lauantai 14. syyskuuta 2013

September 12th 2013


Sailing in Shallow Waters


In addition to ice, fog, and headwinds, the one thing that has been a
nuisance almost throughout the Northern Sea Route is the shallowness of
its waters. Many a time we have been battling against 30 to 35 knot winds
in only five to ten metres of water. Unlike in the Northwest Passage,
there is no archipelago to prevent the seas from building up and in rough
weather, i.e. quite frequently, the waves are so steep that you feel
certain that it's only a matter of time when the boat is going to hit the
bottom. This easily takes some of its charm away from sailing!


A Lonely Passage

The other thing that has made the Northern Sea Route less enjoyable for us
compared to the Northwest Passage is our disability to communicate with
the locals. Very few Russians can speak English and as we only know a few
words in Russian, socializing is extremely difficult if not impossible. On
the other hand, lately we haven't had too many opportunities to socialize
either. Since leaving Dikson three weeks ago, we have seen no sign of
human life, not a single ship, a single yacht or a single anything. We
know of only two other boats that are sailing the Northern Sea Route this
summer, Lady Dana and Tara, a French boat we haven't met. They are both
more than a week ahead of us and have already reached the Bering Sea.
Thus, our good boat Sarema is quite probably the only yacht still in the
Russian Arctic. No wonder it feels so lonely and empty up here.



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