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Present position 72 02 North 94 13 West

We are at the crux of the passage, anchored in a suspect cut called Hazard Inlet near the Bellot Straits that is the shortcut into Peel Sound and the way west.

Arctic Sunrise

On August 7th after a windy night at Port Leopold being buffeted by katabatic winds off the high ground to the east, we struck south down Prince Regent Inlet for Batty Bay, about 40 miles off. Although we had a northerly flow the air stream bent into this wide mouthed bay to the west and was obviously carrying ice with it. It looked like a trap, as ice was already piling up on the shore to the north of the bay. We then re-crossed Prince Regent to Port Bowen on the Brodeur Peninsula of Baffin Island and found bottom in 15 meters on the spur of a rocky islet marked on the chart as North Cove.

Port Bowen

Luckily there was no wind as the holding ground was nil and the rest of the bay was 50 meters deep two boat lengths from the shore. Sir William Parry had wintered here in 1824-25 just prior to losing one of his two ships, the HMS Fury, across on the other side of Prince Regent Inlet. We found no evidence of his overwinter after scanning the shoreline in detail and going ashore in the obvious places.

The afternoon of the 8th we continued down the coast for a few miles to inspect Port Neill, another likely bolt hole, but there was again no bottom to anchor. Seven miles further south an unnamed inlet looked attractive, but there was no information in the pilot, nor any soundings. It was surprising therefore that we entered without difficulties over the bar with 12 meters and found 30 to 40 meters in what was an inland system that ran for over five miles and doubled back on itself to the coast. Mirror calm, we found 10 meters in good holding in the last S bend and spent the night there. Port Pelagic has been added to the Rutter.

Studying the ice charts and consulting my ice guru Bob Gorman in Ottawa who advises shipping in the Northwest Passage, things were not looking good for a transit. Peel Sound and Larsen Sound were finally fracturing but a clear water route was now not predicted until late August, or not at all, as happened last season. A combination of below average summer air temperatures which affect the melting and the lack of any strong winds to break up the pack are conspiring against a favoured mid August passage for a single season transit. 

Polar Bear on Ice Floe

In any event, on August 9th we crossed the Prince Regent again to try to land at Fury Beach, south of Batty Bay where Parry’s Fury was washed ashore in a gale and lost, only a few weeks after being released from their winter quarters at Port Bowen. Before they abandoned the ship and moved on board the HMS Hecla, they cached an enormous amount of supplies ashore in an organized fashion. Some of this was used in 1832-33 by Sir John Ross before and during his 4th winter after attempting to find the Northwest Passage via Prince Regent Inlet. After they had abandoned their single ship, the HMS Victory, south on the Boothia Peninsula, when it was clear they were headed for a fourth winter beset, they went north along the sea ice (never realizing Bellot Strait existed which was the key), stopped at Fury Beach to stock up and made use of the Fury’s boats that had been left on shore to escape to the north. Ice in Prince Regent forced them to turn back to spend their 4th winter at Fury Beach. The next spring they were able to sail quickly to the east and were picked up by whalers in Lancaster Sound. What had been described by Ross as a mountain of provisions, fuel and equipment - after he left - has succumbed to a succession of pilferers and according to a recent photograph all that remains is some odd bits of wood and rusty barrel hoops. But we didn’t even see this through binoculars in what is an open roadstead as ice blocks and wind on shore made a dinghy landing impossible.

Ice conditions Prince Regent Sound 10 August

On to Creswell Bay just around the corner to the west where we tried to get over the bar leading to the inner gulf, but we could not find the passage and instead fetched up on five meters of water with a making tidal current (we draw four keel down). The chart has a spot sounding of 11 meters but in the fading light of a waning arctic sun, we thought better of the idea and anchored outside, in the open far offshore, luckily again in calm conditions. Narwhal were all around us that night, blowing and puffing away, sometimes raising their single tusks in the air, but would not come near enough so we could get a close look at these fascinating creatures. How different things are here from the south where the wildlife is much more abundant and doesn’t run away. Of course, Narwhal are hunted by the Inuit so a quiet, skillful approach is necessary to get close within camera range, quite beyond our impatient blunderings with paddles in a fully loaded Zodiac!

Forsaking Creswell Bay, which was unfortunate as we were expected by the small settlement at the head of the bay (five dwellings), we continued on down to Bellot Strait to wait for any opening in Peel. The current runs at 8 knots through the strait and the pilot describes ice chokes that can occur without warning and unpredictable counter currents. Magpie Rock, awash at chart datum, at the eastern entrance is the only danger below the water, but obviously to run the 20 miles through to safety in Peel, a lot has to be right vis a vis ice and the timing with the tidal current spot on.

Entrance to Bellot

Pushing our way through 3 to 4/10’s pack ice we managed to enter Depot Bay near the entrance of Bellot. Fort Ross, consisting of two buildings was a Hudson Bay Company trading post long since abandoned, but now serves as a refuge for various science projects in the area including polar bear tracking.

Fort Ross

One of the buildings is open to the weather unused and the other maintained in superb condition, but the hut log book mentions the polar bear that managed to claw his way inside a few years ago and the catastrophic result – now the door and windows are braced by steel strong backs and two inch wooden planking. During 1986-88 David Scott Cowper’s RNLI converted lifeboat the Mabel E Holland spent two winters here. He left the boat unattended during the first winter (while he returned to the UK) and it was holed by the ice. The second and third summer was spent repairing the damage before he completed his four year epic transit.

Anchoring in Depot Bay was OK for the first few hours, but then almost as if by magic the bay filled with ice contrary to the light wind direction from the north and we had to up anchor and recall the shore party. We barged out way out and motored back through the pack around the corner to the north and anchored off the entrance to the suspicious sounding Hazard Inlet which when entered leads to some coves only about one mile away from Fort Ross.

Ice Bound Depot Bay

Again luckily we had calm conditions and we were treated to an exceptional arctic sunset. The sun had just started to dip below the horizon at some point during the last week. At 0200 I went on deck (having slept anchor watch in the pilot house) and I caught the first of the sunrise with a clear horizon.

The next morning we sounded the bar in the dinghy and went in with seven meters at low water. Hazard Inlet was clear of ice and five miles up this sound we dropped anchor on rocky slabs – which is possibly the ‘hazard.’

The ice reports show little movement and within a few days we must decide whether to wait it out here a few more days or retreat back to Lancaster Sound and try to climb something substantial on Bylot Island in the time remaining, as the majority our group must return to Europe on the 20th. Anxiety is running high on board!

Ice situation West of Bellot Strait 11 August 2005

Skip Novak

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