Rigolet, Labrador

22nd July 2012.
The ship didn't have paper charts for Lake Melville (Churchill River), not expecting to go there, but of course it did have digital maps and GPS. This map shows the position of Rigolet at a narrows at the end of Hamilton Inlet. We arrived at Rigolet with the incoming tide. It would be hard to go against the combined current of river and outgoing tide.

One of the Environmental Technology students from Arctic College, Iqaluit, comes from Rigolet. Kerry hadn't expected to see her family until Christmas, so this was a treat for her. Many of the people we met were her close relatives, this community being only about 300 people. There seems to be great pride in their community with projects such as the "second longest boardwalk in the world," a Net Loft museum, craft shop and replica Hudson's Bay Co store manager's house. See also the Rigolet webpage.

This is probably the incoming tide meeting the river flow.

Approaching the dock at Rigolet in Zodiac dinghy.
The Net Loft museum is on the left, with the red roof. 

A jury anchor.

Inside the Net Loft museum. HBC rented nets
for particular fishing grounds.

A public noticeboard. No shame about mentioning menopause here.

Bunchberry, Cornus canadensis.

View eastwards from HBC manager's house.

The replica HBC manager's house.

Lupins, wood storage, RV Akademik Ioffe anchored in the distance.

Four qamutiks (or qamutiit, the correct plural), sleds.

Northern Lights Academy - the school. 

Ship at anchor.

Boardwalk sign.

Low tide, with Rigolet across the bay, a pretty town.

The boardwalk and ship.

Twinflower, Linnaea borealis, among many
beautiful plants along the boardwalk.

Twinflower, Linnaea borealis.

Me again, near the boardwalk.

Another view of Rigolet from the boardwalk (4.4 km long).

Silverweed, Potentilla anserina.

Zodiac dinghy being hoisted back on board ship. On
the way back to the ship we saw a Minke whale again.

Captain Sazonov could not attend his own
captain's dinner on the last evening because
of the tricky navigation required to reach
Lake Melville, but we toasted him.

Eva, the Swedish hotel manager
on the ship for One Ocean Expeditions.