Big Bad Bellot Straight Part 2. A successful passage.

On September 1, 2014, just after our 1st attempt at the Northwest Passage’s infamous Bellot Straight, we vowed not to make another, until we had a got, clear ice report. We were prepared and ready to return to Gjoa Haven for the winter, if need be and in the mean time sat drifting in calm […]

Liebster award nominee!

My friends from Alaskagraphy nominated Empiricusembarks for the Leibster award. Sweet! Thanks guys! The award nomination is continually passed on to other blogs, which stirs activity and spurs new connections among readers. Cool! This award comes with a list of questions, put to the nominees, by the nominating party. So here is what Alaskagraphy asked: […]

The courage is in your moments

Who is it that speaks and is heard for eternity? The humble… The humble live on in our thoughts, our books and our stories, because they have the greatest courage of all. Though it takes great courage to face an enemy, and risk your life for another. It takes even greater courage, to face yourself […]

BIG BAD BELLOT STRAIT. PART 1

Big Bad Bellot. The West entrance to the strait is located at 71 Deg 58 Min North by 95 Deg 11 Min West. Its southern shore marks the northernmost point on the North American continent. This narrow body of water is not well charted and carries a long history of dramatic encounters for ships […]

Northwest Passage 2014 the official complete list of passage makers.

The following is the official list of Northwest Passage transits, by all vessels in recorded history. Empiricus is number 208! Ever! There is also some brief but interesting reading in the introduction. They have Empiricus listed as a “Ketch”, but thats an easy mistake to make. We have requested a correction to “Yawl”, but thats […]

What is the Northwest Passage?

I’ve been blogging about the Northwest Passage for a while now and I just realized that the details of this place have not always been in the forefront of my writing. Encyclopedia Britannica defines the “Northwest Passage” as “Northwest Passage, historical sea passage of the North American continent, representing centuries of effort to find a […]

“Ice Tactics” Part 1. Negotiating a Brash Ice Barrier By Captain Jesse Osborn

In our 2014 completion of the Northwest Passage, Samantha and I encountered a large band of high concentration ice. We were able to work our way through that ice with tactics we learned along the way. This article is the first of a short series I will be writing on ice tactics. As it seems […]

Pond Inlet Nunavut to Aasiaat Greenland

09/09/2014 1440 UTC Were off! Anchor pulled, chain removed and stowed in the locker. We had a nice sail, broad reaching with bread in the oven. Then the winds dropped off and became fluky from the SE. Samantha made a Fantastic curry and we enjoyed it as the sun dropped behind us. The […]

Captains Log Bellot Straight to Pond Inlet

08/31/2014 0145 We are six miles from Bellot Straight! No or little wind all day, made for a beautiful sunset with reflections on the water and Ice. Just after sunset, I watched patches of water flash freeze over. It crawled along the water slowly. Setting the surface still, just before our bow interrupted its process. […]

Captains Log Taloyoak to Bellot Straight.

08/28/2014 0200 Taloyoak NU Can it get any better? This place and these people are amazing me. Where do I start? I will have to reflect and write more of our visit to Taloyoak. But for starters, we spoke again at the school. This time to a group of 35 school kids under 12. The […]

EMPIRICUS EMBARKS

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