Iceberg in Labrador Sea - from a satellite

This photo by NASA astronaut Neil Garan is of an iceberg in the Labrador Sea - where Richard and Issuma have been wandering.

Perseid meteor seen from space station

NASA astronaut's pictures from space show a meteor entering the atmosphere during the Perseid meteor showers.

Issuma: circumnavigating Baffin Island

Issuma reports its current position as the Bellot Strait - the picture here is of Devon Island - the largest uninhabited island on earth.  It is the site of the Mars on Earth project's research.  They think it is the most Mars-like place on earth and they have been up there with robots.
On one side of the Bellot Strait is Somerset island.  That is the second image.  I get nervous and dizzy just thinking about being that far north - and that remote. On Somerset island was the last outpost of the Hudson Bay Company - Fort Ross.

Yrvind talk about knots - YouTube

Sven Yrvind demonstrates the Secure knot - a kind of super bowline.

Yrvind talk about knots - YouTube

Septuagenarian Swede sets sail across Atlantic in tiny boat | News | Pbo

Sven Yrvind may be a madman, but he's not crazy. He has a great sailing resume.  His adventures have taken him across several oceans, often solo. His was the first yacht to land at the remote South Atlantic island Tristan da Cunha, and he set a record rounding Cape Horn on a 20-footer in winter. In 1980, under the name Sven Lundin, he was awarded the Royal Cruising Club medal for seamanship.

At an expected average boat speed of 2.5 knots Sven hopes Bris will reach Madeira in less than 30 days.

Read more about Sven and Bris on www.yrvind.com. 

Septuagenarian Swede sets sail across Atlantic in tiny boat | News | Pbo

Arctic Ice Thinning 4 Times Faster Than Predicted by IPCC Models, Semi-Stunning M.I.T. Study Finds | ThinkProgress

Arctic Ice Thinning 4 Times Faster Than Predicted by IPCC Models, Semi-Stunning M.I.T. Study Finds | ThinkProgress

Issuma crosses Baffin Bay from Greenland

Issuma has crossed Baffin Bay and is now in Canadian waters NORTH! of Baffin Island at 74.0 North.  The graphic is a scanned copy of a weather fax ice chart, with Issuma's track superimposed.  They are on the latitude of the Northwest passage.  It's a straight shot to the Bering Sea!  They wouldn't.  They couldn't - not this late in the year.   We may have to wait for the next post - Richard's sat phone contract has expired and the telephone renewal link isn't working!

A stroll through Wyeth's Giverny - NYTimes.com

The Farmhouse of Wyeth’s ‘Christina’s World’ - NYTimes.com: "To Wyeth the Olson farmstead was a little like the garden at Giverny was to Monet several decades earlier: an inexhaustible subject for his paintings."
I, of course, concur.  For a dozen years we have rented the hosue on Stones Point across Maple Juice Cove from the Olson House.  This is a nice piece to encourage visitors to come for the magic of mid-coast Maine, of Wyeth's - and my - garden at Giverny.  We're all channeling Monet. - GWC (all photos are mine)

Alvaro & Christina

Christina's world - the iconic image

Andrew's grave

SeaPaddleNYC 2011

SeaPaddlers on the ship canal near Baker Field

Caught without my camera as a fabulous parade of paddlers - most standing, many in kayaks made its way north with the flood tide above the GW Bridge on a beautiful late summer morning, heading into a soft northerly.  Maybe I should do it in my Walker Bay 8' rowboat?  26 miles round Manhattan.  The currents had better be right.  Organized by SeaPaddleNYC, the whole flotilla looked great - with well-marked escort boats.

The most northerly point? 72.45 N - Issuma

In 1587, John Davis made his third and last voyage to Davis Strait and what is now called Baffin Bay. Davis named this 300m/1000' cliff Sanderson's Hope, after his main financial backer, William Sanderson of London. Davis wrote 'no ice towards the north but a great sea, free, large, very salt and blue, and of an unsearchable depth'. - Richard Hudson 8/10/11

Will Upernavik, Greenland, 72.45 N be the point where Richard too turns back?  I would spend some time in Upernavik, Greenland if I had the chance.  Nice little town.  Beautiful sunset light at 11:30 PM this time of year.  Long, dark winters, of course.