13.30 UTC. NANUQ sent an automated position update at 13.24, reporting her static at 68°22’N, 28°36’W. A message sent by the Skipper last night indicated that the boat was again stuck in thick ice in the evening, but situation was normal otherwise. “Good afternoon, once again Nanuq is stuck in dense ice. We could walk around the boat, but it is raining and so we are having a good time inside the cosy cabin, playing cards and having a good hot dinner. Position 3M West of Kapp Norman, slowly drifting NW with the tide. Yesterday has been a very productive day with a complete sampling campaign: mapping of a glacier front, aerial and transect as well as a level zero flora transect in the very wild valley without a name on the western side of Kapp Garde. Observations have been.completed by Kevin diving to collect sediments in the fjord, temperature and salinity probes and Methane sampling on behalf of the University of Geneva. For sure Nanuq is a most fantastic’tool’ for this Arctic expedition.” Ice conditions in the area indicate “very open drift ice” (green) and “open drift ice” (yellow) in the area where NANUQ has been until yesterday but, in her current location, she is in proximity of an area of coastal “close drift ice” (orange) and “very close drift ice” (red), apprently formed in the past 24 hours.
UPDATE AUG 6. A Skipper’s update was received at 16.06: “Nanuq is now locked in since more than 12h and perspectives of getting free on the short term seem small. The latest ice report doesn’t give a very positive outlook. So we are just drifting back and forth, very much the way the explorers of Blosseville coast did a century ago. Patience… We now have time to do repair work on one of our rudders that got severely stuck between two ice-floes while manoeuvring tonight: epoxy resin and glass fibres inside the warm cabin temporarily converted into a workshop.” In this phase of forced inactivity, the crew spends time cooking, reading, writing and listening to music.