Pushing ice flows
18 August 2013 | Entry of Prince Regent Inlet
PC
After another day blocked on the boat in snow and heavy winds at Radstock Bay, and the realization that our originally planned route through the Peel Sound got even more plugged by ice over the last few days and seems to be closed for quite a while, we decided on Saturday to change our plans and sail through Prince Regent Inlet instead, in the hope that Bellot Strait will open soon. The start of the 200 Nm (32 hrs) journey was a little bit of a rush:
Sat 17.8. 16:00: downloading of latest ice maps, and alarm! – the ice is approaching fast. We call our two neighbor boats which are hiding from the strong northerly winds in the same bay. 5 minutes later, all three are under sail heading south…
We rush across Barrow Strait at 9-10 knots with full sails and enter Prince Regent Inlet around midnight where we encounter a narrow ice barrier. We have to push a number of ice floes away with our ice poles, and when that doesn’t help we also use Libellule’s full engine power. Photo: 3 strong ‘ice pushers’ after completed task.