The big day
Published on 05.07.2007 - The Arctic Voice
The three companions have just left on a 1440 km water raid which they hope to accomplish in 3 months. But they have already encountered a few technical setbacks.
Three minus one equals two. There were three of them in the beginning: Glenn Morris, Stephen Doughty and Richard Cree. After only two weeks of travel, there were only two of them left. "Since my last press release", writes Glenn Morris, "Richard has had a bit of a back problem and has decided to go back to Great Britain. Since Stephen was having trouble with his kayak, he is going to use Richard's instead, being that he is leaving..."
Having left on June 21 from Inuvik, a village situated along the Mackenzie delta, the two remaining kayakers arrived in Tuktovaktuk on June 28. Apart from their companion's withdrawal and the problem encountered with one of their kayak's, navigation has been going quite smoothly.
Despite a strong head wind which has been slowing them down in their progression, they have been covering 30 kilometres a day. At night, they camp on dry land and set up maximum security devises in order to avoid the many bears in the region.
Over there, it costs 1000 euros a month to heat a home
One of the main objectives of this trip is to meet up with Inuit communities that live isolated from the rest of the world along the shores of these ocean arms. We will thus be kept informed throughout the trip of the conditions in which these people live.
On June 28 already, we are informed by an inhabitant of Tuktovkatuk that it costs about 1000 euros to heat a home during the winter. In order to face this expense, the inhabitants of the town become tourist guides for rich Americans who come to hunt bears in these remote areas and who pay between 10 and 15 000 euros the hunting permit.
Since June 30, the two men and their kayaks have set off eastwards again, aiming for more adventures.
