Harmon and Randall's Voyage…

Leg 2

Blog 22

September 11, 2024

From Arctic Bay, we headed north up Admiralty Inlet into Lancaster Sound and then South into Navy Board Inlet to the Hamlet of Pond Inlet – a total of 213 NM (a day and a half sailing time.)

On the way we passed some spectacular Greenlandic ice bergs. This one was certainly big enough to claim as a sovereign island that would be plenty big to enable us to stay the winter on. Would you come visit?

We just couldn’t get enough of these ice bergs. So commanding in their in their stature.

As you passed them, you would notice that the perspective and beauty would change at each angle.

Ok…enough ice bergs for now….sorry…I just couldn’t help myself with this one.

Coming into Pond Inlet was sort of a homecoming for me. I had traveled to this hamlet back in June1986 with friend Joe Stansky (aka The Big Guy) who invited me to join his trip to sea-kayak with the mating narwhals as the ice flow was melting for the season.

While my love for the arctic was awakened when in he 1960’s my parents showed me the break-through documentary Nanook of the North https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanook_of_the_North , my love for this area can be directly attributed to Joe Stansky as we sledded out on the frozen the Baffin Sea to the edge of the melting sea ice flow to search for narwhals. We came way too close to polar bears (got good pics) and were privileged to see the male narwhals going through their mating ritual of gently rubbing tusks with other males (the bigger the better of course) while being observed by the discerning females. https://www.livescience.com/59356-animal-sex-narwhals.html.

The trip, of course, ended in disaster (as so many do) as the ice flow began to melt (the breaking of the flow caused loud, deep sounds and vibrations) and our snow mobile used for our exit would not start. Rather than be engulfed in breaking sea ice, we made the all day and night 20 mile trek over the Baffin Sea ice back to Pond Inlet by foot and arrived within minutes to spare as the ice broke up behind us and our plane was ready to leave Pond Inlet with or without us. We saw the nature, we met some characters and I was hooked. Thank you Big Guy for whetting my appetite.

Above: As we pulled into Pond Inlet, we were met my our favorite Quebec family (Marcus, Johanne Forns and family) who helped us tie onto the sea wall. These walls are difficult to tie up to because the wind always seems to be blowing in the opposite direction.Further, because the walls are anchored to the bottom and are not floating, you are subject to the tidal rises and falls which make getting on and off difficult at times.

Above: What are the chances? As each Arctic town has two stores (the native Co-Op and the private Northern Company), today was the day the Northern Company was doing its once a year barge delivery.

Above: It was not un common in these arctic towns to see a prime beach area full of sled-dogs enjoying their off-season before the ice forms. Quite a commotion and certainly not an area to lay down and relax (even though it is 38 degrees).

Above: Also like many other Arctic towns, everyone in Pond Inlet seems to have an ATV (the locals call them “Honda’s) and they provide all manner of work and transportation.

Above: No one in town wears helmets or seat belts. This mother is at least driving slowly with her four children and bicycle. I would periodically hitch a ride on one and would be scared out of my mind as the drivers would always go WAY too fast for my comfort.

Above Left: Kids playing. Above Right: My new friend Ola Ayala (born in Nigeria and brought up in Winnipeg) is now in charge of maintaining all government in buildings in much of Nunavut. Here he stops to help a boy figure out how to change gears on his bike.

Above: The stores in town were decently stocked but still expensive. For whatever reason, the locals, like the ones in other towns were also completely hooked on “pop” and could not get enough of the sugary soft drinks that many of us abhor.

Above: Ok..this is a two-part photo. It is 9:00 in the evening and I thought it would be interesting to watch this local as he finishes his day by pulling in his boat and relishing in his catch of fish. Please see below.

Well, it turns out he was not “fishing”. He just needed a little seal meet at home. It is important to understand how sea protein and fat are essential to the native diet. Speaking with a female shop owner, she told me, “My favorite muktuk is narwhal. It tastes better than beluga. Seal is what I eat most. We need these meats and fats. In the winter we do not eat chicken because it provides no nutrition. We eat it and in an hour we are hungry again”.

Above: I wondered to the high school where where there was going to be an Inuit Cultural show ( a cruise ship was in town). It was Labor Day, so there was no school and everything in town was closed.

Above: Most high-schools in the lower 48 have their mascot as the “Bobcats” or “Tigers” or something like that. In Pond Inlet, their mascot is the narwhal. How cool is that.

The locals take great pride and enjoyment in performing their native Inuit ritual dances and games. The cruise ships organize these events and we were invited to attend.

Above. This drum dance is performed by Lemekey (pronounced Le-Mek-Ey). His real name is Lemech Kadloo. Joe Stansky and I met him in 1986 as he was a strapping young local who went by the name of “King”. King was the go-to man in town if you wanted anything you went to King. For us, we wanted a snowmobile ride to go out to the arctic tundra and see polar bears and narwhal. King was our guide and driver.

Above: The show transitioned into “The Arctic Games” where the natives do all sorts of feats of strength. Above is the famous “Cheek Pull” where each person inserts one finger in the other’s cheek and pulls. The loser is the first one to give into the pain.

Above is the “Bird Kick” designed to get kids to be agile on their feet and be ready to jump to capture their favorite flying dinner.

Above: The art of Inuit Throat Singing or Chanting has a long, but sad past. Traditionally performed by the women and girls of the tribe, it is celebrated as an important part of Inuit culture. But not so long ago, however, it was banned by the Canadian authorities as the government worked to squelch Inuit language, culture and traditions. For fun, please see the following clip that shows a modern, young and electronic version of Inuit Throat Singing. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/unreserved/meet-the-inuit-throat-singers-revitalizing-the-tradition-and-eng

After the show, I was able to catch up with Lemekey. It was fun to discuss “old times” and learn that there was much more to him than being an Inuit guide. Soon after we met him, he turned into a semi-professional native dancing and chanting performer. He has traveled abroad is well known for his craft. https://www.qaggiavuut.ca/en/the-red-wall-sessions

Above: It is early in the morning and time to slip lines and head to Greenland. The tide has dropped and there is no ladder at the sea wall, so Randall has improvised with a rope ladder to reach the top to untie our lines. PS…It was no fun rot come back to boat late at night and have to navigate that ladder.

As we exit out of Pond Inlet into the Baffin Sea, by some measures we are done with the Northwest Passage. We will celebrate and discuss this moment later, but we just wanted to cheer ourselves, our friends and family, and our faithful readers. Cheers!!

Leaving Pond Inlet and heading south, we are looking at Baffin Island to our right. To the untrained eye, this looks like a glacier that has long-ago retreated. I have no timeline as to whether it has been 5, 10 or 20 years.

Above: As we sail on, the temperature drops to the low 30’s and it begins to snow and then hail. In the meantime, a Snow Bunting (a high arctic bird) decides to take refuge on Mōli. We consider this good luck and are happy for the company as we have long ago grown tired listening to each other’s repeated jokes. The Snow Bunting remains on board until Randall tries to feed it a tortilla chip (no judgement, just pointing this out!)

Above is a little clip of some light hail as we sail through a low pressure system.

It is so cold out that I get to take out my super warm gear. Here I am wearing three layers of long underwater, my down jacket, and my heavy high arctic Helly Hansen jacket. I am finally warm. See you next blog in Greenland.