We remain at Dundas Harbour on Devon Island waiting for the ice to the West of us to open up. We’re optimistic that a passage through will open within the next few weeks. Some comments from a new crew member:

 

Hywel:

Its good to be aboard Catryn once more! Here we are on the south east corner of Devon Island on the north shore of Lancaster Sound. All is well here tonight and we are safely anchored in this protected inlet.

Sweeping brown, grey and steep hillsides, snow capped slope down to the sea. We are awaiting a large gale from the east which should arrive on Thursday.

We were treated to a great meal of Thai Curry by our no 1 cook on  board tonight, Katherine! It was followed by flapjacks made with Lylles Golden Syrup, yummy!

After a hearty breakfast of porridge with sultanas cooked by Peter this morning Phil and Kath went ashore for a walkabout. Dai, Pete and I were busy on board when the call came in from a damsel in great distress. Kaths voice came over the radio that they had taken ashore to connect with us to say they had spotted a large Polar bear near the shore. It was headed towards the beach where they were headed to return to the boat. They made it back safely and her armed guard made sure that all was well. We have to be armed with a rifle each time we go ashore. Yesterday Pete and I received our marksman badges from Captain Rice after we hit the skinny wooden post that he had placed about fifty feet away along the beach next to the abandoned RCMP station to the east of the inlet.

High above us on a rocky ledge we have discovered a Gyrofalcon nest! The birds are on the nest. We have also seen Ivory gulls Thayer gulls, Northern Fulmars,Long Tailed Jaegers, Glaucos Gulls, White Rumped Sandpipers, Red Knots,Lapland Longspurs. Many arctic flowers including the most delicate of all the Arctic Poppy. The filming for the movie North West Passage is going very well and we will have a good amount of excellent footing to hand over to our editor Harry when we return! Much of the scenery reminds me of the work of William Bradford who arrived in the high Arctic from his home in Fairhaven, Mass in 1869. Bradford arrived by ship and was the first American painter to paint in the Arctic. Most of his paintings are of Melville Bay and the region around Baffin Bay. The Minnesota Marine Art Museum in Winona own five of Bradfords best paintings and are on show this summer until the end of August or September. I must admit that Rockwell Kent is often on my mind when I eye the landscape around here. There is still no darkness here at night! Its a soft light at night and we shall miss it in a few weeks as we move to the west on our passage through to Nome, Alaska.

Its midnight here and raining and wish you all a nos da (good night), its good to be spending time at sea once more and be able to speak Welsh with Dai our good and most gracious captain.