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Diary entry by Catherine, Campaigner
Another sunny day. In the morning we welcomed a few visitors from Wales aboard the Sunrise for a short open boat day. Our tight schedule demanded we leave by noon, and with the sun shining most of the night people stay up until 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning, then rise in the afternoon. Most residents of Wales, adjusting their lives to the rhythm of the sun, were still sleeping when we had to weigh anchor. By 12:30 p.m. we had set sail for Kotzebue - our first stop north of the Arctic circle. Sailors crossing the equator for the first time often undergo an elaborate ritual marking them as "shellbacks". Several of the crew talked about devising a ceremony to mark our entry into the northern polar region. Paul, the first mate, jokingly suggested we should just wait for the bump when we crossed 66 degrees, 30 minutes north. Several folk suggested jumping from the pilot door into the ocean, but there were no lines of volunteers materializing. We're scheduled to arrive in Kotzebue at 9 a.m. tomorrow and the Anchorage office has arranged a meeting from 10 to 5 to discuss climate change with the village council and interested locals. Kotzebue is a village of over 2,500 people located on a long peninsula that juts into Kotzebue Sound. The Sound was named after Lt. Otto von Kotzebue of the ship Rurik, who explored the southern Arctic shores of Alaska in 1816 searching for the fabled Northwest Passage. The sun is still shining brightly at 1:30 a.m as the last stragglers who are not on watch make their way to their bunks. |