We now have perhaps only 10 days remaining in the Canadian Arctic before the risk of having to overwinter up here becomes a probability. This I’m not prepared to do, but I am prepared to give it every chance and wait until the last possible moment before I make the decision to return to Greenland. Several yachts have already taken the hard decision to withdraw during the past week.The problem is the ice! It has not melted away sufficiently to allow any of the Northwest Passages to open up this season. No vessel, not even an icebreaker has been able to make a transit yet this year.

 

We’re positioned at latitude 74.40N. This is as far north as we will be going and we are well located to take advantage of any passage which opens up to the south. Our most likely route will be down Prince Regent Inlet and through Bellot Strait and then down through Franklin Strait – presently blocked by 9/10ths ice.

 

My crew are all in excellent spirits and we have sufficient fuel and supplies to continue through to Alaska. CATRYN is also proving to be a very capable  vessel.

 

So we have reached a crucial stage in our attempt to transit the Northwest Passage this summer. The next 10 days will determine whether we will be able to make it.