July 10

Dispatch 2
Aboard the Russian icebreaker Sovetskiy Soyuz

Welcome.  I have been traveling aboard the Russian icebreaker Sovetskiy Soyuz the last five days.  We are presently in multi-year, pack ice which is about 3 meters thick.  It is giving the icebreaker's 75,000-horsepower engines a real run! At times we are literally stopped dead in our track.  This ship is the most powerful human-designed machine I have ever seen.  I can sum up its power in one word - defiant!  If it gets stopped by the ice, it backs up and then smashes forward.  If it is stopped again, it backs up again until it WINS.  It actually defeats Nature. I have never seen anything like this before.

I sleep in the cabin near the bow in a tiny room that I share with my Russian friend and past expedition teammate Victor Boyarsky.  What little space there is, is filled with my gear.  Our small quarters constantly shake and, at times, almost explode from the impact of the ship's 23,000 tons smashing into the ice! I have not slept much since I boarded the Sovetskiy Soyuz in Murmansk on July 5th.  I am looking forward to living in my tent on the ice.

On board is an experienced crew of 150, including 50 officers.  The ship's mission is to bring its 62 passengers to the North Pole.  The ship itself is chartered out by Quark Expeditions which in turn sells passage to various people from around the world.  The social life on board is great and I really enjoy meeting so many different people from so many 'walks' of life.

These past five days have not been relaxing at all however.  I have spent about 12 hours a day working on my equipment and, in particular, giving the telecommunications gear its final test.  I look forward to sharing my experiences with you.  It is my goal to be honest in my expressions these next 50 or so days and to give you an idea of how it feels to be out here.  And, of course, I will send out daily descriptions of this most beautiful and awesome environment - THE ARCTIC OCEAN.

Signing off until tomorrow