Northwest passage

[Foxglove2]

Has anyone planned a west to east passage through ?

[DirtDobber22]

I have been studying a proposed route via the Northwest Passage to be a part of a future circumnavigation of North America.

start off Georgia Coast
Atlantic Ocean
Labrador Sea
Baffin Bay
Arctic Ocean
Beaufort Sea
Chukchi Sea
Gulf of Alaska
Pacific Ocean
Caribbean Sea......back to the GA Coast.

Somewhere from the Labrador Sea and the Chukchi Sea route via the Northwest Passage if open. West to East.........that very possible, but have not got enough into the planning to make that call. Although from my point of departure, Gulf Stream would aid going North..........

will keep a watch on your post.....

[Foxglove2]

I found this that might help, https://www.fortgeblasen.at/material..._Guide-NWP.pdf

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, DirtDobber.

[Chris31415]

I have no personal experience to offer.

There is a podcast by Matt Rutherford, single handed sailing, where he often talks about the arctic and the NW passage, among other things. 2 reasons I mention it: 1. He often mentions somebody, “victor”?, who seems to be an expert on the ice up there. If you are planning a trip, might be somebody you would want to talk to.
2. I think he said in 2018 only 2 boats got through, one going west to East (Thor?) and the other East to west. Haven’t caught up to 2019, so not sure what happened.

If you are planning a trip, good luck and I would be interested in hearing about it.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Chris31415

... There is a podcast by Matt Rutherford ...
He often mentions somebody, “victor”?, who seems to be an expert on the ice up there...

Maybe?
Paul-Émile Victor, was a French polar explorer and ethnologist, who led more than 60 expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic regions (b. June 28, 1907--d. March 7, 1995 @ Bora Bora, FP).
The French Polar Institute (Institut Polaire Français Paul-Emile Victor - IPEV) is the resources agency for furthering French research in the polar regions. https://www.institut-polaire.fr/ipev-en/the-institute/

[Breaking Waves]

^^

no, most likely Victor Wejer

He produces each year a Yacht Routing Guide for the North West Passage for the current season (i see that was already posted above). This provides up to date information to supplement that in the RCC Pilotage Foundation book Artic and Northern waters (which is the best current guide to the routes and should be used as a base for the above pdf).

Peter Semotiuk was another essential contact up there - he ran a daily HF radio and e-mail net. But I believe he has 'retired'.

I have some direct experience with the routes up there.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Breaking Waves

... no, most likely Victor Wejer
... I have some direct experience with the routes up there.

Right! Thank you.

[jackdale]

There were 24 transits of NW Passage this year. (one vessel made two transits)

https://www.spri.cam.ac.uk/resources...estpassage.pdf

[capt_TE]

Originally Posted by DirtDobber22

I have been studying a proposed route via the Northwest Passage to be a part of a future circumnavigation of North America.

start off Georgia Coast
Atlantic Ocean
Labrador Sea
Baffin Bay
Arctic Ocean
Beaufort Sea
Chukchi Sea
Gulf of Alaska
Pacific Ocean
Caribbean Sea......back to the GA Coast.

Somewhere from the Labrador Sea and the Chukchi Sea route via the Northwest Passage if open. West to East.........that very possible, but have not got enough into the planning to make that call. Although from my point of departure, Gulf Stream would aid going North..........

will keep a watch on your post.....

Amazing plan and adventure. Has been a dream of mine too. I will make some research in the future for this too. Now we are talking prob a decade from now, but have been dreaming about this for a long time. My start point would be Sweden tho, so it would be a plan later on from my circumnavigation from Scandinavia.

[GordMay]

Royal Canadian Navy ship completes Northwest Passage journey for first time since 1954

For the first time since 1954, a Royal Canadian Navy ship, the HMCS “Harry DeWolf”, has completed the journey [the route of the Franklin Expedition] through the Northwest Passage.

“Harry DeWolf” departed Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, on August 3, for her maiden deployment. The crew is conducting a circumnavigation of North America, through the Arctic, in order to demonstrate the capabilities of the new vessel, promote interoperability, foster positive relationships with local communities, and establish a more resolute presence in the Northern Region.

More ➥ https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north...sage-1.6194739

Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship "Harry DeWolf":
➥ https://www.canada.ca/en/department-...dian-navy.html
➥ Navy News | HMCS Harry DeWolf embarks on maiden operational deployment

[GordMay]

Arctic sea ice hits its minimum extent for the year – 2 NASA scientists explain what’s driving the overall decline

September marks the end of the summer sea ice melt season and the Arctic sea ice minimum, when sea ice over the Northern Hemisphere ocean reaches its lowest extent of the year.
For ship captains hoping to navigate across the Arctic, this is typically their best chance to do it, especially in more recent years. Sea ice cover there has dropped by roughly half since the 1980s as a direct result of increased carbon dioxide from human activities.

Arctic sea ice reached its minimum extent for the year, at 4.72 million square kilometers (1.82 million square miles) on September 16, 2021, according to scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at the University of Colorado Boulder. The 2021 minimum is the twelfth lowest in the nearly 43-year satellite record. The last 15 years are the lowest 15 sea ice extents in the satellite record.

So, the 2021 melt season was, despite all the stops and starts, pretty typical for our new Arctic, with the September minimum ending up slightly higher than what we would have expected, from the long-term downward trend. But various new record lows were set in other months and regions of the Arctic.

More ➥ https://theconversation.com/arctic-s...decline-166549

Quick Facts on Arctic Sea Ice ~ National Snow and Ice Data Center [NSIDC]
➥ https://nsidc.org/cryosphere/quickfacts/seaice.html

Arctic Sea Ice News and Analysis ➥ https://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/
➥ https://nsidc.org/news/newsroom

[GordMay]

The quest for the Northwest Passage was based on philosophy, not evidence
Taking only ancient philosophy [Plato's “Timaeus”, a symmetrical Earth], and the Bible, as evidence, Europeans were certain a navigable, ice-free Northwest Passage must exist, and their quest to find it would ultimately last centuries, and cost hundreds of lives.
Interesting ➥ https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfo...arch-1.7053403

[GordMay]

The First American Transit of the Northwest Passage

Four hundred and sixty years. That was the span of time that separated the first attempt, by Giovanni Cabotoin [AKA: John Cabot], in 1497, to discover and navigate a new northerly sea route to East Asia, and the successful attempt, in 1957, of three U.S. Coast Guard cutters to break through, and officially chart, what had become known as the Northwest Passage.

The first successful attempt to sail through the Passage was accomplished between 1903 and 1905 by Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen. Using a small, shallow draft fishing vessel, he carefully maneuvered his way through the ice, sticking close to coastlines. The next successful transit of the Northwest Passage was accomplished between the years 1940 and 1942 by a Canadian ship called the St. Roch, which had an ice strengthened hull.

In the summer of 1957, the Northwest Passage was conquered again, and charted by three U.S. Coast Guard Cutters: Storis (WAG 38), Spar (WAGL 403) and Bramble (WAGL 392).
The icebreaker Storis was based in Juneau, Alaska. Spar, homeported in Bristol, Rhode Island, and Bramble, based out of Miami, Florida, were both buoy tenders.
All three cutters rendezvoused in Seattle, Washington, and set sail on July 1st.
By October, all three cutters had reached their respective homeports, and thus went down in history as the first American vessels to transit through the icy seas of the Northwest Passage, and circumnavigate the North American continent.

More:
The Long Blue Line: First U.S. transit of the Northwest Passage 1957 ~ by Arlyn S. Danielson, curator, U.S. Coast Guard
➥ https://www.mycg.uscg.mil/News/Artic...-passage-1957/