20 July 2012 continued.
There's an archaeological site on the southeastern corner of Shuldham island where Callum Thomson (Jane's husband and Jimmy's father) did his graduate work in the 1980s. The Smithsonian Institute team found about two dozen tiny soapstone sculptures of humans, polar bears, birds, fish and even a whelk shell, about a thousand years old, among the earliest soapstone sculptures ever found in the Canadian Arctic (now in Newfoundland museum). We did not land however, the Parks Canada guards had spotted three polar bears on Shuldham Island, so we cruised around the island instead in Zodiac dinghies, from 4:30 to 6:30 pm.
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| Shuldham island is in the mouth of Saglek Fiord. |
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Four Zodiacs from the ship and two Parks Canada boats,
probably discussing bears. |
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| The Parks Canada crews. |
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| A common murre - must be injured as it didn't dive or fly away. |
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A very relaxed polar bear. Mostly he lay down and
covered his eyes with his paws, not very photogenic
but possibly to keep bugs away.
I took this with my Samsung point and shoot camera. |
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| I took this with my Samsung point and shoot camera. |
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| I took this with my Samsung point and shoot camera. |
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| Still from slideshow |
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| Still from slideshow |
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| Still from slideshow |
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| Continuing around the island. A bad place to be shipwrecked. |
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| Strange clouds, lenticular? |
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This bear looked very stressed. Other zodiacs had seen it on
the far side of the island and it had run away, dived in the sea
and then saw us and changed his mind about swimming
to the next island. We thought it best to leave.
Still from slideshow. |
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Polar bear decides to return to shore. Still from slideshow.
We didn't see the third bear. |
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| A bergy bit (too small to be an iceberg). |
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Iceberg to the north of Shuldham Island.
We went round it in the Zodiacs. |
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| Different view of the same iceberg. |
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| Different view of the same iceberg. |
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| This is an iceberg seen from the ship at about 9 pm, about sunset. |
Mo: My first name is Taylor, and I am terrifically interested in Labrador and the Torngat; so much so that I am researching whether this could be an adventure sail. With any luck, you'll see this comment and have an opportunity to reply.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that Shuldham is as far north as you were able to go. Questions:
(1) Did you see many icebergs bigger than a minivan? About how many each day? (Large icebergs are tracked; those smaller than a minivan present little danger to slow-moving sailboats.)
(2) Was the sea state rough? Was it calmer inside the fjords?
I am a responsible, mature, experienced US sailor -- not a crazy person -- but my experience is all south of Boston. I've done considerable research on typical iceberg routes and seasons; airline and resupply opportunities (and their phenomenal costs); and Canadian Coast Guard web resources, and will comply with guidance from Parks Canada and the Coast Guard.
The goal is Nain and/or the 60th parallel, but sailing to Davis Inlet, or even just to Makkovik, would be a noble achievement.
Sincerely,
Taylor in the US