After departing Newfoundland on July 1, I’ve reached the first milestone on my attempt to complete a solo circumnavigation of the Arctic. At 260713.1310Z I crossed the Arctic Circle northbound. I’ll remain north of it until I cross it again sailing southbound in the Davis Strait. At this point I turn substantially east to my next stop is Vardø, Norway, about 1,200 nm away for final refueling before crossing the Russian Arctic to Barrow, Alaska, which must be done non-stop. Barrow most likely will be my next refueling stop.

It seems that fuel shouldn’t be so important with a sailboat but this circumnavigation is a voyage with an expiration date. The Northwest Passage will re-freeze in October and become impassable. It’s essential to keep moving even with no wind, a common occurrence in the Arctic. Motoring is also essential to carefully navigate around sea ice that will certainly be encountered.

To provide some scale to the map, it’s about 3,000 nm from Vardø to Barrow along the shown route. From the western boundary of the Northern Sea Route Area (NSRA) at Cape Zhelaniya to its eastern boundary in the Chukchi Sea is about 2,000 nm.

My blog posts have been scarce since I’ve been busy sailing in surprisingly rough conditions, 25 – 40 kt winds and 3-4 meter short-period seas for much of the last 3 days, a very rolly ride with the boat periodically getting slammed by waves breaking right against the hull. I’m expecting easier conditions for the next several days, at least, that’s what the forecast is telling me.

The weather has also been dominated by overcast skies and fog. I think I’ve had only 2 sunny days during the 13 days since I left Newfoundland. Other than the dolphins I saw leaving Conception Bay and the ubiquitous sea birds, I haven’t seen any wildlife. I hope to see whales crossing north of Iceland where apparently they like to hang out, but the fog’s reducing visibility to 100 meters right now. Hopefully it will lift later.

ETA at Vardo is July 24.