Diary 2008 - English

Copenhagen to Dikson.

The three of us – Frederik, Ole Jorgen and I met in Copenhagen the 11th of August. Frederik and I were welcomed by Ann and Ole Jorgen and the childrens home from Uummannaq in the huge apartment of Ann and Ole Jorgen, where everybody always is welcomed by their fantastic true Feroese and Greenlandic warmth, which fills the apartment and surroundings.

We got our visas at the Embassy of The Russian Federation, and we noticed that there were more smiles in this house than we’we seen before. It was nice, and they were very helpful. Wednesday the 13^th of August we went to the airport and flew to Moscow. There were an extremely long waiting time at the customs, and we saw Dmitry Shparo waiting for us at the other side. After three quarters of waiting I said, that Dmitry can do a lot of things for helping us, but to get us in to the country faster than others, were probably too much to expect – more than his connections could help. Then two minutes later the doors opened to the left, and Dmitry went through with a man from the customs and they took us in front of everybody else and we got through. We were astonished. This was absolutely incredible, and Dmitry saved us for at least another hour of waiting.

The following days were spent in Moscow. We lived in the Adventurers Club at Mashnitskaya Str. and we got the last things ready for expedition. It was very nice to see Sergei and his wonderful wife Marina again. We also met with the great people in Adventure Club, and also with our friends from last year, young Senia (or Kevin), who spent a week in our rotten company in Naryan-Mar last summer. We also met his mother Karla – the famous Russian journalist, who has always been able to make the best articles and happenings in Moscow (and USA). We met our warm and wonderful friends from Dikson: Artyom and his wife Marsha. They were on vacation in Moscow for two months, and they went with us to a visit in the datcha (kind of summerhouse) where the mother of Sergei lives during the summer. It was great to see Artyom again – the man from Boundary Service who helped us so incredible last year in Dikson. He had now arranged everything for us in Diskon again, and we should just speak to his chief Jura in Dikson – and he would help us.

In the datcha we were welcomed with a warm kiss from the mother of Sergei. She is a wonderful woman, and it was great to see her again. On the way to the datcha we had a stop at the grave of Sergeis farther. The grave was arranged very nice and designed by Marina who is a fantastic designer of luxury apartments and houses in Moscow. A friend of her had carved the picture of the farther of Sergei in the stone at the grave.

During the day in the datcha some of us went to a holy spring of faith, hope and love. We dived in the spring and after returning to the datcha, Ole Jorgen realised that he had lost a plasticbag containing some clothes and his passport. Sergei, Marina and Ole Jorgen returned quickly to the spring, and it was still there. Ole Jorgen were very lucky, because otherwise the expedition would probably have ended for him at this point.

At this time Ole Jorgen also had got a bad stomach. He had to go frequently at the toilet (sometimes behind a three). Back with the passport we had some toasts for our lucky friend and after a while I had too many toasts and had to go to toilet too. Too many vodkas and a bad stomach turned me into a wreck. I went completely down, and it was very good that I had careful and understanding friends around me. As Sergei said: It was full finish (not only local finish). During the next days both Ole Jorgen and I continued having bad stomach and Frederik started to join us.

Monday we flew to Vorkuta. Dmitry had arranged our special transport by a secret KGB plane, where nobody and least of everyone foreigners could go. But we were there thanks to Dmitry. In Vorkuta we spent one night in a hotel, and then we continued to Dikson – still by special secret airplane – now it was flying only with us. No other passengers and no cargo. Absolutely incredible.

In Dikson we were welcomed by the chief of Artyom – Jura from Boundary Service, and from our great friend from last year Albert and his wife, who had prepared a wonderful dinner for us. During the evening we enjoyed the company of Albert and later on Jura. Our problems with the stomachs continued and now Sergei had got a very bad tooth as well. The one side of his head grew bigger and bigger due to an inflamatorious tooth. I called my very good friend and our expedition dentist Jens Holm from Nibe in Denmark, and he recommended a strong cure of penicillin which we started up immediantly. Now Sergei had bad tooth and the three of us had bad stomachs. A very interesting start of our new adventure. During the next days Sergei got a special treatment from the doctor in town and we got pills for dysentery. It is still not completely OK, but it is now much better.

The mayor in Dikson Mr. Nikolay Petukhov welcomed us warm in Dikson, and he had arranged our free living in a big apartment. He was happy to see us again, and he would do everything to help us. A very kind man. Last summer he arranged the free place for the boat inside a municipal hangar, and we went to see how the boat and engines managed the winter in Dikson. Everything looked very good, and later the same day we started working on the boat getting our lovely Olga ready for new adventures in the Russian Arctic.

The chief of port Mr. V. Bronnikov in Dikson also looked forward to see us again. He agreed to help us this year as he did last year, but he wanted to buy a knife from Frederik. Last year they changed knives. Frederik had made one new knife this year, and now this beautiful knife was sold to Mr. Bronnikov for 100 rubles – a symbolic price for the thanks of help from the chief of port, who was very happy for his new knife.

Friday the 22^nd of August the boat was ready for going into the water, but this will not be done until Monday morning. Engines are running as they should and our Olga looks adorable. We are ready. Now just waiting for the ice to permit our travel. There is a lot of ice to the north, and we can’t start out before it looks realistic to go to Tiksi. If we have to wait too long at the edge of ice, we will have problems to carry enough food. So we must wait until the right time. Later today we will get a new ice chart, and hopefully it looks better than a week ago.

CapeTjelyuskin to LenaRiver delta.

Thursday fourth of September we continued from CapeTjelyuskin. A head we had 1.400 km and we brought 2100 l for this travel. After a few hours of travel we saw a polarbear mother with her small pub, walking along the beach towards north. Later we saw several walruses in the water swimming just next to our boat. It was very exciting.

After approx. 270 km we were able to get the boat planning, and we continued in better speed – from 12 km pr. hour to 45 km pr. hour. After two and a half day we arrived to BegichevIsland, and now we had to go through some ice. In the beginning not very much ice, but later through more heavy ice. At the same time we had some difficult parts with shallow water. But we managed, and finally we arrived to the southeast point of BegichevIsland.

And here we couldn’t go any longer because of very heavy ice – probably 8-9/10. And a very strong current moved the ice fast from west to east. We tried to go through the ice, but it was very difficult, and after a while the steering broke down. During the next five hours we managed to change the steering but unfortunately it didn’t fit the cable. By using an adaptor and four pieces of metal for tightening, we finally got the steering working, and continued through the ice.

Meanwhile the ice had spread a bit, and shortly afterwards we could continue at the other side. We continued towards south and east. It became night, but we continued. We could just about see the ice floes when they appeared. At a time when I was driving the boat I got very tired after more than three days with very little sleep, and I closed my eyes for a few seconds – just to hear Frederik shouting before hitting an ice floe in good speed.

The boat flew over the ice, and we heard the engines giving loud sound when they left the water, and then we landed heavily at the other side, and continued as if nothing happened. But the truth is, that we were very lucky, that this was a small flat ice floe, so we really got something to think about.

When we next morning arrived to the entrance of the LenaRiver delta we realised how difficult it was to get in to the river. We tried several times to find the entrance, but without success. Our maps were incorrect, and we couldn’t get inside the river. Our last attempt brought us 10-12 km from land, and as the wind picked up, we had to stop our search, as we several times were grounded.

Now we waited for some days close to the entrance. We put up our tent, but had one more attempt to get into rive. Unfortunately we were grounded again, and the steering broke one more time. Not the repair, but it seemed to be the cable that was sliding inside the steer box.

We were in a bit of a bad situation, and at a time it looked like if our only chance would be to get assistance by helicopter. But at the time it looked very bad, we got help from a barge that we in the area. The barge gave us the GPS positions of the entrance, and we made a steering with ropes at the boat. The 11^th of September we travelled inside the river with success.

At an isolated island in the river, we found a cabin where we could stay. The following eight days we had to stay here, and every day the wind was between 12-18 m/s. At day nine the weather was calm again, and we decided to continue. But now we had problems with the engine. The cooling system in both engines was blocked. In the beginning we thought it was from ice, but after a while we realised, that it more likely was from sand, mud and ancient plant material from the river. We realised, that it would be very difficult to continue. The next day the wind blew powerful again, but September 21^st it was quiet again, and we decided to give it a try.

During the days in the cabin we used the time finding and cutting and carving in driftwood. Driftwood seemed to be the great resource of the river, and it had a central role in our life as river citizens. One day we got visitors. Two local fishermen – Gregoria who was evenk and Sasha who was yakut arrived, and we had an interesting speaking with them in the cabin.

Now when we were about to continue our friends arrived again – this time with some fish for us. When they saw our problems with steering and engines, they wanted to help us to a small fishing community 15 km from the cabin. It has begun snowing and the wind picked up too. On the way one of the engines overheated, and we had to continue with the other engine, but only by less than 2000 RPM. Sasha and Gregoria helped us “on the road”, and after a couple of hours we arrived to the fishermen.

Sasha arranged that we could stay in one of the houses. He lived together with 10 other fishermen two women and two children in the house. They rearranged the sleeping places, and we got a room. We stayed with the fishermen for some days – waiting for the barge to arrive. It was quite delayed, but we couldn’t do anything else than wait.

We now had some very interesting days with kind and helpful fishermen, and we had the opportunity to see how their life was. It was a simple life with a lot of good mood, and the laughter was easy to find. They didn’t have many things, but they had what they needed. They fished by net, and they collected wood for heating in the house. They got the water from a nearby lake, and in the winter they got the water from ice and snow. They collected stones for their net, and sometimes they went hunting geese or caribou.

We had decided to stop the expedition. We would get the help from the barge to reach Tiksi 300 km from here. But we have during the years from 1999 to 2008 travelled 25.500 km, and we were very satisfied. We had got help two times from ships – in 2003 fro about 600 km and this year for 300 km. But our travel around the Arctic Ocean will be finished when we get to Tiksi, and we will by then have made this circumpolar navigation in open boat with a little help from our friends. We were satisfied. Especially our meetings with people around the Arctic had been a great success – now a head we will write the book(s) and make the film(s) about our adventures.