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| Click the image for an update on Thor's position |
Having dipped our toes into the world of high latitude sailing over the last 3 summers we have now become obsessed by watching the antics and progress of others who are out there pushing the ice and risking all in the process.
This has been a desperately hard season for most of those attempting to transit the North West Passage (NWP). We got to know a fair few of the 23 boats attempting this voyage during the early summer as we crossed their north bound paths. Hence the fascination. Nearly all of the 23 have now retreated given the impossibility of the conditions this season and a stark "all ships" warning that ordered retreat issued by the Canadian Coast Guard a few days ago.
There remain, however, a few hardy souls who have pushed on regardless or who were already so far on they could not retreat. We are glued to their progress - or lack of it!
Thor is a German boat we have not met but they seem to have got themselves into some of the densest ice and have been drifting with the pack for a couple of days. They have a very sturdy boat but they are in a very harsh place where the Canadian Ice Forecast plots the ice cover as >9 tenths with a warning of "High Ice Pressure"! We are not entirely sure how they got themselves where they are as they already seem to have achieved the impossible. They must surely be hoping for a rapid improvement in conditions.
We are also tracking the progress of another three boats a few hundred miles behind Thor. They are continuing to force their way towards their dreams. One is a big, steel and well prepared yacht but one is plastic and the other has no way of receiving ice charts or detailed weather forecasts. Do they even know what they are getting themselves in to?
Our friends on Kiwi Roa, the sturdiest of them all, have not broadcast their position for sometime but we are hoping all is well with them. Indeed they may already have retreated.
The world of satellite tracking and technology has transformed our entertainment on a wet and windy bank holiday in Wales where the log burner keeps us warm, dry and comfortable. A world away from drifting in the ice pack at the mercy of the wind and the waves. They now have darkness to cope with at night and already, in some places, colder than normal temperatures are allowing new ice to form.
We are keeping our fingers crossed for them all!