Then there were two...

It seems that my unquenchable yen for artic sea kayaking was doused in the first long crossing, and after 12 days out I called it a day. Factors in the decision included my quite unexpected tendency to turn into a basket case when away from land, the fact we were about to head east and away from regular shipping routes, and Mim and Ra's positive response to the plan of continuing on in a team of two.


The first four days out brought the very best of Svalbard paddling - blue skies, tailwinds and our first major crossing over Isfjorden started with the sea mirror calm. The first few days were always going to be a challenge; the sheer size of the first crossing got to me and I had a tanty on the beach, everyone felt their muscles talking to them, and the pressure of trying to make ks - and yet not thrash ourselves too soon - was a wee balancing act we tottered thru.

Giving ourselves a rest and paddling by the midnight sun conincided with some cold snowy days, when we holed up in the tents and let the world drift away in stories about clouds, Mao and weighty russian classics we'd brought as reading material. We got into a rhythm as a team, and developed new and useful tricks - setting up a good trip wire on a gravel bank (Ra) and having a pee in big swell miles from the coast (me).



The wildlife was a constant delight - puffins diving in front of us or doing ambitious takeoff manoevers and being wiped out in the waves, artic birds of all sorts, seals who inquisitively came up to say hello! and reindeer were a feature of every campsite. Even I was distracted during a crossing when we spotted a small pod of Minke whales travelling north. Looking for a campsite, I was inspecting possible landing options when a rock I thought might be useful shelter from the on-shore swell surged upwards. Miriam yelled polly polly polly polly polly! and I went from brisk forward paddling to urgent backward strokes, as the whiskers and huge tusks of a male walrus came into view. The team in full reverse watched as he made his way out to sea, pausing to give us an appreciation of just how large his shoulders were. Walruses weigh up to 1.5 tonnes, and have a reputation for being generally peaceable - and occaisionally attacking kayaks. I blessed the swedish makers of our white kayaks, walruses get excited by the colour red. Walruses are very short sighted, and the three we encountered all lunged alarmingly towards us when they heard us - which we nervously attributed to their natural curiosity, rather than a vengeful nature.

Making a decision to evacuate - particularly before its all gone to custard - is always a difficult process, and I felt very torn about it as I stomped along the beach at Bjornhamna, about as far to the northwest as you can get on the map of Spitsbergen. I knew that once the satellite phone came out of the bag everything would change rapidly, and while I was looking forward to a hot shower, it was good to have a bit more time in touch with the hairs on the back of my neck as I kept an eye out for polar bears.

I found out the ship Nordstjernen was in the area and 15 mins after a zodiac turned up I was done, with big hugs for the team - the next walruses, glaciers and whales I would see would be from the deck of the ship. In a haven of beer, central heating and friendly Norwegians, I reflected on whether there are any lessons to be learned from this rather expensive artic experience. While the obvious one is preparation - it would have been useful to have done a few big crossings and learned about exposure and resulting panic somewhere closer to home - others were familiar themes of motivation (the more miserable you are, the keener about the end goal you need to be) and the fact that money can get you out of most tight places, if you pick when you pull the plug.

After three days on board ship it felt great to stretch my legs in Longyearbyen, and hear the news fro m Ra and Mim. No more tedious polly-epistles promise (I'm off to run some nice stress free whitewater) but do watch this space for how they get on! The ice forecast for the hinlopen straight is positive, with continued winds from the south and west. They have two great boats, three guns, a lot of excellent food and half a bottle of whisky. No one has sucessfully made it round in the last ten years.

Fingers crossed!
Polly