given direction beyond the 100-yard radius (or so) of the foggy horizon. It was as if we were traveling in a world of mist, but with a stage light beamed down from the heavens granting us a small circle of visibility. Considering where we are at the moment, it’s not what you’d call your ideal situation. Despite that, we’re making good progress, bobbing our way through a big bowl of pea soup.
During the course of Ocean Watch’s ongoing voyage Around the Americas, skipper Mark Schrader keeps a personal log with piloting and navigation notes and other observations. It’s not his first experience with foggy weather, nor will it be his last. Here’s his report on the current leg from Cambridge Bay to Gjoa Haven
“At midnight – after a short stay at anchor in Jenny Lind Bay and a terrific baked ham and potato dinner followed by a nap – we weighed anchor and made a course for Storis Passage at the south end of King William Island.
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| Surrounding hazards make it necessary to proceed at a reduced speed. |
“In theory, the midnight departure would give us time to negotiate the narrow zigzag course laid out to avoid an impressive number of shoals, rocks and islands between Jenny Lind and Gjoa Haven, 130 nautical miles to the east. Running in heavy fog wasn’t supposed to be part of the time equation. After securing the anchor and exiting the bay the fog descended and seems content to stay. Our hundred-yard view – now in rain and fog – of the Gulf and surrounding hazards has forced us to proceed at a reduced speed. If we make Gjoa Haven without stopping it will be in the middle of the night – around midnight.
“Without charts, chart plotter(s), radar, depth sounder(s), GPS, wind instruments and satellite ice reports – not to
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| It is hard to imagine negotiating the passage without the benefits of modern technology. |
mention a reliable engine – it is hard to imagine negotiating this passage at all, much less in a few weeks – or even a year! Did I mention ice? We’ve seen a few dozen small floes, ones big enough to damage Ocean Watch, appearing and disappearing in the fog. This morning’s ice report shows some 1/10 ice in the area so at least two of the on-watch crew are peering into the fog and keeping a constant lookout.
“One hundred and four years ago Roald Amundsen and his crew on Gjoa spent eighteen months sailing from Gjoa Haven, where they had already spent two iced-in winters, west to the Bering Sea. Gjoa arrived in Cambridge Bay, heading west, on the 17th of August – the same calendar day that Ocean Watch, heading east, was tied to the pier. With the great number of shoals and rocks now decorating our charts – liberally scattered around the entrances and exits to unmarked passages between islands – we’re completely humbled and in awe of their ‘impossible’ achievement. Did I mention our central heating, thermo-engineered clothing and the latest in wet-weather gear provided by our friends at Helly Hansen? Gjoa’s crew of six learned the ways of the local people – their very survival depended upon it. They dressed in ‘local’ clothing and ate the ‘local’ seal and whale fare.
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| The on-watch crew keeps a constant lookout for ice. |
“On the other hand, the six of us on Ocean Watch are now enjoying a breakfast of hot pancakes – thanks to our newest crew member, Harry Stern. We are comfortable, warm and well fed. As we continue to make our way through the Passage with all of our modern conveniences, we do understand that weather rules the day today as it did hundreds of years ago. It would be foolish to think otherwise. For now we are happy to be the beneficiaries of Amundsen’s experience and to be crossing tacks with Gjoa – albeit 104 years later.
“Going slowly in fog and ice, I’m happy to report all are well on Ocean Watch.”
- Mark Schrader and Herb McCormick with photographs by David Thoreson
This crew log submitted by Iridium OpenPort and Stratos
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