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.