The Vessel: http://www.syrosehearty.com/overview-five
2015 magazine: http://online.fliphtml5.com/namr/kcir/
Tracker: http://www.syrosehearty.com/ocean-tracker
The previous visit to the Arctic in 2016 - http://www.syrosehearty.com/northwest-passage
The adventure: take one of the world’s great sailing yachts into the Northwest Passage. On the 1st of July, 2016, the crew of the Rosehearty set out from the Newport Shipyard in Rhode Island, USA, on a 65-day adventure that would take them and their passengers to Greenland and then deep into Canada’s famed Northwest Passage.
http://www.syrosehearty.com/our-crew-five
http://www.syrosehearty.com/captains-blog
No Fog (for Now!)July 31, 2019
Greenland disappeared very shortly after departure a couple of days ago, not
because the land had slipped below the horizon, but because the fog was so
thick that it swallowed up the coast. The blanket stayed on us for about 40
hrs with no sign of letting up. We sighted some ice bergs just as we were
leaving Nuuk but with the visibility down to less than a 100 meters for most
of our voyage thus far, we have not seen any since. We peer in to the
white, squint at the radars but so far, no sightings in what we know are
"bergy waters". Chris Dickson, during the 1993/94 Whitbread Race commented
that during the Southern Ocean leg, from New Zealand to Cape Horn, they
would see many icebergs during the day but none at night. He theorized that
they must all return to Antarctica once the evening sets in. In these
northern Arctic waters, the icebergs exhibit similar behaviour, retreating
back to shore when the fog gets too thick. Great peace of mind for those on
watch.
Our destination for this leg, Arctic Bay, is still 2 days away but now that
we are above the Arctic Circle, we have the midnight sun. Richard, who
shares the engineering role with Boxy, sailed with the yacht on the 2016
expedition; he told me yesterday that he has already contacted his friend in
Arctic Bay to be sure that a round of golf will be possible. Incredulous, I
said, "Golf?"
"You play on rocks and gravel," he explained with an Aussie twang, "and on
top of your drivers and wedges in the golf bag, there is the important club
the locals call the 'bear club.'"
"Is that for really long fairways?" I asked. He chuckled and showed me a
photo. "The bear club is a rifle, usually loaded with non-lethal rounds at
the front, and more deadly last-resort rounds at the back."
We sailed out of the blanket of fog a few hours ago. When I came up at
0300, I was greeted with a startling blue sky and the sun just above the
northern horizon. It had dipped but not set. Mark and Marcus were on
watch, buzzing over the views and the exceptional visibility. To port and
starboard were massive bergs seemingly fixed to the ocean floor but on the
move at about a knot, according to our plotter. Now that the fog has
lifted, it seems the ice bergs have come back out to sea.
Jonathan
Arctic CircleJuly 31, 2019
Athletes seek medals, best times, or wins in the finals. Bluewater sailors
measure their successes in ocean miles, rounded capes, and imaginary lines
of latitude. Of the five major circles of latitude, the crossing of the
equator is the most celebrated, and on board all ships the crossing of this
line is usually accompanied by excruciating anticipation, pungent
concoctions mixed with glee, hilarious costumes and an appearance by Neptune
himself. The lesser known lines that circle the earth are the Tropic of
Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, and the two polar circles, the Arctic
and the Antarctic. Here on board Rosehearty for this expedition north,
most of the crew crossed 66 degrees north, the accepted line around the
globe designating the Arctic, during the yacht's 2016 voyage here. But
there are a few of us on board who have not and who, since departing
Greenland yesterday, have been keen to join the ranks of those polar
explorers who have journeyed here. Our chef for this adventure, Artur lives
in Tahiti and though he has logged many miles in the South Pacific, he has
never sailed in the high latitudes of the North Atlantic. "What a nice
change of scenery," he explained to me yesterday as he was dicing a
cucumber. "You know in Tahiti, for feesh I am always preparing Mahi Mahi,
Tuna, Wahoo, and then more Mahi Mahi, Tuna and Wahoo. This is my first time
being able to work with the cold water feesh -- Turbot, Halibut, Arctic
Char. So delicious." Cat crossed the Antarctic circle with Rosehearty
earlier this year but was not on board for the Arctic expedition of 2016.
"Coming from Durban," Cat explained in her smooth English Afrikaans accent,
"Ahh never dreamed in my laahf that I would sail to the Arctic and the
Antarctic in the same year." And though I have cruised the Aleutian Islands
in the North Pacific, and dipped to 60 degrees south while sailing in the
Southern Ocean I have never quite made it to this magic realm of 66 North or
higher. Though there will be no slops bucket nor any visit from Neptune
here today, the three new recruits still commemorated the occasion with a
photo and a big smile.
Jonathan
PHOTO BY RENEE
Previous posts
https://arcticnorthwestpassage.blogspot.com/2019/04/rosehearty-captain-david-hutchison.html
https://arcticnorthwestpassage.blogspot.com/2017/07/an-arctic-escape-on-183-foot-super-yacht.html
https://arcticnorthwestpassage.blogspot.com/2017/04/gunkholing-eastern-northwest-passage-in.html
Hello Old Friend!
Ice Pilot Captain Patrick Toomey and ROSEHEARTY Captain Hutchison August 14, 2016
Capt. Patrick Toomey, CCG Ret.