The Frozen Frontier: Polar Bound through the Northwest Passage

by Jane Maufe

Overview

The Northwest Passage proved so elusive for so long that many sailors and explorers believed it didn't actually exist. A sea route connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through the Arctic archipelago, it wasn't until Roald Amundsen's 1903–06 voyage that the Northwest Passage's existence was finally proved, but the transit is treacherous and entirely dependent upon the ice giving up its grip for sufficient time to allow vessels through. This is not a journey undertaken by average sailors in small private boats.

But David Scott Cowper, 73, is no ordinary sailor. There are seven possible routes through the Northwest Passage, and Cowper had sailed through six of them singlehanded. This is the account of the sixth and most northerly – from ocean to ocean through the McClure Strait, this time accompanied by Jane Maufe, his crew.

The account of the voyage is written by Jane and she captures Cowper's steely determination, resourcefulness in the face of adversity and humility in the wake of great achievement. Theirs is an old-fashioned relationship, where each party expects to fulfil their stereotypical roles. But Jane is no push-over - she can steer a watch, haul sails, and leap ashore slippery pontoons with heavy ropes like the best of them.

As well as a captivating story of adventurous sailing it provides a fascinating insight into the relationship between two serious and dedicated sailors, alone together in some of the most isolated and forbidding desolate wastes on earth. It is a relationship built on respect and high expectations, mutual ambition and also self-sacrifice, and the book is a uniquely revealing and charming account.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781472935731
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	02/09/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	313,748
File size:	13 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

David Scott Cowper is an unsung British seafarer who holds several records. He was the first man to sail solo around the world in both directions, and the first person to circumnavigate the world via the Northwest Passage singlehandedly - a journey that took over 4 years. Jane Maufe is the four times great niece of Sir John Franklin, who was lost (along with his 129 crew) trying to chart and navigate a route through the Northwest Passage in 1845. Jane and David achieved the first ever transit through the most northerly route and it was the first by a woman. Leaving Northern Ireland in August, it took them just under 20 days to reach Alaska via the McClure Strait.

Table of Contents

Maps ix

Preface xiii

Part 1 Departure

1 The Christmas Card 3

2 My Reunion with David 7

3 House Rules 19

Part 2 The Northwest Passage

4 From Portrush, Northern Ireland to Greenland 31

5 Cape Farewell, Greenland 42

6 Greenland to Holsteinborg across the Arctic Circle 52

7 Disko Island to Lancaster Sound 61

8 Barrow Strait and Viscount Melville Sound to the McClure Strait 76

9 Across the Beaufort Sea to the Chukchi Sea 85

10 Through the Bering Strait to Landfall in Nome, Alaska 93

11 Dutch Harbour in the Aleutian Islands 101

12 Crossing the Gulf of Alaska 110

13 Leaving Polar Bound in Petersburg, Alaska 118

14 The NASA Beacon 124

Part 3 Bringing Polar Bound Home

15 Return to Petersburg 133

16 Tour of Alaska's Inside Passage 148

17 Departure from Petersburg 163

18 Elfin Cove, and across the Gulf of Alaska 171

19 Dutch Harbour 182

20 Nome to the Amundsen Gulf 197

21 The Southern Route 207

22 Cambridge Bay to Fort Ross 217

23 Passing Time at Fort Ross 230

24 On Our Way Again 239

25 Prince Regent Inlet 247

26 Pond Inlet to Fiskenaesset Fjord, Greenland 257

27 Refuge in the Fjord 269

28 Nanortalik and Cape Farewell to Northern Ireland 277

29 From Portrush, Northern Ireland to Scotland 290

Appendix I The Finding of the Erebus and the Terror 299

Appendix II The Hecla/Fury Strait 302

David Scott Cowper: List of Records 303