White paint and patience

     Okay so this isn't the third in the series of Arctic trip posts but I'll get back to them, I promise. This morning at 6:30 my eyes popped open and I couldn't get back to sleep. (Stop laughing all of you larks who love to mock my night-owl ways!) I lay there for a while and had a lovely think which usually sends me right back to sleep. Not this morning. After about an hour I decided to get up and make some tea. I thought about writing a blog post and then realized I was a bit chilly and what I really wanted was to put on the puffy vest I bought aboard the Ocean Endeavour this summer. The vest was downstairs sitting on the desk beside the sewing machine.

     It's a bit of a story. I've discovered that aboard a ship the crew is always painting something. I don't think there was a single day that passed that I didn't see a crew member, paintbrush in hand, touching up railings or trim or something. Most of the time there were signs posted or areas were roped off, that is unless you happened to inadvertently get into an area you weren't supposed to be in. There were sliding glass doors on either side of the reception area which led to the stairs when the ship was docked. When the ship wasn't docked the stairs (gangway?) were stowed but you could still get out the glass doors. I had seen other people out there admiring the ice as we went on our way and I was in need of some fresh air so I went through the automatic doors and onto the small platform.

     I took some photos and, when I'd had enough fresh air, turned around to go back into the ship. Nothing happened. I waved my arms around, tried standing in different places. Still nothing happened. By this time I was getting a wee bit chilly and I also felt pretty stupid. There were people roaming around on the inside of the ship so I tried to get someone's attention. No luck. I didn't want to knock loudly on the glass and attract everyone's attention. I just wanted one kind soul to notice me and walk towards the doors so I could get in. Knocking on the glass was definitely an option but I decided before I did that I would try to see if there was another way in.

     I left my post by the door and walked toward the bow. Dead end. I walked back to the door and walked toward the stern. This was a bit trickier since the gangway was folded up and there wasn't much space between it and the side of the ship. I went as far as I could to another dead end. On the way I must have brushed against something. I went back to my station outside the glass doors and before I could knock, someone stepped into the magic zone that opened the doors for me. I walked inside trying to look nonchalant. No one took particular notice.

   After dinner that night I noticed there was something white on my vest. It didn't seem to want to brush off. No worries. I'd wash it out in the basin and all would be well in the morning. Nope. The substance on my vest wasn't coming out. When the vest was wet it looked hopeful but as it dried the white splotches where still there. I tried again when I got home pre-soaking the stain first. No luck. It must be white paint and the only place I can think of picking that up was on my little adventure outside the glass door.

     When I was in the library in Pond Inlet I picked up a patch to sew on my pack. It was bigger than most of the other patches and I wasn't sure where I'd put it. When I realized the stain wouldn't come out of the vest, I tried the patch to see if it would cover the white marks. It did so I pinned the patch on and then got distracted by something else and left the vest by the sewing machine. This morning when I was debating about what to do I decided it would be a good time to sew on the patch.

     As with most things the process wasn't straightforward. The patch needed to be sewn on above a pocket so I had to be careful to just catch the top layer of fabric. Also patches are nasty tough things and hand sewing isn't my favourite indoor sport. I started in, had to pull out several stitches several times and eventually got the patch on the vest. The house was quiet and as I sewed I thought about building the ukulele. How many times did I have to redo things? How many times did things actually got smoothly? Now many repairs have gone into it so far? I realized that I wasn't cranky when I had to pull out stitches. If I wanted the patch to lie relatively flat I had to fix the mistakes when I noticed them. It would take the time it would take.

     I don't know if I was a patient kid. I've long known I have patience for some things and not for others. What I realized this morning is that, on a good day, I can be patient when my usual response is irritation. On a good day...

They did what on a snowmobile? Arctic adventure #2

This shows the area we were in

The colours in Sisimiut

This summer we decided to pull out all the stops and take back-to-back trips with Adventure Canada. The one we took in 2015 to Newfoundland and Labrador was to have been a once-in-a-lifetime trip. We really liked it and we're getting to the age where it's better to do things now than later so off we went. The first trip was called an Arctic Safari and we were to visit places in Greenland and the Canadian North where there was a possibility of seeing wildlife. The second trip was Into the Northwest Passage and we hoped to visit the Franklin graves on Beechy Island as well as the national historic site that marks the wrecks of the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror.

I left off with us sailing up the coast of Greenland and I'll pick it up there. We visited the town of Sisimiut twice, once on the Arctic Safari and once on the Into the Northwest Passage trip. The first time it was overcast and grey and the second time it was sunny. We were warned about people in Greenland being crazy drivers but there wasn't very much traffic and I didn't see anything that I'd call crazy. We did try to walk on the sides of the roads and not be stupid pedestrians.

We wandered around town, took photos and on our first stop there Richard and I both bought neck tubes made from muskox wool. They are very soft and very warm. I have a pair of socks that a friend gave me years ago and they travelled with me on this trip so both ends were warm thanks to the muskox.

I decided to go right back to the basics of photography by setting the camera on manual and shooting only in that mode. It was very instructive and, in a way, much simpler than learning what to do with all the whistles and bells on the contemporary cameras. If you like what's in the frame take the picture. If it's too light or too dark change one of the settings. I can't quite do that at lightning speed but it really helped me to make better choices rather than just setting the thing on auto.

We enjoyed the bright colours of the buildings in Greenland and found out that originally there was a colour code. Government buildings and the houses of government workers were painted a certain colour (can't remember which colour was which). Fishermen's buildings were another colour. It made for a good deal of visual interest against the grey sky.

The lake on the first visit

When we returned to Sisimiut for a second visit the sun was shining and the folks from the town were getting ready for snowmobile races. Yes, August and snowmobile races – on a lake – that wasn't frozen over! 

I couldn't imagine a snowmobile skimming across the surface of the water and was convinced they would get a few feet from shore and then sink. I was wrong. I hate to even think how the drivers got good at this but most of the ones we saw successfully remained upright as they took off from one end of the lake, drove to the other end, went around an orange buoy and then raced back and up onto the shore. 

This guy got a little cocky

We had to go back to the ship before the actual races began but it was a blast watching the two or three guys scoot around the lake in preparation for the real deal. I think they may have decided to take a spin because of the preponderance of 'blue penguins'* that lined the shore.

This is the result

The atmosphere was festive and we found a a good lookout spot on a rocky outcrop. As time passed more and more of the local people showed up. Some had coffee with them; others looked as though they had brought a picnic. There were lots of little kids and it was clearly a family affair.

Getting ready to roll

On both occasions in Sisimiut we were treated to a demonstration by a championship kayaker. It was incredible the number of ways he could roll the kayak. He did it with the paddle behind his head, with one hand on the paddle, with the paddle held against the hull of the kayak and at one point he did five rolls in quick succession. He wore a dry suit but had no gloves and his face was bare. I found out later that each kayaker usually makes his own kayak and that they are custom fitted so that water stays out and the kayak becomes a physical extension of the paddler. Although the covering materials have changed the kayak frames are still laced together. The wooden frames are covered with either canvas which is then oiled or nylon fabric which gets a coat of polyurethane. The Inuit used to salvage driftwood that washed up in order to build frames.

And under he goes!

On our first visit there was another cruise ship in the harbour. I got chatting to one of the guys travelling on it. According to him the ship had scraped an iceberg and divers were below checking the hull. I didn't get any more details than that and I wonder still what the whole story was.

I'm not sure how to end this elegantly so I guess I'll fill you in on the blue penguins and then stop. In the hotel in Ottawa one of the staff told us that we could recognize Adventure Canada staff by their white shirts and their black vests, kind of like penguins. Later when we were in a zodiac and a number of us had already landed, our driver commented that all the blue expedition jackets must be blue penguins. The name stuck.

Stay tuned. I'm not sure what I'll tackle next but I do want to get the trip recounted while it's relatively fresh in my mind. The organization may be a bit ragged. Luckily I'm not doing this for a grade. ;-)

Where have all the photos gone? Arctic Adventure #1

View from RCGS lunch

Where have all the photos gone? I'm not actually sure. Are they on my computer, in the Google cloud, in my camera, on my phone? That is partly why I haven't written a blog about the fabulous summer in the Arctic. I'm far from organized but I must start somewhere or I'll never get anything written or get any photos posted. This series of posts isn't going to be a chronological record but I will start at the beginning and try to pull a few photos from the pile.

Time for heavy clothes

We flew to Ottawa on Sunday August 5 expecting to spend the night and then fly to Resolute where we would meet the ship Ocean Endeavour to start our adventure. The adventure actually began in the hotel on Sunday night. Matthew James Swan our expedition leader welcomed us and gave us a quick lesson on ice charts. I'd never heard of ice charts before and I would say I'm quite familiar with them now. They are put out every 24 hours by the Canadian Ice Service and they ruled our lives for the month we were on Ocean Endeavour. On July 25 the passage into Resolute was completely clear. After that date the pack ice drifted in and choked the entrance. We were not going to Resolute. The ship had turned around half way across Baffin Bay and was heading back to Greenland. Thinking about the logistics of returning to Greenland made my head spin and for the first of many times I was extremely grateful that someone else had to handle the details.

Ocean Endeavour was hosting the “Students on Ice” program and the students had expected to get off the ship in Resolute and the fly from there to Ottawa on the planes we were planning to fly in on. Also, Resolute was to have been the resupply point for the ship. I don't know how all of this got worked out other than many people with a lot of experience worked many hours.

Our plane to Greenland

Our charter flights had to be cancelled and another carrier found who could, within 36 hours, get the proper paperwork for an international flight from Canada to Greenland. The company that managed to organize that was Sunwing. We all had a good laugh at the irony of that name.

In order to get everything arranged our departure was delayed. We were to spend Monday in Ottawa and fly overnight to Greenland. Suddenly Adventure Canada had over 200 people in Ottawa for a day and needed to do something with them. We had to vacate our rooms at noon and members of the Adventure Canada took turns babysitting our luggage during the day while we went on guided tours. In the morning we went on walking tours then were bused to The Royal Canadian Geographical Society for lunch. In the afternoon we went across to Hull to visit the Museum of Civilization and then back to the hotel for dinner. After dinner we changed into our warm clothes (Did I mention it was in the high 30's in Ottawa?) and boarded buses for the airport where Mother Nature gave us another taste of what we were in for. There was a wild thunder storm and all planes were grounded until it passed. The commercial flights had priority so we spent 4 hours in the airport before we were able to board the planes and take off. We arrived in Kagerlussaq at around 7 a.m. I got a bit of sleep on the plane but not much. We boarded buses and cleared Greenland customs. One official boarded each bus and walked down the aisle looking at our passports. When all was in order we drove to the dock transferred to the ship via zodiacs. 

Looking back at the dock in Kangerlussaq

Breakfast was waiting for us on the ship but before we could get underway there had to be a a boat safety drill. We ate breakfast and zombie-like followed instructions about lifeboats and lifejackets.We managed to get the lifejackets on and then off and when the drill was finished we went to our cabins for a few hours of shut-eye as the ship sailed up the coast of Greenland to Sisimiut. So ended the first lesson in Arctic travel: you may have plans but the wind, waves, and ice may have other ideas and it behoves you to pay close attention!