We have had a lot of excitement here on North Star, all of it good, but sometimes there are tense moments.
I remember a few days ago sitting in the pilothouse saying that, “The first person to see ice gets ten points!” There really are no points, and I was just kidding, but if there were points to be awarded…I’d have given out millions by now.
As I am typing this we are weaving our way through an incredible ice field. Here on North Star the comments have been “Cool! Surreal, incredible, another planet!”
This is a good day to watch us LIVE – https://youtube.com/@mvnorthstar/live
And for those wanting to track us there is a map that is continually updated on https://mvnorthstar.com
We are very busy on the boat and currently are cruising around the clock. Following this are some pictures from the last couple of days…
North Star in the Northwest Passage
Lydia (Mate), Hudson (Engineer) and Garrett (Captain)
Kim and Hudson making a run to bring back Margarita ice
Hudson pointing out the iceberg, just in case we didn’t see it
North Star in the fog
Ken, hanging out with Neptune (part of the blue nose ceremony)
Arriving by tender on the beach at Cross Island
Sadly, we saw a lot of dead bears on the island, some very fresh kills. Who killed them, or why, we do not know
Roberta and Pixie, surrounded by whale bones
Exploring Cross Island
Cross Island is a small uninhabited island used by the hunting community
Ken, Roberta and Pixie
Roberta with Kim. Kim is carrying the rifle in case we encounter a polar bear. And in fact, we had just left the island and returned to the boat when we all spotted a polar bear on the island…where we had just been!
Whale bones on the beach, on Cross Island
Roberta and Pixie
North Star anchored at Cross Island
Prior to going ashore we scanned the island by drone, and by binoculars looking for polar bears. After convincing ourselves there were none, we explored the island. Within minutes of our return to the boat, we saw this guy standing where we had just been.
Sitting at my computer trying to work, with icebergs constantly going by. It’s both frightening and beautiful!
Roberta driving. Ice in every direction. I have some very cool footage of her navigating through a dense ice field in the fog
An amazing sunset!Just a short unedited video showing what we are going through
There are no words that can describe this!
Driving the boat is not a video game — but, it does look like it at times! And this is not a composite or fake video…this is real, shot just this morning!
Thank you! Ken and Roberta Williams — and Pixie and Keeley
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One Response
Dear Ken, Roberta and co,
it looks as if you had quite an exciting travel out of Pauline Cove. We saw the ice from above when we left Qikiqtaruk. Thanks again for welcoming us onboard! It was very different from our daily routine in the camp and I’m grateful for the opportunity to catch a glimpse of a world that is so different from my own. If anyone of you is interested in our research, please forward my email adress and I’ll send our weekly reports. Furthermore, I would like to inform you that there is an initiative for Ocean Floor Mapping (seabed2030). I’m guessing the data you got/get from the remote places you’ve visited would be a very valuable contribution. All the best and have a safe journey!