Northwest Passage 2013: MANGO arrives Nome ready to head to the Arctic

20130624 UPDATE

MANGO TURNS OFF AUTOMATIC IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM (AIS) TO PREVENT GLOBAL POSITION SYSTEM (GPS) FROM LOGGING NAVIGATION TRACKS. MANGO TRANSPORTS BARBUSHKA AND CHARLES HEDRICH'S ROWBOAT NORTH OF ARCTIC CIRCLE 66.5622°N?

MANGO Call sign OS8154 turns off Automatic Identification System (AIS)

From: AIS is off

2013-Jun-19 10:00

N 64°30' W 165°24'

No record crossing Arctic Circle 66.5622°N???

Until: AIS is on

2013-Jun-23 16:00

N 69°36' W 167°54'

See: http://www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/shipposition.phtml?call=OS8154

PDF document at http://www.greygooseadventures.com/nwp/mango/Ship%20Status%20Report_%20callsign%20OS8154.pdf

Where is Charles Hedrich, his son and the rowboat? Wales Alaska?

Blog at: http://lemanguier.typepad.fr/le_manguier/2013/06/welcome-to-nome-the-sad-town-par-phil-le-marin.html

June 20, 2013

Welcome to Nome, the sad town ... by Phil marine

Platinium to Nunivak, we had a short day, which can not also be counted otherwise than in hours, since the day not disappeared. The sun slowly sets on the horizon at midnight, but the day remains until sunrise, around 5:30. Very little water in this area (I mean deep ...), and is staring at the sounder as we traveled. Often barely five meters, when we know that the Mango hold 3,40 m ... but what a pleasure to sail with a crew of this ilk, broken things of the sea and those of group life. Everything is done alone, without any need to say anything. Everything is anticipated. This is a treat! Single discipline, the shifts "night": two hours each, so six hours of rest between shifts. What happiness!

A Mekoryuk, the only inhabited island of Nunivak (thank you for the info on Curtiss, Uncle John), that I found four years after the month of October 2009 when we had wet without being able to land (crash outboard engine), we stayed two days, waiting for the little bit of south wind has passed. I discovered native smiling and friendly, which is all the more remarkable that they are islanders.We have also made it clear that they spoke Chupik, not Yupik as on the continent ... 200 inhabitants Mekoryuk ... Hello says "Tchamaï", and then I learned to say goodbye "Birtchik!"

I liked this stop, the calm and collected people in a dry town (no alcohol). I would have liked to hunt walrus with them (that we saw walrus raised a high fever in the village. Where? How? On the ice? Swimming?), But he had to start course ...

Directorate Nome, 240 miles further north, more than half ... in the ice! And yes, a lot of ice this year, curiously also because the temperature is excessive since our arrival ... but do not expect. The reunion with ice floes are still beautiful, especially as the sea was flat and the sun now!

Even herds of walruses (more than 100 may be a while), but swimming this time. Always the same treat.

And then we arrived in Nome ...

There are places, like people, that you like or dislike input. Without really knowing why. In this case, I know why I do not like Nome! After struggling for an hour to get to dock because there is not enough water, we decided to celebrate our arrival from the restaurant. Spoiled for choice in this tourist town where the bars alternate with souvenir shops ... On the steps of a bar, two natives, drunk (I said for those who do not know that genetically natives have no resistance to alcohol, where the famous fire water peddled by white ...), toothless, looking at us with all the misery of the world Welcome to Nome, she said, then looked down, the sad town ...

Welcome indeed. Nome is a bit like this: drunken natives, a stage in Hollywood, gold miners penniless, and rich whites selling shovels (I'm a short way from the book of Michener Alaska where the heroine quickly understands that to get rich in Alaska, do not be a gold digger, but sell for gold what they need ...). Mechanics, well rehearsed, works perfectly. So everything here is expensive ($ 75 a night for Mango, without electricity or water course ...), and everything is wrong. In short, you guessed it, it's not love at first sight for Nome, even if the pie and mangoes at the supermarket ...

MANGO arrives Port of Nome with Charles Hedrich's rowboat