July 19

Dispatch 5
An eternal blanket of fog

LOCATION:   89. 42N  65.25W

I left ship at 2:00AM on the 13th. In the helicopter, we rose straight up 200 meters through the fog into the clear sky. The fog quickly came back and surrounded the ship. The Arctic Ocean was an eternal blanket of fog below. The helicopter went about 12 miles away to drop me off through a hole in the fog on ice safe enough for a heavy helicopter to land.  I bid farewell to Victor.  My spirits were high.

I rested all day the 13th. My camp is fog-fog-fog and slushy, watery snow. I am camped on a 20-meter little,ice-island surrounded by blue ice, water and slush. The conditions are sobering. There is always moisture and an eternal silence that I have never heard.  It is a tedious kind of silence and my mind thinks it hears the whirl of this computer's  little engine hum.  On occasion I hear huge ice blocks being crushed to the north.  I drifted on a strong southeast drift that has now stopped.  I expect to rebound back to 89.50 or beyond to the north if the south wind blows. The ice is loose to the north and tight to the south. The overall drift is to the SE which is typical for this area.

I am camped on old ice with a big lead system to the north which will take the shock and prevent my camp from breaking if the south wind blows. I feel my ice is safe and I could pack up quickly if need be.

I am still exhausted and will rest another day.  My body has no rhythm to it.  It knows no time zone. The ship really took its toll on me.

It is not misting so I will transmit today.  Transmission is now weather related.