Northwest passage in an 18' kayak.

[Sybarite]

Anne Quémeré, who has already four major crossings to her name will attempt the NW Passage in an 18' kayak starting in July.

She has already rowed across the Atlantic twice but says she wouldn't be able to see the ice if she rowed during this attempt. Seems pretty fragile if there are polar bears about!

She has also crossed the Atlantic and the Pacific in a small kite drawn boat.

http://www.anne-quemere.com/?lang=en

 

[bikedaft]

Looks good, cheers

Ice bears and kotick(?) is a book about a similar venture in a canoe around spitzbergen - everyone told them there was too much ice etc, even for icebreakers, but they followed the lead between the ice and the shore around HW that disappeared at LW...

 

[Romeo]

Kotick was a two man open rowing boat, rather than a kayak. Great book if anyone gets the chance to read it.

er, good luck to the kayak lady, sooner her than me.

 

[Uricanejack]

The Inuit have been using kayaks and spears to hunt all round there for a thousand years. (I think outboards and rifles are in use now).
It's a heck of a long way to carry all your food and water for the trip in a kayak. A friend used to guide up there. The had to take special radios and rifels

 

[AntarcticPilot]

The Inuit have been using kayaks and spears to hunt all round there for a thousand years. (I think outboards and rifles are in use now).
It's a heck of a long way to carry all your food and water for the trip in a kayak. A friend used to guide up there. The had to take special radios and rifels

+1 concerning the Arctic peoples (Inuit only applies to some tribes in Canada; Greenlanders and Alaskan Eskimo don't recognize the term).

Arctic nations tend to have strong requirements about safety gear, self-sufficiency and self-protection (i.e. rifles) for people heading off into the white wilderness. Svalbard certainly does, and I think Greenland does also. Not sure about Canada, but I wouldn't be surprised if you had to post a bond to cover SAR costs. Barring indigenous peoples, hunting is often a no-no; most Arctic mammals are protected. YMMV according to the country, but I think a kayak would need quite a bit of backup to be given the necessary permits.

 

[Sybarite]

+1 concerning the Arctic peoples (Inuit only applies to some tribes in Canada; Greenlanders and Alaskan Eskimo don't recognize the term).

Arctic nations tend to have strong requirements about safety gear, self-sufficiency and self-protection (i.e. rifles) for people heading off into the white wilderness. Svalbard certainly does, and I think Greenland does also. Not sure about Canada, but I wouldn't be surprised if you had to post a bond to cover SAR costs. Barring indigenous peoples, hunting is often a no-no; most Arctic mammals are protected. YMMV according to the country, but I think a kayak would need quite a bit of backup to be given the necessary permits.

From her site :

Since January, new partners have joined the adventure and will accompany me in the crossing of the Northwest Passage.

Some new members are Astellia, from Rennes (France) as well as Olan Associés, from Concarneau (France). McMurdo, the world leader as maker of position locators and communications equipment will loan me an EPIRB locator, a PLB Fast Find as well as an AIS Smartfind locator. These may be strange names for certain people but, well known to mariners who carry them on board in the hope of never having to use them, as they launch distress calls.

All in all, things are going well and I’m keeping a good pace, in spite of occasional obstacles, which must be dealt with, one way or another. The latest one is Gauthier’s decision to abandon the project, for personal reasons. Once the low point had passed, I had to digest the information and recuperate rapidly. So, again, I’ll be on my own, and this just a few months from the departure date. Fortunately, I can count on my past experience to guide me and give me strength to go forth. This being said, sometimes I wish I could slow down and get off the roller coaster.

While plucking away at the Yukon Quest information, one of the most demanding dog sled races in the world and of which I’m an avid fan, I found these lines by Megan Routley, a woman of rare capacity, having been a musher in this race. I quote her “I love feeling small. It’s a reverence for the planet and the universe. Such challenges leave me very humbled. That said, you might see me sitting on a park bench some day, in a ratty coat, with a sign that says, ‘I followed my bliss too far.’”

She’s a woman I’d like to meet.

 

[pohopetch]

Arctic nations tend to have strong requirements about safety gear, self-sufficiency and self-protection (i.e. rifles) for people heading off into the white wilderness. Svalbard certainly does, and I think Greenland does also. Not sure about Canada, but I wouldn't be surprised if you had to post a bond to cover SAR costs. Barring indigenous peoples, hunting is often a no-no; most Arctic mammals are protected. YMMV according to the country, but I think a kayak would need quite a bit of backup to be given the necessary permits.

No permits of any sort required from Canada for Northwest Passage for a private non-commercial vessel, nor from Greenland. No SAR bonds required for Canada or Greenland either. Svalbard seems to be one of the very few places in the world that requires a SAR bond.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

No permits of any sort required from Canada for Northwest Passage for a private non-commercial vessel, nor from Greenland. No SAR bonds required for Canada or Greenland either. Svalbard seems to be one of the very few places in the world that requires a SAR bond.

Thanks. My experience is mostly in Svalbard. I'm a bit surprised about Greenland, though - I have been there and thought they had requirements about SAR. But it was a long time ago, in 1987!

 

[DanTribe]

An inuit hunter once got so cold that he lit a seal blubber fire. This burnt through the bottom of the boat and he drowned.
Which just goes to prove the old saying.

 

[Sybarite]

New departure planned for June.