It’s not often a boat has to stop and fix its tires, but the boat sailing around the world from northern Alberta was forced to stop in Fort Chipewyan June 13 for repairs to its wheels and rims.
The wheels of the 57 foot Idlewild were damaged when the boat got stuck in shallow water on the Boyer Rapids on the Peace River.
Replacement parts for the boat’s back wheels were shipped to the northern Alberta community, said Alice Gray, wife of captain Ben Gray.
“The rims were damaged and some of the hubs,” said Gray. A set of wheels was added to the boat to help it portage around rapids and through low water along the Peace River. They will be removed once past Pelican Rapids near the Northwest Territories border.
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Gray and his crew plan to sail around the world starting and finishing on the Peace River in northern Alberta.
It’s not the first trouble the crew has had since it left Dunvegan, Alta., May 24. A week after the trip was launched, its support jet boat sunk in the Boyer Rapids after it collided with the main boat.
“To add to the difficulty we sunk our jet boat when it was innocently going around the rear of the Idlewild, hooked and the strong current rolled it under the stern of the Idlewild,” wrote Ben Gray in an e-mail.
“When the Idlewild moved ahead with the anchor winch and a big sea anchor (underwater parachute) pulling, it allowed the jet boat to float free, but she turned upside down into a hole,” he said.
“It demolished it completely,” said Alice, who added the crew could see the rivets of the boat popping as it smashed into the hole.
“It looked pretty bad.”
No one was hurt in the accident, but another support boat had to be brought in to lead the Idlewild through shallow water until it passes through the next set of rapids.
After they got out of the Peace River, the crew sailed into Saskatchewan and around Lake Athabasca to see the world’s most northerly sand dunes, a 100 kilometre stretch of shifting sand.
Brad Gray, son of Ben, wrote: “We are going slow at 4.5 mph as we are light on the throttle and the wheels are slowing us down. We will probably travel 24 hours a day while we are on the lake.
“We don’t have to chart ahead of us now so there is time to get in naps during the day. It is a beautiful area as we are on the Canadian Shield with granite everywhere giving a rugged look to the landscape. We are taking the north shore to the sand dunes and returning on the south shore as our wind is coming from the north.”
Gray said they have been buying fresh fish from the commercial fisherman on the lake and dined on the delicacy of pickerel cheeks.
The boat was expected to head north on the Slave River from Fort Chipewyan June 14.
