S/V DOGBARK takes the bait... Departs Nome on 20180730 for the Arctic Northwest Passage East Bound

By Janna

Graeme will tell you he is not known for his patience but wow has he been patient the past two weeks … and two days … and counting. Every morning he pores over the latest ice charts and weather reports, researching if we can possibly head north for the next leg of our journey. Every few days he tells us it might (finally!) be time. Maybe Tuesday. Maybe Thursday. Maybe Saturday. But then more information comes in, the ice up near Barrow persists, and the experts tell us: Leaving too early is a common mistake. Ugh. We don’t want to get stuck in the ice. And so Graeme and the rest of us crew pull out our patience again.

Of course, with kids aboard, the waiting game is a lot more fun. We’ve made good friends here who have taken us on adventures and shared their homes (and food and showers and vehicles and laundry facilities) with us. We will be sad to say goodbye. Especially when it’s sunny summer in the 70s here. We floated down a river the other day on paddle boards and kayaks. Sheesh.

Even though we’ve been wearing shorts here in Nome, the ice between Barrow and Herschel Island has been slow to clear this year. And there’s not great protection—no bomber hidey-hole to wait out a storm—from Teller (a day north of Nome) until we get to Herschel Island. From Nome to Barrow is almost 600 miles, then on to Herschel is, roughly speaking, another 400 miles. Between here and there, if the weather is benign, there are places we’d like to swing by and check out for the landscape, the walruses, the town (depending on the place) and maybe even drop the hook for a day or a night. Possible points of interest are Point Clarence (Teller), Shishmaref, Little Diamede Island, Point Hope, Barrow, and Cross Island. We’ll see how it goes!

The other complicating factor is that our keel is 9.5 feet long, which means we can’t get into a lot of little spots other boats can. And if the ice decides to move back near shore, which sometimes it does, the passable gap closes to only boats that don’t draw very much. And of course the gap can also close completely even for those boats. So that’s why we’re playing the waiting game.

But this morning we really think there’s a chance we can go. So Graeme’s consulting the oracle while I write this post. In the meantime, check out this great news coverage of sailboats in the Northwest Passage featuring none other than Dogbark:

Really nice of KTUU to interview us!

So now Graeme’s back with the ice news …

And he says …

So don’t expect much news from us here for the next month or so, but you can definitely follow our tracker. And send us well wishes, prayers, good thoughts, juju, blessings, mojo, everything you got. We’ll soak it all in and report back.

Hi-ho, hi-ho, it’s off to the ice we go!


Napkin calc:
Nome to Barrow to Kaktovik about 840nm @ 8.4knots = 100 hours say 4 days plus stops at Barrow etc.  Earliest ETA sea ice July 3rd which is a day early... I guess they will stop Elson Lagoon and enjoy Barrow...