Joëlle & Janusz Kurbiel are members of the polar navigation expedition group IMERPOL and use MaxSea TimeZero software on board. They are currently in Newfoundland, heading northwards. Here is an update of their polar experiences:

Waiting for the ice to melt:

We are still in Newfoundland but can not go further north because we are currently blocked by ice. The icebergs are unusually large for the season in this specific location! We are therefore taking this opportunity to sail between the islands of the north coast to perform various tests.

Carpet in the propellers!

Everything is going well except for one incident we experienced when launching: the port staff had used pieces of  carpet on top of the lift straps to avoid damaging the hull as it was being lowered into the water. However, these pieces of carpet were not securely attached and ended up getting caught in the propellers! This is how they looked:

This stopped the engine instantly. We needed to lift the boat out of the water again and painstakingly cut out all the stuff that was caught so tightly in the blades.

Since then, Janusz has been hearing a strange noise from the engine. Hopefully the shaft and propeller were not distorted, this would make us totally ineffective… we’ll have to wait and see.

Moving on

A storm from the southwest is forecast in a few days. This should clear the ice away allowing us to move a little further.

---

Thanks Joelle and Janusz! We wish you the best of luck for the rest of your expedition.

We will keep you updated on their travels.

Catch up on IMERPOL’s other MaxSea blog posts here:

• My Favourite books about the Arctic, by Janusz Kurbiel
• The Vikings in the conquest of America
• Borealis Expedition: pollution of the Arctic
• MaxSea Happy Users: Borealis Expedition 2011-2012