Kenn Borek Air

We had not experienced fine weather for a long time. But today was different. The sky was clear and the sun was bright. I can see the sun shining higher and beaming brighter. The temperature is -25°C. Every time I see village people, they say, "It's warm. Good weather." Everybody is happy even though it's -25°C.

Today was a very good day, but Håvard caught a fever and did not come out of his room. I am a bit concerned about his condition because the expedition is scheduled to start on 28th. But I think he rested enough today, so he should be recovering tomorrow. Mr. Ohba says he also often have a fever of 40°C just before an expedition starts due to extreme nervousness. He also says he often doesn't feel like eating for two weeks after the departure. Walking in extreme cold weather should consume a lot of stamina. So an arctic expedition has such a tremendous mental influence.

In the afternoon Lucas the hotel manager drove Mr. Ohba and I to the airport in Resolute Bay. The team will be transported by a charted flight to Ward Hunt Island the northernmost Island of North America located at 83 degrees North. So we came here for an arrangement for that day.

The area around Ward Hunt Island, about 770km from the north navel (north pole) of the earth, had had no sunlight until the 26th of this month. On the 27th the sun appeared for the first time. There is no runway, so in order to land on the ice, there has to be enough sunlight to see the surface of the sea ice.

Mickey of Kenn Borek Air advised us to have several emergency plans in case the expedition team has some accidents on the way. The team will carry satellite phones, spare batteries, and emergency locater beacon called PLB. However it is questionable if these devices can still work under extreme cold temperature or still be usable if they are dropped in water. So we decided to borrow one more PLB from the town.

From rigtht to left: Mickey of Kenn Borek Air, Mr. Ohba, Lucas the hotel manager