Will Stirling's Arctic Voyage
During the summer Will Stirling completed a circumnavigation of Svalbard in RV Capps' pilot cutter Dolphin.
This year they sailed to within 550 miles of the North Pole and saw very little ice. The previous year they had entered the pack amongst the Sujoyane (at exactly the same time of year as Phipps expeditions had done in 1773 with midshipman Nelson aboard). With Capps' careful ice navigation Dolphin's crew managed to land on Nelsonoya before retreating to the ice free waters of West Spitsbergen. Walrus and polar bears were a common sight.
Photos of the expedition can be seen at www.stirlingandson.co.uk. Will's next trip is to skipper the camera boat for Jock Wishart's Row to the Pole attempt in summer 2011 www.rowtothepole.com
|
