Henk De Velde's Siberia departure: Free at last!
Agu 11, 2004 10: 26 EST
July 16, the ice underneath Campina broke with an enormous bang. Big ice floes drifted up from the bottom on each side. The boat was lifted up and tilted 20 degrees on her side. But it took no more than 5 minutes for Campina to right herself and she was floating in more or less open water.
"It took 4 days to cover the 200 meters to the pier. But at last I was free again. That means the ice in Tiksi harbor is broken. In the bay two icebreakers worked to get the first tanker in with a new supply of fuel.
The melting went slow. It’s a bad summer. Prognoses are that the fairway at sea will not open up until late this year. When I look at the ice maps, I can see more heavy ice in the east.
Where I am now, the Laptev Sea is still full of solid ice, but in the west, towards my destination, the Kara Sea is almost free of ice. Much better than last year and that’s my hope for the coming month. It has been great to be here. A solitude filled with everlasting impressions. The boat survived the winter well. And I must admit I am very proud being part of the opera “ The Flying Dutchman.” But it’s also time to go."
Latest news on the Captain is that he last week met with a Dane, two Greenlanders and a Russian of the Moscow Adventure club: "They worked on their battered boat in which they had suffered shipwreck last year. Their travel lasts for years and is something that must be finished. They now have two new outboard engines and two thousand liters of petrol. It's 76 octane bad petrol, but that's all available around here.
They will therefore start to the east of where they have been stranded. That makes their return travel twelve hundred miles longer. After the first fifty miles they will enter thick ice. Their plan is different from mine, much because their small boat is five meters long and not a sea ship.
In the current circumstances they think they'll be able to sail at least a couple of hours daily. After the Indigirska river they will return to Tiksi to continue their travel to the west. I too don't see myself doing it in a straight line, but think that I will have to follow the coast. The ice last longer in the middle of the Laptev sea. I bid Ole, Frederick and Serge a good voyage and an always ongoing adventure."
Dutchman Henk de Velde has been roaming the world's oceans for over two years now aboard The Campina. His goal: “The Impossible Journey” - a sail around the world via the "impossible" Northern Seaway along the North East Passage above and along Siberia, Alaska, then South to Cape Horn and Antarctica before returning home to the Netherlands.
Henk's journey began in June 2001 and if it comes to the end he envisions, Henk will have traveled 30,000 miles rounding both poles on the epic cirucmnavigation.
Since December, the Campina was encased in the ice of the Arctic Sea near Tiksi, Russia. Being blasted by the full effects of the Siberian winter, the ship and her skipper faced gale force winds and sub-zero temperatures reaching –50º C. That's seven months frozen in a block of ice. Not until now could Campina sail again.
Henk de Vekde has previously sailed around the world four times, three times non-stop and solo. The first trip lasted between 1978 and 1985… so Henk is known to take his time when out exploring.
The reason for traveling like this is to experience new things and enjoy life to the fullest. No Henk is on "The Impossible Journey" - a sail around the world via the "impossible" Northern seaway along the North East Passage above and along Siberia, Alaska, then South to Cape Horn and Antarctica before returning home to the Netherlands.
Image of the Campina courtesy of Henk de Velde.
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