Sailboats in Barrow, and on to the Northwest Passage (Craig: 2009, house)

[Floyd_Davidson]

JohnPF asked about sailboats in Barrow a week ago. And the very next day the Ocean Watch from Seattle arrived off Barrow... quickly followed by the Baloum-Gwen from Belgium and the Silent Sound from Canada! I've never seen more than one sailboat at a time off Barrow (but whale biologist Craig George told me that last year there were two boats anchored in Elson Lagoon out by Point Barrow).

The Baloum-Gwen is making its second voyage through the Northwest Passage, after also sailing through last year. On board the Ocean Watch is photographer David Thoreson, an adventurous fellow to say the least who successfully sailed the Northwest Passage in 2007... on his second attempt though, having found it blocked by ice 1994 no less!

Here's a sort of boring picture of all three boats at once anchored in what appears to be ice free water off of Barrow two days ago.

However, go to the web site for the Ocean Watch,

Around The Americas

and see Crew Blog 40 (Crew Log 40 - Pt. Barrow, Alaska) to read their description of arriving off Barrow and dealing with ice.

Of course a closer look is in order! I was part of a group that spent some time Sunday evening on board the Ocean Watch. We were ferried out in two trips. Here is a view from the dingy.

First Mate Dave Logan mans the boat, and heads back to shore for the second group.

Here's a group shot from the control room on the upper deck. From the left to right, Photographer David Thoreson, First Mate Dave Logan, Scientist and Educator Zeta Strickland (who joined the crew at Barrow, replacing R. Michael Reynolds), Captain Mark Schrader, Sara??? a researcher in Barrow working at BASC for the summer if I got it right, but I didn't catch her name, Denver Holt (aka "The Owl Man") who has been doing research on snowy owls around Barrow for 18 years, Linda Payton an English lass who for the past two years has been the Outreach Coordinator for BASC (Barrow Arctic Science Consortium), and last but maybe the most fun is Bryan Reeves who if I got it right is the technology guy on board.

Here is a view below deck, looking aft from the main room along the starboard side of the boat. The kitchen is on the left, the handle on the right is door leading to the engine room. The door in the center on the right wall leads to water storage/heater systems. At the back Linda is standing in the sleeping quarters.

This image is in the sleeping quarters as Zeta talks with the other ladies.

Here is that proverbial picture worth a thousand words. In the main cabin area below decks is a video monitor (and there's one up on the main deck too). This boat is wired. There are cameras on top of the mast and there are cameras mounted on the rack across the stern (and there might be others, but those are what were described in detail). They are recording 360 degree views continuously. The boat is also an official NOAA weather station.

Here are a few shots of the crew:

Needless to say, Sunday evening was a great deal of fun for all of us.

Oh, David Thoreson's web page is:

Blue Water Studios

[JohnPF]

Very nice, very interesting! Floyd, thank you!

[JohnPF]

CNN is posting series of articles from the Silent Sound. Nice reading!
Sailing the Northwest Passage: Dutch Harbor and the Bering Sea - CNN.com

Cameron Dueck will be reporting regularly for CNN.com on his team's sailing expedition through the Northwest Passage and how climate change is affecting the region

[JohnPF]

And the Arctic Sunrise:
Polar blog: 'There's something afoot in the Arctic' - CNN.com

For the next two months, Australian polar explorer Eric Philips will be guiding the crew aboard the Greenpeace ship, the "Arctic Sunrise." They're navigating the waters around Greenland to chart the impact of climate change. Philips filed this blog as part of CNN's special "Going Green."

[starlite9]

Very cool photos Floyd!

[Floyd_Davidson]

Originally Posted by starlite9

Very cool photos Floyd!

I usually post photographs for some specific purpose that has little to do with how "cool" they might be, or not. And because most of my photography is of people, I just am not comfortable putting examples of it on the Internet. But here is a case that will be an exception to all of that. The folks on the Ocean Watch are out there trying to be noticed, so I'm not going to worry about invading their privacy if I post a couple images just to show off.

And indeed, these are meant just to show off a bit of photography from my perspective.

Here is a portrait of Zeta Strickland, whose primary job aboard the Ocean Watch is "Educator":

This is Brian Reeves, who is now the chief scientist on board:

Here is a bit of an impressionist image of Dave Thoreson, the photographer, videographer, and Arctic Ice expert (he's the only crew member who has previously been through the Northwest Passage):

And this is Mark Schrader, the Ocean Watch captain. I don't remember the exact words, but I snapped two shots of him, and he said something to the effect of how I'd caught him half awake (he was sort of staring of into space just before this was snapped). The other shot is with his eyes closed, but with an otherwise just exquisite smile on his face as he laughed at being caught with the serious look (Dave Logan, the First Mate is 99% serious, while Mark is 99% smile).

[warptman]

I saw three ships come sailing in...


Lucky, I've always wanted to go on a sailboat!

[starlite9]

Originally Posted by Floyd_Davidson

I usually post photographs for some specific purpose that has little to do with how "cool" they might be, or not.

Regardless, they are still cool, neat, nice, cute, interesting or a host of other discriptions you wish to add.

At times, you do some really great posts and I commend you.

The news stated that they are waiting for the ice to open up shortly, sometime in August. They will be passing by the Prudhoe Bay area shortly and if I can, I will get some additional photos from our boat while they are under sail if possible.

Currently the winds have been a steady 20+ knots from the Northeast, which will require a lot of work for them to sail East, which is the prevailing winds here. I am supprised they didn't come from the Eastern Seaboard so they could take advantage of a following wind instead. It has blown a lot of sea ice into the lanes.

[Floyd_Davidson]

Originally Posted by starlite9

Currently the winds have been a steady 20+ knots from the Northeast, which will require a lot of work for them to sail East, which is the prevailing winds here. I am supprised they didn't come from the Eastern Seaboard so they could take advantage of a following wind instead. It has blown a lot of sea ice into the lanes.

Mark Schrader, the boat's captain, says he, or his stubborness, is the reason they are going clockwise around the Americas. That also puts him off Tierra Del Fuego against the winds.

But starting from Seattle in June the only reasonable course is the Arctic passage. The hard part comes first, because there is no guarantee that they can even get through the Passage (they have alternate plans to deal with being frozen in). As for the Antarctic, Mark says, with a grin, that he's already done it solo in the "right" direction...

He did make cracks about it, such as saying they asked how long it would take for this danged wind to change... and were told he'd need to buy a house in Barrow to wait that out.

Incidentally, they have a 1200 mile range at 8 knots on the diesel engine.

[starlite9]

The sea state has been six to eight feet during the last week with winds at 40+ so our boat has been pretty inactive waiting out the weather. Lots of ice has blown in on the outer islands and the water temp has been showing a shade over 32 degrees.

Sounds like they are having a grand adventure.