Tonight we are off Cape Adair on the north east coast of Baffin Island on or voyage from Pond Inlet to Lewisport, Newfounland. Our present location is 71.29 West 71.29 East! I did not realize it until a few minutes later! We have had a rolli polly kind of day  with the winds being out of the south east  at around 15 knots for most of the day freshening up to around 20 knots at about teatime.(16.00 hrs).The seas also have been out of the south and south east.

 

This late afternoon as the sun dipped there were wisps of thin veiled, whitish clouds against the now Russet Brown rounded  hills ashore. Behind, snow capped, scraggy, combed peaks, some with skinny pinnacle shaped tops rising into a mottled pinkish, light blue sunset. Down near the shore there are some slanted greyish, shale scree slopes, angling to the sea below.

 

Local time here off Cape Adair is 19.00 hours with a sea temp of 9C and air temp of 11C.

There are many icebergs around us to the east and one four miles away is two miles long and a probable height of forty feet. It must have calved of the ice shelf in Greenland is has ran aground in the shallows here. Looking at it with the sun setting looks  very similar to the White Cliffs of Dover in the English Channel!

We anchored in the bay in Pond Inlet yesterday to re supply Catryn and took on fuel and food. All seemed well there, children back at school and were watching us intently through the windows of the small, yellow buses that were transporting them back home. Four wheelers raced along the rutted dirt town streets with whole families hanging on, babies included cutting into the frigid sunny Arctic day. Most of them headed for the Northern Store or Co-op for a treat or some thing for dinner. Large black Ravens perched overhead on the Northern store waiting patiently for morsels below.

It was a big day in Pond Inlet this weekend when Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper came to visit.The hotel was full and busy and  I understand they brought their own modems along to expedite the wifi service!

The focus of this years visit to Pond Inlet and Nunavut was government spending in education , research and development, science and sovereignty.

The one and only visit of the barge to Pond Inlet also happened this weekend!This annual visit brings the whole supply of food and drinks for the whole year and any goods that is needed, TV’S, tires for the four wheelers, books, chairs, curtains,fake Christmas trees and anything else that is needed to sustain life up here in the north.Many large cargo containers were piled up on the beach waiting to be opened with supplies.

Tonight all is well on our small sailing home as we make our way southward   towards the coast of Labrador. I look forward to seeing it after reading Farley Mowatts book “West Viking” where he includes the  Icelandic Viking Sagas and the descriptions of the land the Vikings witnessed and called Vinland. Its a great read, highly recommend it.

Today we have been seeing Dovekies (Alle Alle) a small seabird, all 8.25”  of it. It feeds on plankton that it picks up under the water similar to the Murres. It has long wings, stubby build and a short bill and is out here on its wintering grounds after completing their nesting.

Dai our beloved captain is nice and relaxed in his bunk after producing a four star, salmon, baked potato, peas and a gigantic salad with a fruit pudding. Nice one Dai! Cath is resting and will be on watch in about an hour, Phillip the last time I looked was on the wheel with a towering iceberg very close by and Pete is also up on the bridge on watch and just ducked into the galley to make a cup of coffee for them both .I now will turn in and fill my sleeping bag with the hopes of warming up a little!

Nos da!Good night to you all.

Hywel