After a 3 weeks successful expedition around the north west corner of Spitzbergen our camera is as loaded of megapixels as our heads of impressions and new experience. Weather changes fast, wind is strong and the trip could have taken a month. By turning night into day (paddling and sleeping when possible…) we managed to cover 550K in 16 days. That including a 30K “kayak hiking”- crossing a glacier with our boats. Here is a taste of the adventure:
14 polarbears… some close to the camp and had to be scared away with flare-guns. These two friendly sweeties were just passing by…
The majestic Mittag Leffner-glacier had to be crossed – or we had to return and paddle 450K back…
12hrs of hard work crossing morains and glacier rivers, to get on to the high point.
Down the Ragnarglacier was like walking the dog.
Rafting down a dirty glacier-river for 6 hrs was much better than to carry all the gear down the moraine (would be a 2 days struggle). And off course we were were dry and comfortable in our suits.
At last we reached the Billefjord and continued the trip.
After our first polarbear encounters a couple of days we have now met a total of 14 during a 2 day period. Most we have met while we paddled by, while 3 have been while we were on land at our camp a couple of nights ago. Those we met while in the boats gave us the best opportunities to get quite close too them. It is incrdible to watch these animals casually strolling or swimming totally relaxed in their turf. In contrast, we are very aware that their environment can be deadly to us in a few minutes as we have already seen with the seas, wind, cold that continue to change in minutes.
After 2 days of many bear sightings we were on higher alert and had found a camp site with several hundred meters of open ground to give us plenty of warning of approaching bears. We also decided to have one of the team on bear watch all night. The first bear made an appearance several hundred metres from camp an hour after our arrival. Per Thore and Petter headed out in his direction and sent him away with a warning flare.
It was then decided that we were possibly camping on a popular path for the local bears, and that if we had another bear visit we would pack up camp and move 25 km’s across the fjord. Sure enough a couple of hours later (12.30am) camp was woken by bear watch and another bear was heading our way in the other direction from the first. The boys sent the second bear away, but he needed more convincing than the first (1 flare plus several warning shots overhead). So at 2.00am we paddled out from camp under blue skies and an oily sea.
We had an amazing 4 hours paddling under the midnight sun. We were visited by many seabirds, a couple of seals and a pod of minkie whales before making camp just just inside Widjefjord.
When we woke 8 hours later we got news from home that a couple of fellow paddlers who were attempting to circumnavigate the whole Svalbard group had been rescued about 250 km’s further east after one had been attacked in his tent and dragged 30 meters before being shot by his mate. The latest is that he is in a serious but stable condition in Tromsø hospital. Our thoughts are with these guys and mood in our camp is a little subdued. We are in an unforgiving environment.
We write this update while taking shelter in a hut 30km’s inside Widjefjord as 15meter/second blow from the south. We’ll be here until the wind drops.
“Team Lost”
Widjefjord North-West Svlbard
Petter Thorsen sent us this update from Day 8 of their Svalbard Expedition, including their first polar bear sightings.
Team ‘Lost’ have been Found!
Since we last sent an update we have been taking advantage of continual talewinds and paddling up to 40 or more km’s per day!
After leaving Longyearbyen on July 20th we paddled west before reaching Forlandsund the following day. It was a strange and lonely feeling knowing that we were heading north, away from civilisation and into a wilderness area that is both beautiful and extreme. The dark sky towards the north didn’t help!
In the last few days we have paddled up the entire western side of the Svalbard Islands, past hunting huts and grave yards of polarbear, whale, seal & fox hunters dating back 500 years. We have paddled past more glaciers that I can count, and been caught in wind squalls that sprung up from nowhere and nearly flattened our tents.
“Lost” had a bet the the first to predict which day we would sight our first polar bear would win a bottle of whiskey…but I and sorry to report that no one won. We all expected to see a polarbear in the first week of the trip…but none materialised…..UNTIL TODAY (day 8)!!!! And not only did we see one, but 8!!! With the last 2 being a mother and baby walking along the sea shore less that 50 meters away from our kayaks. What incredible animals…and there are only about 3000 left on the svalbard islands.
We have got into a pretty good routine for each day now; beginning with dried cereal which we just add water to make a super energy meal that keeps us paddling for several hours without stopping. We then check the weather forecast via satellite telephone to decide when we paddle and where (if any emergency stops are) as the weather changes quickly and with potentially dangerous consequences. We then break camp, take down the polarbear trip wire flares, pack boats and get on the water. We are using Aleutian dry suits from Palm, which we always wear on the water with up to 2 layers of clothes underneath. The secret with staying safe and warm is to manage your body temperature so well that you don’t sweat, or if you do; paddle yourself dry afterwards. And we have found that these dry suits have been amazing at breathing without letting water in.
Once on the water we usually try to paddle for 2 shifts of about 4 hours with a lunch break inbetween where we stop, boil water and eat hot lunch. At the end of each day we then send 2 of the boys on land with guns and polarbear flares to check none are in the area, before landing and setting up tents before we begin to freeze. Then its setting up of polarbear flares around the camp, drying equipment, eating, and sleeping!
Until next time!
In the summer of 2011, Jan-Gunnar Winther and John E. Guldahl of The Norwegian Polar Institute will paddle and walk from where Fridtjof Nansen had to give up during his 1893 Arctic expedition, to the North Pole. The purpose of the trip is research on the changing ice conditions at the pole.
The best equipment is essential for the success of the trip and the team have chosen Palm Aleutian Suits which they’ve already been putting through their paces. The photo below is from training near Tromsø this spring.
Best of luck to the team as they train for the expedition. We’ll keep you updated on their progress.
More information
Norwegian Polar Institute – Norway’s central institution for research, environmental monitoring and mapping of the polar regions
Alfa Fritid – Tromsø based sea kayak specialist also offering courses and kayak rental. Sponsoring the expedition.
July 19th we are flying in to Longyearbyen (Spitzbergen) the northernmost town in the world. Ahead of us a 4 weeks journey around the exposed northwest corner passing majestic glaciers and landing on the most remote beaches. The kayaks and will be shipped by boat. The team is Per-Thore Hansen, Hege Hansen, Petter Thorsen and Josh Barns.
Last time we were up here (april 2009) was for another purpose – the NORUK north pole expedition. 4 friends in the team: Bob Russel (adventurer, UK), Ceri Williams (mountain guide and paddler, UK), Per-Thore Hansen (musher, NOR) and myself (skier – testing the thin ice for the boys…). The expedition was cold, fun and successful.
The NORUK-team on the top of the world (April 11. 2009)
Preparations for the Spitzbergen kayak expedition is going well with training trip in Norway, north of the polar circle. Hamarøy is a great place to be. The midnight sun is here now and we have lots of white beaches to land on.
As always, when the expedition is approaching all the small details are on your mind day and night. Even if the planning has been going on for months, suddenly there is so much more to sort out! How much fuel and water and how much toilet paper do one really need for a month?…
Myself and ocean rower Sarah Outen travelled 150 miles across the UK by Stand Up Paddleboard, from Bath to London, reaching Tower Bridge on Tuesday 8th June.
Dave, a world-record breaking skateboarder and endurance kayaker, is currently exploring the boundaries of distance Stand Up Paddleboarding with one eye on a world record journey in 2011. Sarah is preparing for a two and half year global circumnavigation starting in London in April 2011, her first major expedition was a 4000 mile solo row across the Indian Ocean in 2009, which earned her three world records.
As passionate supporters of Blue’s aims, Dave and Sarah decided to undertake this expedition to celebrate the inland waterways of Britain, concluding their journey beneath London’s Tower Bridge on World Oceans Day. Throughout their journey they were joined by paddlers, cyclists and walkers, amassing a total of 875 Blue Miles (miles travelled on or by the water) during their week-long paddle.
Along the length of the Kennet & Avon Canal and the latter section of the River Thames Dave and Sarah faced a number of obstacles. Remarkably, an early June heat wave took its effect on the pair, and as expected 115 portages in the shape of locks and weirs turned this effort from a mere paddle into a true endurance event. Without doubt, though, the greatest difficulty was standing up for an average of 11 hours a day!
On their approach to London a deserved climax beneath Tower Bridge seemed to be in jeopardy as the Harbour Master ordered them out of the water just three miles from the end. Dave and Sarah hoisted boards onto shoulders and marched alongside the Thames past Westminster and the London Eye, determined to reach their destination even if it was on dry land. Thankfully, the Harbour Master had a change of heart and sent out a boat to escort them between Waterloo and Tower Bridge.
It was a truly iconic finish to the longest Stand Up Paddleboarding journey seen by the UK to date.
Read more on www.thegreatbigpaddle.com
Meet Dave @ www.davecornthwaite.co.uk
Meet Sarah @ www.sarahouten.co.uk
After our first successful mission in the North west, we decided to focus on the Central Highlands and on the possibility of some bigger drops and bigger volume. So, it was back onto the train ready for a 28 hour journey to the city of Nah Trang, followed by an invigorating 5 hours in a minibus to the town of Da Lat.
An exciting early morning portage
With our base set up, the team headed out to collect as much information about the surrounding area as possible employing scooters, taxis and mini-rafts to check out the flows. All signs seemed to point North to the Yok Don National Park.
Yet another lengthy drive delivered us, in darkness, to the Dray Sap Waterfall. Although the team couldn’t yet see the fall it sounded thoroughly promising, and as morning broke it became obvious we weren’t going to be disappointed.
Andy looks up at the mighty Dray-Sap Falls
Whilst chatting to the locals it became apparent that there were some more falls about 5km further up the river, a short tractor ride delivered us and the kit to another set of sweet looking drops.
Andy hitting his line
The guys ran various different lines on the top falls and then headed downstream, with some intrepidation and anticipation of Dray Sap Falls themselves. On reaching the falls, the team split up and explored the full width of the river. A couple of lines were decided upon and the rest of the afternoon was spent on various descents.
Luke on Dray Sap Left
Another mission completed, the team are heading back to the coast for a couple of days before beginning the lengthy journey back through Vietnam and China to Hong Kong.
Keep it Steep,
Luke and the Kayaknam team.
It was only two months since we paddled through Patagonian seas, but two months off the water felt like a lifetime. The weeble that I am (with no muscles that work below the chest) felt very wobbly as I nosed my way out of the jetty in Laide – a west coast Scottish village, its sands gleaming in the rare sun. Within the first kilometre, my back support had slipped down and I watched Andy, the not-so-long-ago novice kayaker, skilfully powering his way into the distance.
We reached a rocky point, and I was surprised how fast we were covering ground. But rounding the corner, a series of headlands fingered into the horizon, telling me I’m got it all wrong. I’d been forcing the coastline to fit the map. We’d only done 5 km, so there was still a long long way to go.
“Andy, I think we should turn round”
“What for? Let’s carry on”
I should have insisted, persuaded him otherwise, pointed out we’d be there at sunset, if we were lucky. But it was windy, and I was too tired to debate. So we paddled on.
Tendonitis from the Patagonian paddling adventure kicked back in, and my wrist creaked with each stroke into the wind.
At the next headland,
“Andy, can you put me on tow?” I needed to ease my wrist.
At the next headland.
“We’ve only done 10km? Still 25 to go?”
On we went, eager for the kilometres, straight-lining from point to point, no time to explore and enjoy. The sun sank low. We paddled faster, chasing the headlands before dusk ate them up.
Lured by the day’s bright sun, it had been easy to forget it was still March, the air still raw with winter, the water icy cold, that darkness came fast.
In Loch Ewe, we paddled exhausted in darkness, towards shore-side silhouettes, eager for a place to land…too tired to appreciate the stillness of evening, too numbed from straight-lining the day. It had been a long day out.
The best parts of being out adventuring are exploring, noticing, enjoying good friends, and having good times. Quality not quantity…sometimes its good to turn around.
Our goal...the San Rafael Glacier
It squeezed us dry of every last drop of energy, and then demanded more. Patagonia, that distant magical place with towering spires for mountains and roller coaster seas, where someone told me “there’s nothing much doing with the tides from what I remember”, ate us up. It lived up to its name as ‘The Eater of Men’ (and women to be pc), and supplied a string of tough stuff, none of it helped by Andy hurting his back a few hours before starting. He crawled into the kayak high on drugs but still in pain, with a posture worse than Quasimodo. We would be two cripples in the wilderness, neither able to walk. It seemed a crazy plan to ‘set forth’, a hard juggle of our good sense with our commitment to make a film.
Andy being a big wall climber is well used to pain and thrives on things being as hard and grim as possible, so he was determined to try for at least one day in a kayak. I’ve a history of ex-boyfriends with bad backs, paranoid about my part in that, and though desperate for him not to make it worse, was no force to his stubbornness (which the Triple Echo film crew were thankful for). So in an already keen wind, we began – how hard could 5 days get? – our journey through tide-tortured waters. Fourty km a day, not much for some, but a lot for two wobblies who hadn’t sat in a kayak for five months, took us through tidal races, island narrows, white water rapids, and winds that built from nought to ‘too scary’ in no time at all. Any comfort we’d taken in our adventure being safe, given the proximity of the film crew on their boat, the ‘Natuiluca’, disappeared on day one, when they lost us, our white double kayak just a speck amongst the expanses of breaking waves. We felt vulnerable, all too aware that under ‘non-filming’ circumstances we would never come to such a remote man-eating place without other kayakers, believing some safety in numbers.
We were initially disappointed at our original month of paddling being shrunk to only 5 days by the filming schedule, and reticent about how realistic or challenging the journey would be…but we were quickly counting the days of effort that still lay ahead. Each night, I dragged myself through barnacles and crabs towards bivvy spots that might keep us safe from the unpredictable tide, and Andy crawled around, chopping small logs to roll the kayak up the beach. In sympathy, and seeing Andy doubled in pain, the camera crew occasionally carried a bag up the beach to help our slow process of making camp.
Why? Because there was a shrinking glacier to reach, carving into the sea in the Laguna San Rafael. Because neither of us can say no to adventure. Because now we’ve survived being swallowed up in the ‘Gulf of Elephants’ and its 20km open water maelstrom, and been swept by ten knot tides to a icebergs bluer than any colour swatch blue could be, life feels sweeter for a little while. It took a lot, but it was all worth it, and the Pisco Sour in our Santiago airport hotel right now tastes better than ever.
The verdict on Andy’s back….strained ligaments in his sacro-iliac joint, 6 to 12 weeks to recover. It might even drag Andy away from his Apple gadgetry, to the gym. And if anyone reading this fancies a paddling adventure in Patagonia, we’ve a great contact there with kayaks and kit and keen to help anyone get out there.
Thanks to Triple Echo and their fantastic film crew, the Nautiluca and their fantastic boat crew, and Patagonian Logistics, there will be a documentary about this, on BBC Scotland in March (I think). Happy paddling!
Wish it had been this sunny at the glacier (not our pic)…read more about our laguna arrival at www.andy-kirkpatrick.com Sorry no photos yet but camera batteries flat or with the airport baggage handlers!
P.S. Our Palm gear was superb – kept us dry, and was durable to those barnacles, and the best cut buoyancy aids we’ve ever worn.
