Author Archives: thesailingfrog

Iqaluit is a bit of a shocking return to the South with an avant-garde airport, big pick up trucks everywhere, a paved ring road, line-ups of colorful government buildings and gangs of kids wearing hoodies and tight leggings. It is … Continue reading →

Early start to walk to the airport at the top of town, no taxis in Pond! We are booked on First Air, feeling lucky for our confirmed seats although they cost as much as a return trip from Victoria to … Continue reading →

This is it, we are on to plan B. The ice reports have gotten worse and are forbidding, no way to get to Cambridge bay, or Gjoa Haven or even just through Lancaster sound for at least 10 days and … Continue reading →

We were planning to poke our head North into Lancaster sound but after hearing from Muktuk about the conditions, we opt for a walk on shore hoping to sight some wildlife. We dinghy across the shallow silty bay, Fred carrying … Continue reading →

We are going North from White bay to Tay bay on the North West corner of Bylot Island. We start at 6 am with no wind, no fog and no rain for a while, then all of the above. Winds … Continue reading →

We lost signal yesterday shortly after leaving Pond Inlet, so today the post is by satphone, which means no pictures. Sorry about that. I will add them later. Yesterday was a delight, the fog lifted and we went West in … Continue reading →

We went to visit Kisha and Ruda at their camp by the river yesterday and walked by old round houses build with stones, sand , mosses, lichen. There are many bones of whale and other mammals and birds emerging from … Continue reading →

We get woken up this morning by rumbling noises along the hull of the boat. This is just some flat pieces of iceberg that are travelling fast with the current and hitting us pretty hard. We receive quite a few … Continue reading →

We are hoping to pick up the broken part for the auto pilot from First Air this afternoon, already a day late and now the plane is late. We have thoroughly been back and forth and back again, we know … Continue reading →

We land the dinghy on the beach getting slightly wet due to the swells since there are no docks in Pond Inlet. Then we walk west on the beach for about 2 mm and it feels really good to see … Continue reading →

We start the morning with seven showers , each one of us getting a turn. Fredo also put a load in the washing machine on board, a small genie that can take 8 kg and return them smelling fresh again … Continue reading →

We are in sight of Baffin island , about 15 miles from our chosen Anchorage south of Bylot island. We have gone through thick fog and rain, but it’s lifting a bit as we approach land. We can see snow … Continue reading →

Dunnery and I have been married 33 years today, we are giving ourselves rain-checks for celebrations. The hour long watches continue day and night. It is not harder at night because there is no night. It’s no longer a midnight … Continue reading →

We start crossing Baffin Bay at 11:45 towards Dundas Harbour on Lancaster sound. The heater is still not cooperating and after about 3 hours driving with fog under auto-pilot, It stops working as well. Daughter Veronica is our saviour, she … Continue reading →

Foggy departure at 7am, with a light wind from the South. The morning is a treat despite the fog as we pass monumental icebergs and incredibly artistic ice sculptures, that remind us of swans, sphinxes, towers, forts, an ice-cream cone … Continue reading →

We had a delicious dinner of Arctic char given to us by the crew of Destiny. The night was comfortable at anchor despite the heavy rain and howling winds. By late morning, after checking the forecast, Skipper Fred decides that … Continue reading →

Unfortunately, the Satphone did not send the picture yesterday so we are investigating… We had a wonderful dinner last night of Icelandic lamb shoulder with green beans and French fries, a quiet night at anchorage and this morning was much … Continue reading →

This is a first trial to send a blog by Satphone, and I have included one picture as well as a test. Last night we got quickly on our way to a nice quiet anchorage south of Upernavik after landing … Continue reading →

The Air Greenland flight is delayed until 6 pm so we have an extra day in Ilulissat for the museums before we rejoin the Freds on board Fredoya tonight.   We don’t know if they plan to leave tonight or … Continue reading →

  And a few pictures from our hike .

It drizzles all day but it’s not cold, so we walk around town all day. The town is prosperous and very pleasant. The houses have a lot of character and we find our way through a network of roads, paths, … Continue reading →

The Air Iceland Dash 8 took us over in three hours above the thick clouds and we touched down in UNESCO World Heritage site Disko Bay. Flying West, we have already regained one hour of the seven we lost going … Continue reading →

A few pictures of quaint Reykjavik before we fly to Greenland. I am adding the ice concentration map which shows good progress in the last 10 days. I may not be able to blog in Greenland so please be patient … Continue reading →

    After two flights, we have arrived in Iceland without trouble. The car rental service representative was about as awake as we were at 5:00 am, seems he had missed a night’s sleep just as we had. The hotel … Continue reading →

It’s 8:00 pm in Victoria and yes I think we got it all, I hope we got it all. it was so hard to figure out what to bring, and even harder to make decisions about what not to bring. … Continue reading →

Of course, you can’t see the ice melt on the concentration map when you check everyday as I do, but given a week in between readings, the melting is visible and accelerating at a good pace. This is very encouraging … Continue reading →

This is our home coming, early wake-up to shoot Dodds Narrows at high slack and drift with the ebb all the way home. It works as we get great currents pushing us South. All goes well, we tie the boat … Continue reading →

Another day in paradise, that is true summer, warm water, sunshine, moderate winds at predictable hours, nothing could be better!  Georgia Strait is a little choppy but  nothing unpleasant.  We just miss the whales and the sea otters already and … Continue reading →

As now usual we start in the fog  by sailing a GS, zig-zagging through the gill-netters that are out en masse in Fitz Hugh Sound. They have the sound pretty much on full intercept,  raking all the spawning salmon in … Continue reading →