At 7 this morning we got an emergency satellite call from a lone
French man who is attempting to row through the North West passage
alone with his dog. He was being swept into the ice pack some 10
miles away from us and needed emergency help to avoid his little
fibreglass boat potentially being crushed.
We changed course and headed North to find him and finally
located him just off the ice pack.
We brought him coffee and food and he looked pretty relieved to
see us!
We fixed a tow line and started pulling him away from the ice
shelf towards clearer water where the wind could blow him West
along the ice edge rather than back into it.
It took us several hours but finally we had him clear.
He was very worried for his dog though who had not been ashore
for some time so we offered to take the dog with us to Cambridge
bay our next stop. He was again very happy! What a nice man and
what a privilege it is always to witness and to share such great
camaraderie between people who are out together in the middle of
nowhere. I love that feeling so much.
We took his dog and waved him off but the challenge for us was
that the rescue left us critically low on fuel.
We skirted the ice shelf and slowed our speed and did quite a
bit of praying and mental mathematics of fuel ratios! Well done Tim
on that one!
Finally we made it into Cambridge bay at last after quite a
substantial sea - it has been very windy and the skies had grown
very dark and menacing. There was also a lot of ice suddenly all
around the approach to the bay which means we have had to be very
vigilant.
With the port in sight though I couldn't resist getting out the
wakeboard and waterskiing the last mile into town through the ice -
Baltic cold but good fun and something I promised my boys that I
would do! Tick!
Now we have refuelled and drunk a lot of tea. Time to head on
west....
P.S. the dog is safe in port with someone awaiting Matthew's
arrival in four days time, God willing!
Bear