16 Aug 2017

SHO: Vilkitsky Strait Ice

The last couple of days have been critical days for this expedition. We had crossed the Laptev Sea to the Taymyr Peninsula and then had to pass through the Vilkitsky Strait. In the history of the Northern Sea Route (North East Passage), this Strait has always been feared. It has a notorious reputation for difficult ice conditions. Our ice maps showed significant ice in the South Eastern sector of the Strait, right in our path. We encountered ice about midnight and our Russian Captain was in his element and the ship showed why this class of vessel has been so successful in high latitude areas of the globe. We spoke by radio to two powerful Russian icebreakers that were patrolling the area, and they assured us that there were much better conditions ahead. By 0500 this morning the ice had thinned out and we were back up to full speed and almost through the Strait.

This afternoon we visited Cape Chelyuskin, the northern most point on the Eurasian Continent on the southern coast of this Strait (on this same expedition we visited the eastern most point at Cape Dezhnev). The name celebrates S. Chelyuskin, the first person to reach this northerly most point in 1742. Just south of this Cape are Cape Vega and Cape Lena which celebrate two of the vessels of Nordenskjold’s 1878-1880 expedition which was the first expedition to sail the Northern Sea Route. We also saw the cairn built by Roald Amundsen when he wintered near here on the Maud in 1918.

Today there is a significant Russian Base at Cape Chelyuskin.