Northern Life

• May long weekend Fishing Derby

  Every year on the May long weekend, Arctic Bay empties as everyone heads out on the land for the annual fishing derby, and of course this year was no exception.  The fish derby was greatly scaled down this year. Normally there are four "lakes" where fishing takes place, plus a small lake near town that

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• Suicide

  Once again Arctic Bay has lost one of it’s young people to the scourge of suicide. A young man took his life late last night.  Suicide is always a tragedy, and unfortunately it is a tragedy that repeats itself over and over and over again in the Arctic. I feel for the young man who

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• Now you see it…

  On Sunday we took a drive out to Nanisivik. We hadn’t been there for awhile and I wanted to see what was left of the town.  I also wanted to get out and see if I could find some Snow Buntings as I had friends tell me that they’ve been back for a week or

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• Don’t Call Me Eskimo

  Want to see Arctic Bay from the youth’s perspective?  Here is a video made by some of the youth of Arctic Bay.  It is very good.  Warning Parental Advisary: contains mild swearing, references to drugs, suicide, and violence.

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• Lottery ticket time

  So.  The other day I thought I’d take advantage of the beautiful day and spend some time on our deck for the first time this year.  It was gorgeous out and I stood by the railing, soaking in the warmth from the sun in shirtsleeves, listening for Snow Buntings (Okay they are in Iglulik, why

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• Light

  It is spring equinox today. Today is the day when our sun has caught up to the rest of the world, and for all intents and purposes, we have the same amount of sun as you.  But tomorrow, ah tomorrow, we’ll have more than you (unless of course you live in Resolute or Grise Fiord,

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• The Fort Hearne on YouTube

  Larry, the previous owner of our boat, The M.V. Fort Hearne, has posted this video on YouTube of the Fort Hearne.  Well, actually it is of his son catching a humongous Arctic Char, but the Fort Hearne plays a supporting role.  Sigh.

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• Sun Dogs

  Rurality has previously posted on Sun Dogs (and also on other sun effects) on her excellent blog.  And once again proving that there isn’t an original thought in my head I thought I’d post this picture of the sun dogs here this morning, taken about a half hour ago. Growing up, we’d always thought of

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• Giving Up a Dream.

  I’ve long wanted to navigate the Northwest Passage and when the opportunity to buy the Fort Hearne in Kugluktuk came up we did. It was primarily going to be a part of our tourism based business but there was the added benefits (for me anyway) of having strong historical connections with the RCMP in the

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• Ahh, it’s here!

  Well the sun is back shining on Arctic Bay today.  No need to drive up to the airport or climb the hills, you can see it from town.  Granted I had to drive to the other side of town but tomorrow I should even see it from the House.  Now our cold weather hits, but

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