Mouthfuls of diesel and rifle practice
09 August 2010 | Still in Erebus and Terror Bay
Liz for Dermot
I still haven't been ashore here yet. Been a pretty unpleasant damp day and we're not in any rush. Whilst we wait for the ice situation to improve in Peel Sound, we have set ourselves a few maintenance tasks. One was to top up the heater fuel tank but as we were getting prepared to set to work it ran out. This meant it was my turn to re-establish a siphon which necessitated several mouthfuls of diesel! There must be a better way.
Early this morning the CCGS Terry Fox left Erebus Bay bound for a day of Arctic Char fishing in the next bay. Not long after another Canadian Coast Guard vessel, the Henry Larson came in out of the mist and anchored near us.
The captain of the Henry Larson very kindly sent us an invitation to join him for dinner with another speedy ride in a RIB and lift on the elevator. We got a tour of this vessel too. A very different but equally impressive and well-run ship, fabulous fresh food and most kindly the cook let us have some yeast for Maire to continue making fresh bread.
They left this evening, leaving us to have the bay to ourselves again. We took the opportunity of having little rifle practice. Interestingly both ships wanted to be sure that we DID have a rifle for polar bear protection. We all took a few practice shots at passing icebergs. Interestingly a seal was nearby throughout this , but then it probably knew it was pretty safe.
This evening has been the first clear day and we've been having gins on deck, whilst Maire played the cello that I've been sharing the fo'csle with.
Having got more charts and discussed with the captain of the Henry Larson, it would seem that we have a bit more waiting to be done and that this is a good place to do so. It isn't going to be a light ice year and anyway if things melt quickly this just allows huge 10 mile floes of very hard old multi-year ice to come into play. We shall see.