New Zealander Graeme Kendall writes about going through the North West Passage non-stop in a modern production yachtGraeme Kendall sailed his boat Astral Express through the North West PassageEvery so often, a book appears that blows preconceptions clean out of the porthole. To the Ice and Beyond by Graeme Kendall is such a work. Many authorities, myself included, argue that for high-latitude voyaging far from assistance, a hefty chunk of displacement does no harm.
\nEnter Mr Kendall, a New Zealander of great experience who has a mind to circumnavigate by an unusual route: northabout round Australia, Good Hope to starboard, North America to port via the North West Passage, and home more or less due south down the length of the Pacific.
\nThe boat chosen by this most capable mariner is an Elliott 1250 Tourer, 12.5m x 4m x 2.4m, with a displacement of 8,500kg, a deep, narrow bulb keel and a stern-hung spade rudder.<\/p>\n
Kendall\u2019s style is so relaxed it\u2019s almost as if he\u2019s chatting over a pint, yet every so often he leavens this with near-spiritual references to his experience. It is a remarkably balanced book and nobody thinking of sailing long distances should fail to read it. We join him at the entrance to the North West Passage, where he finds unexpected company for dinner.
\nFrom To the Ice and Beyond\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\nNow that I was in the Passage, I thought: well, I\u2019m committed. The further I went, the more committed I was. I had to keep going to get out the other side, and every mile I did was one more behind me. That was a good feeling.
\nIt was fairly demanding sailing from the point of view of navigation. It was all about making choices. I got information from the charts \u2013 and I hoped they were accurate \u2013 and I decided which way I was going to go. But the decisions were often based on uncertainty.
\nArticle continues below\u2026<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tPerini Navi superyacht Rosehearty takes on the North West Passage<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u201cThe owner has always had an interest in history, especially the North West Passage \u2013 one of his big heroes\u2026<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tCruising guru Jimmy Cornell transits the North West Passage in Aventura IV<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe North West Passage has been described as the Everest of sailing. Since Roald Amundsen\u2019s successful transit in 1903-1906, a\u2026<\/p>\n
However, I was lucky. The weather was good and I had favourable wind. If I\u2019d gone through when it was stormy it could have been a very different experience. Having to manage the boat in a storm at the same time as looking out for ice wouldn\u2019t have been easy, and I knew I was fortunate.
\nA few days after me in certain areas, the weather did pack in \u00ad\u2013\u00ad the wind changed, the ice gathered and at least one person had to be rescued. But for now I was lucky and I sailed on.
\nThe northerly breeze freshened astern and I reduced sail, reefing in the main, headsails furled and running dead downwind. Perfect. I was sitting on about eight knots and keeping to the middle of the 15-mile wide strait.
\nForeboding seas didn\u2019t prevent Graeme Kendall and Astral Express from transiting the North West Passage non-stop in 12 days
\nThere were many small islands near the shore and a few icebergs, but these appeared less frequently as I proceeded south.
\nThere was also wildlife about, with seals, whales, the ever-present birds and polar bears foraging on the distant shore.
\nI watched the polar bears through the binoculars and saw they were discoloured from being on dry land.
\nThe closest I came to them was about 300m. One or two looked in my direction and I knew they knew I was there. What aromas were they getting? I was too far away, though, and sailing faster than they could swim. They just went about their business.
\nThe wind was now about 20 knots so I was looking at a good day\u2019s run. Peter Semotiuk of Cambridge Bay called to inform me of a Frenchman, Mathieu Bonnier, who was trying to row part of the North West Passage. Peter thought I might be getting pretty close to him, and said I should look out for him as he may need some assistance or a rest.
\nI didn\u2019t think too much of it. He was doing his thing and I was doing mine. The weak afternoon sun soon cleared the ice off the deck and my happy hour rum tasted really good that evening.
\nKendall met up with French rower Mathieu Bonnier and his dog, Tico
\nNext morning I entered Franklin Strait with the usual fog smothering the edges of everything in grey. But luckily it wasn\u2019t a pea soup, so I could keep my look out for ice. The fog is usually gone by noon.
\nI got another call from Peter with an update on Mathieu Bonnier. The Frenchman was very tired and lonely and he had had about enough. Within the hour I received a phone call from Mathieu himself. I told him I was about 45 miles away and should be able to see him if I veered a little to port as I got close to Victoria Strait.
\nBy evening the wind had eased and I was on lookout for Mathieu. His position was just off the northern tip of King William Island and it looked as if he also was contemplating the shortcut through Victoria Strait.
\nIce was a constant danger
\nIn 2014 the underwater archaeologist Ryan Harris found the wreck of Franklin\u2019s Erebus where Franklin Strait converges with Victoria Strait \u2013 exactly beneath the spot that I was now about to rendezvous with Mathieu Bonnier.
\nI saw him from a distance \u2013 a small, purpose-built rowing boat, and the tall figures of a man and his dog, an Alaskan Malamute. With fenders in place I took a line and assisted him aboard. The beautiful dog \u2013 Tico, after whom Mathieu\u2019s expedition was named \u2013 was left aboard his boat and we let the line out so I could keep it in tow as I sailed on at a slow pace.
\nMathieu was a little shaken as I welcomed him on board and sat him down inside. We each explained our reasons for being there, and developed an immediate mutual respect.
\nMathieu Bonnier takes a welcome break from rowing aboard Astral Express
\nIn 2009 he had rowed across the Atlantic. Now it was his goal to row the North West Passage, taking two seasons to do it \u2013 with the limited window of opportunity it would not be possible to row the whole way in one year.
\nOne day he\u2019d had to battle against 47 knots of wind with a lot of ice. He was cold and exhausted. To top it off, he had seen a lot of polar bears.
\nFine dining
\nI had two steaks left in the chilly bin. I suggested he stay for dinner, and he gladly accepted. I also had a small cask of red wine and I poured him some in my only glass. We toasted each other, me drinking from a cup. He was very tired, so after dinner he lay down for an hour or so.
\nI offered him coffee, which he refused until he saw me making plunger coffee for myself. \u201cI\u2019ll have one of those,\u201d he said, and in later communications referred to Astral Express as the \u2018Franklin Strait restaurant\u2019. He gave me a pack of cheese that he said he would no longer require. It was a fine gift: gourmet cheese, purchased in France.
\nWe discussed the possibility of taking the shortcut through Victoria Strait. We had both realised that the ice wasn\u2019t too bad in there. This channel is 170 miles long and about 70 miles wide, making it one of the largest channels in this area, but it\u2019s usually ice-blocked all year because it lies open to the McClintock Channel which feeds Arctic ice into this area, especially when the prevailing northerly winds are strong.
\nWith the Canadian mainland to the south and the series of islands above, a maze of channels and straits is formed but is usually all iced up. No wonder early explorers found it hard to find a North West passage.
\nAfter a few hours I sailed as close as I could to the coast of King William Island and we said goodbye. He rowed ashore \u2013 he was doing this every day to give his dog a run around. It was a most congenial meeting.
\nI sailed on, the shortcut working well for me. But unfortunately for Mathieu conditions packed in behind me, he copped some very stormy weather and the ice came in. As it happened, the television adventurer Bear Grylls was travelling the North West Passage by motorboat at the same time, followed by a very big yacht with a big engine and plenty of luxurious equipment.
\nTo the Ice and Beyond by Graeme Kendall is published by Mary Egan Publishing. RRP: \u00a39.15
\nHe invited Mathieu aboard, but Mathieu turned him down \u2013 although he eventually asked them to rescue his dog and take it with them to Cambridge Bay. Mathieu didn\u2019t complete the passage. Realising it wasn\u2019t possible to do it in two years, he wasn\u2019t prepared to commit to the several years it actually required.
\nAs I sailed through, Victoria Strait had around two-tenths ice coverage which, with careful navigation, was manageable. With daylight hours and a light wind, I was able to make my way south towards Queen Maud Gulf, where I would turn west.
\nIt was rewarding to sail through this area as few vessels had ever done it. Clear ahead, calm sea, light wind, sailing at five knots. There was open water between ice sheets now and with a clear forecast ahead it was time for a quick rest. I lay down and had soon gone to sleep. Wham.
\nThere was a resounding crash and the boat came to a complete stop. My legs folded against the bulkhead as I woke. It took a few seconds to focus as I sat up with my heart in my mouth. Rushing up on deck I saw a scraggy small iceberg blocking the way, the size of a truck above the water.
\nI inspected the bow for damage. There was nothing to be seen, and with sails still up Astral Express drilled off to port and we sailed on into clear water. I had been too complacent with the ice charts, I admonished myself. And, being tired, I hadn\u2019t set the alarms.
\nBecalmed
\nWhen I was just about through Victoria Strait, I was briefly becalmed, a tiny yacht floating on a glass surface among reflected clouds. But then a few ripples disturbed the surface as a south-east wind arrived and my course changed to the west to sail across Queen Maud Gulf towards the entrance to Dease Strait.
\nRain washed the salt off Astral Express as I entered the grim Beaufort Sea. Part of the Arctic Ocean, it\u2019s mostly frozen but at this time of year there was a corridor of water between the Canadian and Alaskan coast and the ice edge, which was about 10 miles north. From there, the frozen Arctic extended all the way to the North Pole.
\nI saw no birds at all, the first time on the entire trip I had been without my feathered companions. It was all so ominous it was almost amusing. I really felt my predicament, to be sailing north of Alaska with nothing in sight and not a hope of rescue.
\nA couple of times at night it got really cold and the instruments on top of the mast froze and wouldn\u2019t operate. They thawed out quite quickly during the day. I tied cloth around the stainless steel handholds inside because they also attracted the cold.
\nLayers proved warmer than the boat\u2019s heater
\nI continued to find it easier to dress up for the cold rather than use heating. The heater in the cabin wasn\u2019t very efficient, and I wasn\u2019t sure about the carbon dioxide of the heater, especially as I was on my own. I found that if I used a lightweight puffer jacket for inside and a thicker one for outside, I stayed warm.
\nIt was too cold to change clothes much so I just kept it all on for a few days. I\u2019d had the odd shower coming through the passage, but it was tempting not to bother when the weather got really cold. Baby wipes are good in those conditions \u2013 or just waiting for warmer weather.
\nWith a fresh 20-knot easterly wind and a favourable current I started to increase my daily runs, with the best being 180 miles. At least I was romping along in the right direction. I had Alaska below me to the south now and on Wednesday 8 September I reached Point Barrow, the exit point for the North West Passage.
\nI had sailed the North West Passage and it was time for double rum that night.
\nFirst published in the February 2020 edition of Yachting World.
\nThe post Sailing the North West Passage: An extract from Graeme Kendall\u2019s To the Ice and Beyond appeared first on Yachting World.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
New Zealander Graeme Kendall writes about going through the North West Passage non-stop in a modern production yachtGraeme Kendall sailed his boat Astral Express through the North West PassageEvery so often, a book appears that blows preconceptions clean out of … <\/p>\n