How long before we have to rescue?

In a couple of weeks time I expect, ice conditions are quite unusual this year, there is quite a lot of second year ice around, although this years Arctic melt might be a little more than last year, not around the Northwest passage, where weather conditions have restricted the melt and break up.

I hope they are good sailors and abandon the voyage if it looks too difficult and return without needing to be be rescued.

Why would they need rescuing? If they’d set sail earlier in the year they may have needed rescuing but the ice has now retreated enough to allow a successful voyage.

They’re traversing the northwest passage, a route which is now open thanks to the retreat of Arctic sea-ice. It’s been successfully sailed by everything from small yachts to cruise liners, and from catamarans to bulk container ships.

Today (28 Jul 2014) there’s a little over 7 million km² of ice in the Arctic, this is far below the long-term average. In most years the ice has never retreated to such a low extent, and we’ve still got about 43 days of melting to go before reaching the summer minimum.

Each year when the ice has retreated this far the Passage has been fully open, this year will be no different.

Just to clarify – the route was NOT successfully navigated in the past. Every voyage either failed or took several years due to becoming icebound and having to port vessels hundreds of miles across the ice.

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EDIT: TO OTTAWA MIKE

Sorry, my mistake. I should have clarified that the crossing had never been made without porting the vessel or with the assistance of icebreakers. The St Roch made it by following in the path of an icebreaker.

Five years ago I researched the history of shipping in the northwest passage, four years ago I summarised the history in a previous answer.

/question/index?qid=20100...

It's a lot safer than the Whitbreads.

"Just to clarify – the route was NOT successfully navigated in the past. Every voyage either failed or took several years due to becoming icebound and having to port vessels hundreds of miles across the ice."

No. As just one example, Henry Asbjørn Larsen did it in 86 days in 1944.

A better question is who is paying for this and how much? This shows at what lengths these counterfeit scientists will do to attempt to prove GW.

My goodness, all this money to prove out a route that is impractical and to study plankton? I'm sure these so called scientists wouldn't be doing this with their own money.

I hope they make it, but it still will prove nothing.

Track the boats here:

http://cornellsailing.com/sail-the-odyssey/blue-pl...

Watch the recent ice here:

https://www.ec.gc.ca/glaces-ice/default.asp?lang=E...

Putting the two together, I think they are now close to where the white stuff starts.

"""Until relatively recently, the route was inaccessible for most vessels because it was blocked with sea ice."""

I was going to ask if Peg or Trev would scream liar but I guess Trev answered that. I didn't really expect them to object since the article helped the cause.