Chuck Gould writes:

Attempts to navigate the NW Passage have been regularly thwarted since
the 16th century, with no navigable channel available. Cook,
Vancouver, etc all searched for the NW Passage....so it's not entirely
correct to say we didn't have any idea what when on up there prior to
the early 1970's. Thanks for letting me know it had been open briefly
in the 1940's, it will be interesting to see how long it remains open
this time.

Beginning in the 1970's we had satellite and other data that allowed
us to track the arctic ice coverage, so we can establish with fair
certainty thta in the last 35 years the NW Passage has not been
navigable during the summer months.

Two guys sailed through the NW passage in the mid 1980s on
a Hobie 18.

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

On Oct 19, 11:58?am, (Martin Sch??n) wrote:
Chuck Gould writes:
Attempts to navigate the NW Passage have been regularly thwarted since
the 16th century, with no navigable channel available. Cook,
Vancouver, etc all searched for the NW Passage....so it's not entirely
correct to say we didn't have any idea what when on up there prior to
the early 1970's. Thanks for letting me know it had been open briefly
in the 1940's, it will be interesting to see how long it remains open
this time.

Beginning in the 1970's we had satellite and other data that allowed
us to track the arctic ice coverage, so we can establish with fair
certainty thta in the last 35 years the NW Passage has not been
navigable during the summer months.

Two guys sailed through the NW passage in the mid 1980s on
a Hobie 18.

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

Icebreakers do it every year, of course. Was the Hobie 18 in liquid
water during that voyage in the 80's, or was it "ice boating" part of
the way?

On Fri, 19 Oct 2007 20:58:40 +0200, (Martin
Schöön) 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.

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.

Your memory is correct. Here's a link to a page with news about that
Hobie 18 voyage. (scroll down to the bottom of the page). It took them
a total of three summers to make the trip- it didn't really include
all of the NW Passage, and there's a photo of them building an "igloo"
enclosure around their pup tent with the Hobie high and dry on an ice
floe.

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

It's a stretch to claim that people "sailed" the NW Passage in a Hobie
18.

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

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

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

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