Monday, July 22, 2013

Bart paddling South

Bart called this morning by satellite phone. He decided yesterday afternoon Greenland time to start paddling South. Tom Hammerton, Hot Sails Designer, is his weatherman and sends him weather reports via the phone. These files showed strong northerly winds changing to southerly winds this afternoon or tomorrow. So Bart needed to start.
The board is very stabile, even with all his gear and water supply. Depending on wind conditions he can make around 3 miles per hour due to all the extra weight.
The sun sets at 1 AM, sunrise directly 45 min. after. That's the arctic summer. In the early morning hours Bart tried to sleep on his board, but it only lasted for 5 min. He got so cold, that he needed to start paddling again. Imagine, he is wearing the most protective clothing there is on the market for this climate, and Bart can't stand the cold? Then it must be very cold. I know Bart and many of you do, so that says something. I can't even imagine to be in that cold weather during the night, even if it doesn't get really dark. When we are in Germany in the winter I wear a long sleeve t-shirt and a sweater and Bart still runs around in a short sleeve t-shirt. Brrrrrr......
He got very seasick and it took him a while to recover from that, but felt fine in the morning when I talked to him. He is now close to Aasiaat Island. I will hear later what he decides to do when the head winds are kicking in.
Go Bart Go!!!!!




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