Posted: Oct 09, 2006 11:15 pm EST
(TheOceans.net/ThePoles.com) On September 19, 2006 at 3 am local time s/y Stary reached the waters of Pacific Ocean over the Bering Strait , thus closing the symbolic gate of the Northwest Passage. Averaging 25 years old, the crew of s/y Stary became the youngest to successfully sail this route.

The crew was not alone though. Another Polish yacht also crossed the Passage that day – the s/y Nekton. At the 100 year anniversary of his first crossing of the Northwest Passage, both expeditions hoped to follow the tracks of Norwegian Roald Amundsen.

Departing from Poland, The Stary’s "QNT Northwest Passage Jubilee Voyage 2006” expedition actually started at the coast of Greenland on August 15. There, a second Polish yacht – the Nekton, commanded by Capt. Tadeusz Natanek, which had departed from Canada turned up.

A classic crossing through ice and storm

The boats shared the same goal, but instead of racing - they joined hands. That's how the ‘first’ Polish achievement of the Passage ended up in two boats passing Point Barrow deck by deck.

“The last stage from Point Hope to Point Barrow was very difficult,” reported the current (and third since the expedition started) Captain of the Stary, Slawek Skalmierski. “We navigated through ice and by the time of the crossing we were caught in a wind storm, whipping up high waves. Our ruder line broke and the screw of the autopilot got dismounted. Unable to make repairs in the gale, we were forced to steer manually. It was exhausting.”

Diving the Maud

Then the two vessels set course south over the Chukchi Sea towards Bering Strait.

The expedition team explored the land en route, just like Amundsen had done. They climbed peaks in Greenland, paraglided over Arctic’s icebergs and visited a whale-hunters village at Cross Island, Canada. They also dived Amundsen's boat - the wrecked “Maud”. The 6 weeks-long expedition was filmed for a documentary titled “Questing for the legend”, about Roald Amundsen’s life.

Far from over

After crossing the Bering Strait the Stary harboured in Noma, Alaska for a 3 day rest. The voyage is far from over – last news from the crew had them sailing towards the finish line of the current leg to Vancouver, 1500 nautical miles away.

The expedition’s outcome is celebrated by the sailing Polish community. Wojciech Jacobson, expedition leader and one of the only two yacht crew members (the other was 'Ludek' Maczka who passed at age 78, Jan. 30 this year) who finally, after 3 failed attempts, became the first to sail the North-West Passage from the west to the east in 1988, onboard Vagabond II praised the two Polish yachts: “Sailing over the Northwest Passage in one season and so fast is a huge success. It's a proof of perfect planning and the crew's determination.”

“I followed the team online and got emotionally attached to the expedition. I also admired them for finding the time to climb, dive and paraglide,” added Jacobson. “However, as professional climbers know well, coming down from the top is as difficult as reaching the summit. Thus I wish the crew a happy and safe sailing back across the Bering Sea and the Pacific.”

Next: Colombia and the Atlantic via Panama

In fact, the expedition’s goal is to sail around the northern half of America. Thus, from Vancouver the team will sail towards San Bias Archipelago and Colombia, where the sailors will explore Sierra Nevada and Santa Marta, the highest sea-side peaks in the world. After that they will sail across the Panama Channel from the Darien narrow, known as “The Pole of the jungle”, and then set course for Florida.

Gary Ramos, spending another winter “on ice” at Cambridge Bay in his attempt to sail around the North Pole dispatched on September 10: "Two Polish sailboats were here - the Nekton and The Stary. They are headed to Alaska."

A few days later word came from Poland that the two boats had successfully passed the Northwest Passage from Greenland (Ilulissat) to Bering Strait via Gjoa Haven, Cambridge Bay, Tuktoyaktuk and Point Barrow.

Stary, coming from Poland, was first through - closely followed by Nekton (also Polish) starting out from Canada. Nekton left Canada July 27, while Stary left Poland May 26 this year. The ships joined up in Greenland leaving there August 15. The boats left Bellot Strait on August 28 and Point Barrow on September 11 - where they briefly met up with Gary. Seven days later, they left Bering Strait.

Last year, the northeast passage north of Russia was free of ice. On the other side, the Northwest passage, north of Canada, the ice did not disappear. Kendall; a solo sailor with Astral Express - and Skip Novak; with Pelagic Australis coming from east had to return. 4 yachts coming from the west; Fine Tolerance, Jotun Arctic, Cloud Nine and the Idlewild were helped by the two Canadian icebreakers Sir Wilfred Laurier and Louis St Laurent. Idlewild drifted for days on top of a small iceberg, Fine Tolerance had propeller damage but both made it through. Several of the boats had already at least one winter on ice behind them. According to Gary Ramos - Minke 1, a Nova Scotian - has been trying to go through the Northwest passage for three years.

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