ADVENTURE SAILING THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE

The Reverend Bob Shepton braved freezing gales and ice floes to sail 6,059 miles through the Northwest Passage with his crew of four South African climbers

- The Reverend Bob Shepton

The Atlantic passage had been strange. The crossing from Scotland to the west coast of Greenland, or vice versa, is usually 'the meanest Atlantic crossing of them all', fraught with gales halfway across due to the depressions regularly spinning up from Newfoundland to the Faroes and Iceland. I have previously termed the mid-point 'gale alley'. But that year it was strangely calm all the way across. After six days of gentle breezes, one of the South African climbers turned to me and said, 'Is this your gale alley, Bob?' Cheeky monkey!

The crew, Steve Bradshaw, David Glass, Clinton Martinengo and Andy Porter, were hard climbers from South Africa who had written to me and asked, 'We are looking for an adventure this summer, have you any suggestions?' 'Well, I replied, 'I was thinking of doing the Northwest Passage. Will that do?' They thought it would and duly arrived at Barcaldine on the west coast of Scotland for the off. We made general preparations, stocked up with food and diesel and sailed pleasantly across the Atlantic and round to Paamiut on the west coast of Greenland in 18 days.

We called at various places and settlements up the west coast, but somehow this was the first time I was struck with what a very long coastline that west coast of Greenland is – some 1,500 miles. I had been there several times before so perhaps it was losing its charm or excitement. There was one notable incident. Crossing Disko Bay about halfway up the west coast, the crew suddenly stripped down and took the dinghy across to an iceberg and climbed it, in the nude, with one ice axe each, and no crampons, to display the South African flag on top. Tell me if you know why!