Novi
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Feb 17, 2011, 8:27 AM
Post #5 of 7
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Re: [exiles] The Coldest Voyage.....Advice Please!
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Hi, you should know this challenge is not what it used to be, a good thing for you, just 4 years ago Minke finished her voyage after trying forn4 years to get through. But the current climate changed has moved much of the wreak icenextent to the lowest numbers ever. Last year or the year before a yacht from nova scotia actually made it along the northern route to the north of Banks Island, a route usually attempted by class 4 breakers and above. This is not to say it doesn't have it's challenges but typically these are poor visibility and gales more than ice. A good place to start is the Canadian Ice Service which is partnered with US Navy NOAA and has great coverage using ice charts based on Radarsat 2. Bias your search to the most recent years of data as older than 5 years are no longer relevant. Most of experience is based in the western arctic but Baffin island Labrador coast too. I helped sail Peter Brocks Minke from Pond Inlet to Labrador a few years back andnhelped with ice advice for the previous tough 4 years. My background is ice management for somen30 years in Alaska, the Canadian Beaufort, Sakhalin Russia and Newfoundland and now Kazakhstan.... All hotnspots for sailing :-) as mentioned above there are lots of folks who have gone through and have written about their adventures These are all valuable resources. if I can help, drop me a line and if you are in Halifax at some point, call me. As for the NW Passage, the key is getting around Barrow not too early, usually mid July and not later than later than late September when freeze up usually starts. A most miserable place to be is heading south through the Chukchi in late season. Anyhow, good luck, a fine adventure when we seem to be running out of them, Sean (Sean@kazice.com)
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