They did it. For the first time in human history both the Northern Sea Route and the Northwest Passage have been sailed in one single season. This is an exceptional and heroic feat, successfully undertaken by Norwegians Thorleif Thorleifsson and Børge Ousland in their trimaran, and the Russian crew of Peter I.
From Børge Ousland's blog:
Today, on the 21st of September, we enter Lancaster Sound and reach the
74th parallel, considered by most as the exit (or entrance) to the
Northwest Passage. We are proud of being the first sailing vessel,
together with “Peter 1st”, that ever has sailed through both
the Northeast and Northwest Passage in one short Arctic summer.
(...)
It is, unfortunately, the dramatic changes in Arctic sea ice conditions
in recent years that have made this trip possible. On the time of Roald
Amundsen it took five to six years to complete the same distance, due to
the extremely difficult and demanding ice conditions. Now we have
proven that it is possible to make the voyage in a 31-foot fibreglass
sailing boat, equipped with a 10 horsepower outboard motor for
emergencies. This shows how dramatic and how fast these changes are
happening. The changes that we are witnessing will influence climate on a
global scale, in addition to the whole range of animal life in the
Arctic – especially seals and polar bears, whose lives are dependent on
the sea ice.
Continue reading here and congratulate...
Congratulations to both teams. I can't help wondering what might have happened differently if our Norwegians had chosen to sail West, going through the NW Passage 1st, and the Northern Sea Route 2nd? It seems at least that they might have had favouring winds more frequently. Still, a mighty achievement, and a harbinger of Climate Change.
Posted by: Artful Dodger | September 23, 2010 at 00:08
Fantastic! I'm glad this happened in time for an update here. Seems fitting!
Posted by: Kevin McKinney | September 25, 2010 at 05:36