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TELEPORT is the first junk to transit the North West Passage

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  • 19 Dec 2012 23:03
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    Reply # 1163471 on 1067778
    Anonymous member
    I have responded to the above comments in a new thread called the joys of cruising to avoid getting too far off topic, a sin which I have committed once too often I fear!.
    Last modified: 19 Dec 2012 23:19 | Anonymous member
  • 19 Dec 2012 21:18
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    Reply # 1163423 on 1163293
    Anonymous member
    Arne Kverneland wrote:
    Roy Denton wrote:Brilliant!  Who knew noodles could be so life affirming?

    ..remember, Roy, that was on his day 86  -  day eightysix  -  all alone...
    I had a similar experience ( though not so intense) recently when I ran out of home brew on passage - and then found a dusty bottle of Stokes dark ale from NZ, lurking in a dark corner. Big smile. 
    Little things mean a lot when you're a long way from civilisation, living on what you've brought with you.
  • 19 Dec 2012 19:56
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    Reply # 1163351 on 1163293
    Deleted user
    Arne Kverneland wrote:
    Roy Denton wrote:Brilliant!  Who knew noodles could be so life affirming?

    ..remember, Roy, that was on his day 86  -  day eightysix  -  all alone...

    Hi Arne,  yes I understood the length of his isolation, and thought it a wonderful reaction to a simple pleasure.  I recently went without food for seven days, so I know a "little" about coming to the end of deprivation.  Sorry if my response seemed inappropriate.
  • 19 Dec 2012 18:18
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    Reply # 1163293 on 1163199
    Anonymous member (Administrator)
    Roy Denton wrote:Brilliant!  Who knew noodles could be so life affirming?

    ..remember, Roy, that was on his day 86  -  day eightysix  -  all alone...
  • 19 Dec 2012 15:56
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    Reply # 1163199 on 1067778
    Deleted user
    Brilliant!  Who knew noodles could be so life affirming?
  • 19 Dec 2012 14:06
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    Reply # 1163142 on 1067778
    Anonymous member (Administrator)

                                                                         Stavanger, Wednesday

    Yes, it is such a joy to see the happy young doers like Chris and Jess and being reminded that not all of the youngsters are depending on computer games to find life interesting.

    Here is another example of the breed, Alexander Gamme who walked alone and unsupported to the South Pole and back, early this year. This video clip shows his return to the last depot on day 86. On the depot before this he had hardly left any goodies, so he was anxious to what he would find this time ( the goodies were deliberately not recorded). His reactions to what he found are in Norwegian, but I guess you get the general message anyway...

    Conclusion: Long live the happy young doers!

    Cheers, Arne

    Last modified: 19 Dec 2012 14:11 | Anonymous member (Administrator)
  • 19 Dec 2012 04:12
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    Reply # 1162920 on 1067778
    Anonymous member
    Annie, I agree that Jess is an exceptional person and I consider Chris exceptionally lucky to have found himself such a wonderful partner.  Not only is Jess brave and determined, but she is a blithe spirit, full of joy and positive energy.  She reminds me of a young Beryl Smeeton, and joins the ranks of great seafaring, adventurous women such as Anne Pye, Susan Hiscock, Ann Davidson, Tania Abei and Clare Francis, to name a few, not to mention yourself, the one and only Annie Hill.
    Last modified: 19 Dec 2012 06:19 | Anonymous member
  • 19 Dec 2012 00:20
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    Reply # 1162801 on 1067778
    Anonymous member
    Graham Cox wrote:Nonetheless, in conversation recently with Chris Bray and his partner Jess, who recently sailed through the NW Passage on Teleport, Chris stated that he was perfectly happy with the performance of his flat sail for offshore cruising and would not trade its rugged simplicity for a bit more performance, and I tend to agree with him.
    Annie Hill wrote:
    At the risk of sounding uncharitable, which I would not wish to do in this season of good will, in my opinion, Chris sailed Teleport like a motor sailer.  My own experience of sailing in the Arctic in summer would make me feel that it is one place where some camber would pay dividends.  Yes, you get some seriously nasty blows, but in between there are lots and lots of light winds.

    Graham Cox wrote:
    That does sound a little uncharitable to me Annie.  Teleport may have used their engine in the NW Passage at times but they had a heavy weather passage from Halifax to Greenland, which they sailed with a defective motor, then another hard sail up around Baffin Island.  They had enough sail handling drills along the way to develop an informed opinion about their rig.  Chris, I might add, (who is an experienced seaman with many miles under his belt on bermudian rigged boats,) has formed a strong admiration for the junk rig and hopes to rig his next boat the same way.  Also, their trip through the NW Passage was just a short leg of a very long projected ocean adventure, and Chris was discussing the rig in terms of general ocean cruising, not just his Arctic passage.  Chris is a very experienced expedition leader and someone whose pragmatic skills I have a lot of respect for.  He is a young man but I think he is likely to develop an exceptional reputation in years to come.

    Annie Hill wrote:
    Now that's a very interesting addendum.  I was largely thinking of working a boat in the Arctic with the many light winds, and Chris is talking of long-distance passage making.  Seems we're back to the ocean-crossing flat sail, coastal-sailing cambered sail debate!

    I have the highest respect for Chris's abilities and courage - and perhaps even more for Jess's, who seems immensely brave and determined, to me.  I agree that he will probably be a known and respected expedition leader for many years to come.  Good to know that there are young people to pick up the mantle from men like Chris Bonnington and Robin Knox-Johnston.

    David Tyler wrote:
    I'd agree with this posting, having met them both in Australia before they set off, and having formed a high opinion of them both. This is a young couple who are going places, in all senses.
    As far as I understand it, if you're going to get through the NW Passage, you just have to motor a lot, however efficient your rig is, because frequently, there just isn't the wind to sail, and you have only a short time to do it in.
  • 18 Sep 2012 13:11
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    Reply # 1075466 on 1067778
    Anonymous member
    Chris has not yet updated his blog but I can report that they were able to negotiate a haul-out in Nome, after all. Naknek would have cost $7,000.
    He reports they are also the youngest sailors to transit the NWP.
  • 15 Sep 2012 19:25
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    Reply # 1073411 on 1067778
    Anonymous member
    A quote from the Ocean Cruising Club website:

     
    "Belzebub II breaks record in NW Passage
       
    Congratulations to the crew of Belzebub II, a 1976 Hallberg-Rassy Monsun 31, who have made it through the most northerly route possible in the Northwest Passage! Canadian Nicolas Peissel and Swede Edvin Buregren, with another American crew member, made it through the M’Clure Strait,

    never previously negotiated by a sailing boat.

    No easy task; charts are notoriously inaccurate and the waters narrow in this area, and by Wednesday 29th August the crew of the Belzebub II had been awake for 48 hours navigating the dangerous waters. There were times when the M’Clure Strait was 40-50% filled with ice.

    “Throughout this whole 48 hours, we were never clear if the ice was going to push up against the land and trap us for the winter,” Peissel told CBC News in Canada. “Everyone on board is ecstatic, but also very tired.”

    Belzebub II stayed in the Parry Channel as they headed from east to west, making it the most northerly route completed by a sailing boat.

    “This is unheard of. The bodies of water that we’re sailing through right now should be packed with thick ice,” Peissel added, as they head off to the Bering Sea at the height of the storm season. Part of the group’s mission is to raise awareness about climate change and the melting Arctic sea ice.                 

    Courtesy of www.sail-world.com"

    It seems that there have been two "good ice years" in a row. There can be little doubt now about the reduction of Arctic sea ice. Still doesn't make it easy to get through the NW passage - just possible.
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