This was one of the most exciting days of genuine discovery and
exploration that I have ever known. I have grown up on the tales of
Franklin and his lost crew, and I have also read avidly of the
recent expedition searching in vain once more for Franklin's lost
ship.
So when we sheltered from the north wind behind this wind swept
and truly bleak little outcrop of rock in an unchartered channel of
sea, little did I realise what we would find.
What was unique about this place was that the channel that
accesses it is so shallow, which in turn means that any bigger
vessel coming down here would be almost bound to run aground. But
you wouldn't know that when you look at this strait. It heads south
and is big and wide.
This reason no vessels go down here nowadays is that the only
chartered waterway through the north west passage runs further to
the east in the deeper water.
So when we discovered the human remains, the fire blackened
rocks, the mast shaped wood, the stone circles of possible camps,
and bone carved sewing needles, you can imagine the excitement I
felt in the pit of my stomach. Is this possibly a clue as to where
the fated Franklin expedition passed by and what might have
befallen his lost crew and ship.
So here is the case: if you are starving and out of food, and
men are dying around you, and your only hope of salvation is to be
rescued, you would surely burn the wood from your stricken ice
beaten ship in a last ditch attempt to get spotted and to stay warm
- at least until you run out of all food supplies.
I don't know the full answers - we are now currently at sea some
200 miles further along the north west passage, but what I do know
is that we were in unchartered waters and that we stumbled upon
some dramatically compelling clues that point to the presence of
desperate men from Western culture. (Again, where would Inuit find
such vast supplies of wood in a landscape bereft of trees, and why
are there human bones and western looking graves and large fire
blackened stones on a small rocky outcrop in the middle of nowhere,
in the area of the passage that Franklin was known to have gone
missing?)
Here in 2010 it is exciting, to the bottom of my own bones, to
know that exploration is still alive and mysteries are still out
there to be solved....
Tomorrow we continue on further into our journey...
Bear
--------------------
Bear Grylls North West Passage Expedition unearths
possible clues of the mystery of Franklin's lost
expedition...
Franklin's doomed mission to find the Northwest Passage between
1845 and 1848 ended in terrible pain, suffering and deprivation, as
three ferocious winters took their toll on men, materials and
supplies. In the end Franklin set off with a small group of men,
trying to head south, attempting to escape the grip of their frigid
jail. Neither of his vessels, the Erebus or the Terror, has ever
been found (despite multiple search expeditions, including one
currently underway).
Today, for us, the mystery of whether we had accidentally
stumbled on the last desperate days, weeks or months of their
miserable demise deepened. Our tiny island, no more than a couple
of acres, and inaccessible to all but the smallest craft today,
bore signs of large fires on the Northern side - abutting the
Wellington Straight (where Franklin was known to have passed
through) - as well as pins made of whale bone, together with
human remains. To build a fire on the Northern side made little
sense, given the direction of the wind, save if it was being used
as some form of signalling beacon. Perhaps their vessel had become
beached in the narrows of the Straight and, in despair, and out of
food, they finally resorted to burning their only method of travel
- their only hope of escape.
After such an eventful overnight, the remainder of our day
progressed smoothly, moving further south to Gjoa Haven on King
William Island at a latitude of 68 degrees North. Our arrival and
requests for fuel supplies caused chaos as Bear was besieged by old
and young alike wanting to ask him a million questions about his
"Man Vs Wild" exploits. Throughout this remote region, peopled by
the hardiest humans imaginable, their knowledge of Bear and his
show, and their admiration for his peculiar preference of cuisine,
has been universal! Thanks to everyone for helping us get shipshape
and fuelling us for our next leg to Cambridge Bay.
Gjoa Haven is well known as the site of the Amundsen museum,
celebrating the achievements of the famous Norwegian with the first
successful crossing of the Northwest Passage. I wonder what he
would say if he could see the day when it might be undertaken in a
11 metre open RIB at 40 knots pushing through the ice!!! Times have
certainly changed.
Tim Levy & Dave Segel