A northern Alberta bison rancher who embarked on a boating trip around the world has successfully navigated Canada’s ice filled waters.
He recently stopped at Greenland and planned to head southward toward the Azores, a Portuguese island chain in the mid-Atlantic.
In an e-mail, Ben Gray said he expected to leave Narssaq, Greenland, a Danish trading post established in 1880, on Oct. 3.
“Narssaq is no doubt the prettiest town I have ever seen and a must for any traveller that wants the best without the rush,” wrote Gray.
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However, he said he was worried about glacier breakup.
“A lot of ice here from calving glaciers but little of it is large like in
Davis Strait. Some places on our way up the fjord, it was so thick we thought we would be blocked or worse yet our anchorage would get plugged and we would be there for the winter. One two-mile stretch we had to break two inches of new ice before reaching better going. Lots of risk but plenty of rewards.”
It’s not the first time ice has almost stopped Gray’s 17 metre boat, the Idlewild.
In September, it was stuck on an ice floe in the Franklin Strait for five days and bobbed along with the current before being pushed off by the Canadian Coast Guard ice breaker, Sir Wilfred Laurier.
“We had been pushed up on ice floes before and when the area pressure relaxed we would slide back into the water, but not this time,” wrote Gray, who was impressed with the ice breaker’s ability to bump them off the ice.
“Mark, the captain, lives in Victoria and is a triathlete as well as very patient and capable operator. He could move the 83 metre, 5,025 tonne boat up to touch our fender, hold it there while he moved the ice away by going sideways with the bowthruster. We were very impressed.”
Gray stressed he never asked for assistance from the ice breaker, which was on its way to rescue another ship, Fine Tolerance.
However, since Canada’s recent dispute with Denmark over sovereignty of Han Island, officials in Ottawa are keen to keep a higher profile Canadian presence in the region, Gray said.
“We never at any time phoned or radioed the coast guard for a assistance. They were aware of where we were and the conditions at the time and phoned me on the (satellite) phone, which they had asked for many weeks ago when we passed them in Dolphin and Union Strait. I explained the tight ice conditions and they phoned again the next day to see how we were doing.
“I explained the other boat, Fine Tolerance, was on an ice floe and listing then at 20 to 25 degrees. Mark said today it was that information that he presented to Ottawa for permission to come and give us assistance if we required it.”
The Idlewild and three other boats followed two ice breakers through the passage and the Fine Tolerance was towed out.
Jason Fimrite of Grande Prairie, Alta., who was on the boat from Cambridge Bay to Pond Inlet, likened the help to getting stuck in the ditch in the country. If someone comes and offers to tow you before you get your jack out, you accept.
The pressure from the ice dented the boat in a couple places and also pushed the metal sides against the ribs, making the ribs of the boats visible.
“When you’re lying there at two in the morning and all of a sudden the ice starts to tighten up, there’s a whole bunch of places you’d rather be,” said Fimrite.
He plans to join the boat again, possibly from South Africa to Australia.
“It’s fascinating, I wouldn’t have traded a minute of it for the world.”
