On Oct 21, 2:16?am, (Martin Sch??n) wrote:
Chuck Gould writes:
On Oct 19, 3:15?pm, Wayne.B wrote:
On Fri, 19 Oct 2007 20:58:40 +0200, (Martin

Sch n) wrote:
Two guys sailed through the NW passage in the mid 1980s on
a Hobie 18.

Yes but they did a lot of "over ice" portages if my memory is correct,
not exactly an open passage.

Open enough to take it on in a beach cat.

http://www.latitude38.com/LectronicL...14/Sept14.html

From the link:

"The pair spent three summers sailing, pushing, paddling and tugging
their 450-lb boat across 2,500 miles of ice-clogged Arctic water, from
the Mackenzie River on the west end of the Passage to Pond Inlet on
the east end. MacInnis later wrote about their experiences in Polar
Passage."


So in addition to sailing, the voyage included "pushing, paddling, and
tugging their 450-lb boat" across miles of ice-clogged Arctic water.
Not really an open voyage.

The news about the NW Passage is that it is opening up to the point
where people can simply navigate through it, without any need to break
ice or resort to pushing and tugging a lightweight vessel across vast
expanses of ice.

*If* recent trends continue, the NE Passage will also be entirely open
fairly soon, and it will be possible to navigate, at least during the
summer months, from Scandinavia to Alaska through the Arctic north of
Europe and Asia.

Talk about unspoiled, uncrowded, cruising.....wow!











Here is a better url:http://www.helmdesign.com/polar-01.html

--
Martin Sch n "Problems worthy of attack
show their worth by hitting back."
Piet Hein