We are still waiting for the ice situation to improve, so there is not 
 much to do but deal with routine maintenance jobs, read, watch DVDs, 
 listen to music, receive visitors from other boats waiting like us in 
 this protected anchorage, or return those visits. There are also walks 
 ashore, and watching the wildlife around us, mostly sea birds and the 
 odd walrus from a nearby resident colony.
For the first time I was successful in my fishing, and caught three odd 
 looking fish with wide mouths and large spinal fins looking like wings. 
 Unable to feed our crew of eight on that meagre fare, I accepted 
 Jean-Luc’s offer of using them as the base for a tasty bouillabaisse soup.
There was much excitement yesterday, when one of our neighbours came on 
 the VHF radio to inform everyone that a polar bear was seen walking on 
 the nearby shore. With everyone’s cameras and binoculars trained on the 
 majestic beast, two of Drina’s crew took Emily from our boat in their 
 dinghy and went as close to the bear as they dared. The bear gave them 
 a bored look, turned around and walked nonchalantly away. Obviously 
 sailors were not on his menu that day.
Finally there seems to be change in the air, the ice charts are looking 
 increasingly promising, so we may start moving soon westwards, and 
 tackle the proper part of the Northwest Passage.





