Pangaea is en route again! Now she is sailing the very last stretch of ocean off the south eastern coast of Baffin Island. In just a few days Pangaea will arrive in Iqaluit and the Young Explorers will disembark and head back home. As the trip draws to a close the Young Explorers revel in the memories and visions that they have experienced over their last three weeks in the company of Mike Horn and his team.
After a long night of sailing we arrived at our destination, Moonshine Fjord, at about 3 in the morning.
Looking out to see the landscape around us we were all stunned by the breathtaking beauty of the surrounding mountains and the turquoise water but the best was the clear sky, feels like ages ago that we had any sunlight!
We all had a bit of rest before we had our usual oats for breakfast. The plan is to go on a 2 day hike starting this afternoon, but we would first do some more measurements on tundra vegetation and permafrost with Doctor Roswitha Stoltz. A short ride with the inflatable rubber duck to shore where there was the most beautiful ice sculptures as the low tide left them on the beach, exposing their beauty to us.
After a 15-minutes hike to the nearby lake created by glaciers activity we started the measurements. This time our scientific advisor explained the difference in the active layer depending on the slope, supply of water and vegetation cover. We could experience on our own changes in depth of thawing layer. In the middle of the trip a spontaneous debate started.
We were encouraged by Mike and the rest of the Team to take part in a brainstorm about the world’s human population and the sacrifices that everyone should make to live a sustainable life.
Then it was time to head back to the boat and now we’re getting ready for the upcoming excursion! We’ll describe the rest of the day once we’re back on the boat again!
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After 3 days of sailing and covering around 340 nautical miles, Pangaea and her crew stop for a breather in the small village of Pangnirtung on the south eastern tip of Baffin Island – a wonderful opportunity for Pangaea's younger crew members to take a dip in the cold Arctic waters. (!!!)
It is only a week left for the expedition. That means we are going to be near our home but will be far away from the big family here. Pangaea will carry more new people and continue its journey. You know the boat belongs to sea and you belong somewhere else. You know the expedition never ends as long as there are still problems left to solve and your projects to carry on. You know people are united here for this short period of time which will never be forgotten but you still worry about some moments you don’t memorize that clearly so you write them down. You know there are still days left but you don’t want that final day come. I become connected to it even if I feel sea sick and have to get up in the middle of the night to do a watch. You enjoy every second of it.
Today we left the second small village along our trip after an icy swim in the Arctic Ocean. We all felt refreshed and filled with new strength for another adventure filled week of exploring the fjords, icecaps, rivers and endless tundra along Cape Dyer.
It is a lot cleaner than Clyde River. That proves that the environment can be improved by better policy and being well organized no matter what kind of people live in it and how remote an area is.
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We started sailing towards Qikiqtarjuaq last night; I decided to go to bed early to get in a few hours of sleep, knowing that me and Valentin had to get up at 2 am to do our watch to look out for icebergs or any other dangers! Waking up at that early hours of the morning was certainly not an easy task when you know you have to leave your warm cozy bed and go stand outside in the rain. What made matters worse was the dense fog we where sailing through, but luckily we did not have any close encounters with these massive ice bergs drifting all the way from the Green Land ice shelf.
The fog had us a bit worried at times with our eyes fixed on the horizon scanning for anything, made me think of the crew of Roald Amundsen on their passage of the North West in 1903 until1906. They were the first people to cross the passage. At least we are living in luxury compared to their vessel named the Gjoa! I can just imagine how his crew must have felt in the cold night in a storm standing in the crows nest on the look out for icebergs!
In the end after a nice hot cup of Rooibos tea that I brought all the way from home in South Africa, I could finally go to sleep at 4 am when the next shift started! When I was awoken the morning for breakfast, it felt like I have just slept 10 minutes but I knew its better to go get some oats to build up some energy for the coming days and my next watch is at 10 am!
The wind was finally strong enough to do some sailing and we had a fun time jibing along with the wind taking us to our next destination. At noon we finally arrived at Qikiqtarjuaq. It looked like the whole town sprung to life as we arrived, with everyone eager to see the Pangaea! After a very nice lunch prepared by Mike himself, which consists of most things he found in the gulley and some pasta sauce, in the end it tasted very nice. Here is a list of what was in this tasty meal:
* Canned Spaghetti and sauce
* Ritz crackers
* Couscous
* Cheese chunks
* Butter
* Beans
* Oat meal
* Corn
* Onions and garlic
Basically everything that we had in the gully to use but it tasted very very nice for our hungry stomachs! Then we were on a mission to try and do some community service by handing out the rest of the first aid kits and presenting ourselves and spreading the Pangaea message! But after walking through the whole town it proved that we would be unable to do this, but we made some friends with young Inuit girls to whom we gave soccer balls and had some fun playing soccer with them!
The day flew past but the highlight was still to come when Mike told us we could go SUP (Stand up paddle boarding) after feeling the water under my feet even though wearing booties you could feel the one degree water! I then proposed a challenge to the other yep`s that we must all jump from the boat to do a short swim in the ice cold arctic water! Xue xi and I ended up swimming around the boat! Then we suddenly felt the effect of the cold water on our hands and feet starting to cramp! It was fun and the locals certainly thought we must be crazy! When everyone got out of the water everyone was scrambling for their warm clothes! But it was great fun! We had a nice surprise after dinner the girls made us a chocolate cake! We are all waiting anxiously to hear from Mike what our plans are for the following days, but it`s a mystery.
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We are heading down south along the coast of Baffin Island. Winter is slowly approaching as the first snow was spotted on the hill tops along the coast.
Ice bergs and whales accompanied us down south and we are so privileged to be here and experience the beauty of Nature altogether. We have learnt and seen so much and it will change our life's forever. It's going to be difficult for the Young Explorers to adapt to normal life again.
The plan for the day was to do some interviews and to check our emails for once in a while, unfortunately most people were still sleeping even though it was already late morning, even the library was closed so we could not check our emails. But as these expeditions with Mike go, anything can change in a blink of an eye, and the next moment there was news that we where going to be leaving Clyde River with our voyage down south to Iqaluit.
Later, after washing and cleaning the garage and making our living space tidy, we saw the rubber duck full of local children and mike coming towards the Pangaea. The children were so excited to come on board, they were all just taking photos with their mobile cell phones. I’m sure it made their day the smiles on their faces were priceless! We showed them all the movies of all the activities that we have done lately, they certainly enjoyed the movie about the big wall climbing! Then the big surprise came when we heard a local Inuit girl is going to join us for the last part of our expedition! Which gives us all the opportunity to learn more about each other’s cultures!
The Pangaea is currently sailing south, we are going to try and climb some more magnificent mountains and hike on the penny ice shelf! Hopefully we will be arriving at our next destination tomorrow afternoon!
After a few days in Clyde River, Mike Horn and the YEPs lift anchor and start their journey south towards some more magnificent mountains and to explore the Penny Ice shelf. The team will be arriving at their next destination tomorrow afternoon!
The days are flying by too fast on this expedition. We always say "we have no time", or we are too busy to do what we really love doing. The problem is that we full up our TO DO list with so many things that we know we will never do, instead of making a list of things we will do, and then you will make time for everything.
Follow Young Explorer Henko Roukema, with daily blogs from Die Burger as he explores with Mike Horn on the 9th YEP Expedition to Nunavut, Canada.
His daily posts and images will blow you away!
