Dispatch 3: Steaming to the Beaufort Sea

Andrey Proshutinsky

August 9-10, 2003


	Discussion of mooring operations with ship officers (left) , and approaching the sea ice edge (right).

	Weather is calm and there is a perfect reflection of sun in the mirror-like water surface.

	August 10th, Sunday dinner. Traditionally Captain invites crew officers and the science team members for the Sunday dinner. During cruise everybody will be invited for this event.

The sea and weather conditions were favorable with neither ice nor wind as we left Kugluktuk at 8 a.m. August 9th. We moved toward the Beaufort Sea at a speed of about 15 knots, or 17.5 miles per hour.

We were able to keep high speed on Sunday, August 10th when we met ice and maneuvered ice fields for the first time. Fortunately, the sea ice thickness was less than 3 feet.

We were busy both days preparing for measurements, as well as organizing and planning the expedition’s activity. Our first scientific operation is expected to be on Monday morning at coordinates 71°N and 134°W. We will recover the Canadian Arctic Basin Observational System (CABOS) deployed by scientists on our ship, the Louis S. St. Laurent, in September 2002.

Last updated: October 7, 2019