Settling In

October 7, 2014.
After what seemed an interminable, three week wait, Gjoa was finally lifted out of the water on Sunday, September 28 and placed onto her winter cradle. It wasn't a moment too soon as we had to break ice to get to the lift-out site in West Arm. The ice grew so fast overnight that the next day would have been too late and we would have needed assistance to get there! The lift itself was nerve-wracking. It's not something they do every day here in Cambridge Bay, so, it was a learning experience for all involved. It was about -8C with a really cold wind blowing and possibly a little too much wind. Then, the crane wouldn't start. We weren't exactly sure whether the crane was going to be able to lift our weight. The straps weren't adjustable and the cradle had been built for some other boat (we were grateful for its use however along with some steel legs that somebody else had left in a prior year).

The Lift

In the end, it all went ok and we spent a few days securing Gjoa as best we could. After a nasty gale accompanied by freezing spray, we had tied alongside TP (Tandberg Polar) a few days earlier and moved most of our possessions and us aboard while we could have the boats together. Even so, it took a few days after the lift to completely winterize Gjoa. We still have doubts about whether we have done enough to withstand temperatures of potentially -60F, but, we've done our best without entirely deconstructing the boat. Just about everything removeable including sails, our five new batteries and most electronics have been removed and are now stored in the warmth of TP . Antifreeze has been well-topped up, the water system all opened/disconnected and diesel tanks filled with winter grade diesel. The bigger fear for winter storage here is not weather, but, vandalism, which meant putting plywood covers over our windows and hatches. We will continue to check on her over the winter and just hope for the best come spring. One benefit of lift-out was we were able to closely examine our hull for any ice damage after our encounters in the Passage. There wasn't any to speak of really, just a small dent at the waterline on the port side and one scratch. If it had been a fibreglass hull with a fin keel I'm not sure that we would have fared so well. Our forward-looking sonar transducer had been sheared off. Predictable really, as it was not a good design when it protrudes from the hull. Luckily, the transducer is designed to shear and there was no water ingress. We have a spare so will replace it in spring.

Of course, after a three week wait, everything happens on the same day. After liftout we were warming up on TP when we saw the long-awaited barge coming and that it would be arriving within the hour.

Tug with first of three linked barges

We now had to move TP off the dock and anchor so that the barge could get in. After a last minute scramble we got away and the tug arrived with three heavily-loaded barges in tow. It was incredible to watch the skill involved in docking. The tug headed to the side of the dock and then each barge just folded itself against its neighbour without any assistance and all three ended up side-by-side in perfect position for unloading. Amazing. The final barge of the season is still supposed to be arriving in about three days. There is now 9/10 ice outside Cambridge Bay, about three weeks earlier than expected, so, nobody's sure how the barge can make it through. It definitely will mean maybe an icebreaker, or, possibly they will abandon the barge wherever it sits and lift the cargo using aircraft, or, even wait until January and build an ice road to get the last load in.

The Norwegians have all left and we are alone on TP. It's lovely and warm aboard, for the moment anyway.

Our mess-room on TP: Maud model and Queen Maud photo

We had hoped to have shore power installed by now, but, there's been a glitch and we're still running on a generator. There's a little bit of insulation work left to do and then we can settle into a routine and hopefully do a bit of exploring. The ice was absolutely fantastic for skating this week. Alas, we didn't bring our skates with us, but, were interested to see somebody out kite-skating which looks like a lot of fun (if you know what you're doing!).

Kite Skating

Perfect ice for viewing the Aklavik wreck below

Cambridge Bay 8/10/2014 12:00 69°06.7'N 105°04.1'W