Summer, 2008

I will be joining this International polar year voyage with Quark Expeditions from Anadyr, on Russia's Asian shore to Murmansk, near the Finnish border.  The journey will explore the Chukotka Peninsula, Wrangel Island, the New Siberian Islands, Severnaya Zemlya and Novaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land.  I hope to add some journal entries to this page throughout the voyage.  
The attached map shows the proposed routes in red.  The routes in black are from 2005-2007 aboard ships with Quark Expeditions.
From July 25 to August 15th, I will be joining a group of 5 others as we charter a small 15 meter research sailboat vessel and explore the wondrous fiords and wildlife of Svalbard.
I hope to post paintings from these expeditions on my recent works page later in August.

Northeast Passage 2008 Journal

  • 28/ 06,  Arrive in Anchorage, Alaska.

  • 29- 30/ 06,  Fly from Anchorage over international dateline to embark on the Kapitan Khlebnikov anchored outside of Anadyr.  Sunny with a strong south wind.  Ship had a 20 degree roll first night.

  • 01/ 07,  Wonderful late afternoon landing at Yttygran, (Whalebone Alley ) Chukosky Peninsula .  Wildflowers in full bloom.

  • 02/ 07,    Big Diomede Island, visible, through lifting fog at 6:30am. Paint a few quick sketches.  Cape Dezhnev - we Zodiac cruise, swell too strong to land and fog too low for heli operations.  Miss the native village of Naukan.
Visit village of Uelen.  Wonderful cultural display at museum.  Carvings spectacular.

  • 03/ 07,  Land at Kolyuchin Island, Chuckchi Sea. Strong winds with fast ice and seals all around.  Wondering where the Polar Bears are!  Onward towards Wrangel island.  Lots of sea ice ahead.

  • 04/07,  Day 6,  Land by helicopter on Wrangel Island. Wonderful wildflowers and muskox in the valley below.  Fog crept in reducing visibility for helicopters, leaving us stranded.  We climb down the mountain with passengers to meet the grounded aircraft on the beach at Devil's creek.  Thankfully for fire from driftwood and emergency kits, we kept warm until the fog lifted and we were able to head back to the ship at 2am.  The mighnight sun was a welcome sight through the fog.

  • 05/07,  Day 7,  Wrangel Island, second landing, wonder vistas, up the large river valley.  Paint a panorama.

  • 06/07,  Day 8,  Mys Shalaurova Izba landing.  Stark stone pillars rising up out of the tundra.  The mosquitoes were swarming in the balmy weather with no wind.  Painting was a challenge as the insects would dig away with no fear.  Ice has been very heavy for the icebreaker but a south wind is taking pressure off the Siberian shore.

  • 07/07,  Day 9,  3am landing at Ayon Island, reindeer herder's camp.  The heard was about 60 kilometers away but we were able to visit a family camp.  While drawing the camp, the elder reindeer herder drew a few animals on my page.  There were many children that gathered around as I worked on portraits.  Then the kids took turns to draw for me.

  • 08/07,  Day 9,  Our first polar bear sighting! A young male at 2am.
Clearlight and long shadows cast by the midnight sun.71degrees 34.711N - 159 degrees, 49.537 E.  Our goal today is to explore the New Siberian islands, but ice is very thick in the south, so it may be a route around the north east of this remote island group.

  • 09/07,  Day 10,  The captain has "garaged" the ship so we can walk out onto the sea ice.  A ringed seal is near the ship and is molting.  Silence and and open space on the ice.  Pressure ridges dissolve into fog.

  • 10/07,  Day 11,  Try to make a landing at Vilkitskiy Island but ice drifts are surround the shore;  However zodiac cruising was rewarding, thick billed murres and kittiwakes on the ice floes present wonderful contrast to the rising sea cliffs behind .  Noon time position 75 degrees 09.2N 153 degrees 38.1 E

  • 11/07,  Day 12,  Wonderful sea ice arrangements as we head for evening landing at Belkovskiy Island.  Island still surrounded by ice and polar bear tracks.  In the harshness, the tundra is off from the sun and tiny arctic wildflowers hide in the shelter of footprints from years ago.  A nesting ptarmigan goes almost unnoticed .  Upon returning to the ship, a mother and two cubs approach the ship in wonderful light.  Temperature 3 degrees Celcius.

  • 12/07,  Day 13,  Male polar bear jumping between the floes very exciting. A day at heavy ice and fog.

  • 13/07,  Day 14,  Approach Cape Chelyuskin, most north continental point of Eurasia.   Vega, the ship Adolf Erik Nordenskjold led for first transit of the Northeast passage wintered here.  We have a Swedish dinner party to celebrate the Swedish expedition.

  • 14/07,  Day 15,  We are the first ship to pass by Cape Chelyuskin early in the morning.  We hope to land on the Taimyr Penninsula , but we are beset by fast ice and fog.

  • 15/07,  Day 16,  Long battle with ice as north wind blows pack ice south and pinches the ship fast against the shore ice.  Eventually we are released into the Kara sea.

  • 16/07,  Day 17,  We approach Novaya Zemlya. . With another sea day I am catching up on my paintings and organizing the many sea ice paintings.  Looking forward to posting these on this website by mid-August.  I may not have website access for this next part of the voyage, but hope to upload some great video clips once back online.

  • 17-22/07/2008,  Days 18-23,  Our Ship arrived July 22, to Murmansk completing the Northeast passage .  First and maybe only to do it this year.  The last few weeks have been eventful with stunning vistas parked in the fast ice in Franz Joseph Land and being stranded on the beach with polar bears in the fog.  The painting was wonderful and I enjoyed giving the workshops about painting on the Icebreaker.  Many wonderful passengers embarked on a new way of seeing through painting.

  • 24/07/2008,   In Longyearbyen now packing the provisions for a 3 week week trip to circumnavigate Svalbard on the sy/Arctica.  Very cosy but sturdy vessel.  I will post paintings and photographs from these expeditions later in August.