(photo: Emily Penn aboard Drina)
Michael Thurston, the owner of the Australian yacht Drina, sent us a message from Nome, Alaska, to inform us that he and his crew had reached the Pacific Ocean thus successfully completing a transit of the Northwest Passage.
A late opening of the Bellot Strait allowed Drina to reach the central part of the Northwest Passage only by mid-September. With the end of the safe season rapidly approaching they had to move westwards at a sustained pace so as to reach the Bering Strait before their exit would be obstructed by new ice.
Whirling waters, submerged rocks and roving icebergs among the 8 knot currents of treacherous Bellot Strait (photo: Emily Penn aboard Drina)
After a short stop in Nome, Michael intends to sail to Dutch Harbour, and continue south via the Line Islands to Fiji, and on to Australia.
All of us at Cornell Sailing are joined by participants in the Blue Planet Odyssey in our congratulations to Michael Thurston and his crew for having carried the Blue Planet Odyssey message through the Northwest Passage, and to wish Michael a safe onward journey.
