Tucked Away in Young Bay

We’ve made our way a bit further south down Peel Sound and are tucked away in Young Bay, a protected anchorage a little less than halfway down the east side of Prince of Wales Island.  We’re not going anywhere in a hurry as the ice south of us in the central part of The Passage simply isn’t moving or breaking up. Every few days, via email, we’re in touch with Peter Semotiuk in Cambridge Bay seeking his wise council on all things ice related.  For years now, Peter has been the “voice” who the majority of the boats trying to do this trip turn to, to plan their routes and timing and has built a wonderful and well deserved reputation for himself.  It’s his feeling that if the ice clears it may still be a few weeks off.  I first learned of Peter in the fascinating book “Arctic Passages” by John Bockstoce.  If you haven’t had the chance to read this or John’s other book, “High Latitude, North Atlantic” make sure you do as they’re both truly remarkable books about a place that, as I’ve said before, defies description.  “Arctic Passages” is about John’s transiting the arctic in a thirty-two foot walrus hide canoe. It makes our effort aboard Bagan seem like we’re on a luxury liner. A few days before we left Newport John came by Bagan introduce himself and it’s one of the few regrets of this project that I wasn’t around to meet him.  So, here we sit, one eye on the ice charts, the other down the road with all fingers crossed that we’ll soon see or hear about a break in the ice. Trust me when I say “you’ll be the first to know”.