Brighton, England, Nigel's Vyneck is launched from the apartment window...
Mini Clubman Estate car... with the Vyneck on top. A reminder that the kerb-side weight of the original mini is approximately the same as that of a polar bear....
In summer 1981 the American air traffic controllers went on strike. Nigel waited 2 weeks for his baggage. With local paddlers, he descended the Sylvia Grinnell River on Baffin Island, from Sylvia Grinnell Lake to Frobisher Bay.
The early plastic white-water kayaks were strapped to the fuselage of the 4-seater plane...
Peter and Gou by Peter's boat-shed.
The tide has dropped. It's a 40-foot exchange.
The tide returned... quickly
Nigel leaving with 4 weeks supply of food... a couple of weeks later in the season than intended
South side of Frobisher Bay
A small iceberg
Camping near tent circles
A hurried solo process; assembling gear and loading, while the tide rapidly rises.
Glacier ahead
A tricky late evening landing place proved even more challenging to leave after the swell increased
A little tidal swirl in the mist
Gentle low-lying land near East Bluff, toward the entrance to Frobisher Bay.
After making it across Hudson Strait to Lacy Island, a moment of contemplation...
Evening light, Button Islands
Cairn or Inukshuk?
Nain was Nigel's target. In 1979 the last of the Labrador population north of Nain, was relocated south by the Canadian government. With no radio, Nigel had to reach Nain. With his finite food supply and on the arrival of stormy September weather he was very lucky to find an oil tanker sheltered behind Killinek Island...
The oil tanker Eastern Shell bound for Nova Scotia.
The Vyneck, a little battered, rests outside, while Nigel, a little battered rests inside.
This 1981 trip left Nigel with some minor frostbite in his fingers from crossing the Hudson Strait. An account of the crossing appears in "Raging Rivers Stormy Seas". Eastern Shell docked at Halifax Nova Scotia after four days sailing. Nigel met up with his then girlfriend Sharon to spend the remainder of the season in Newfoundland to recuperate with friends there. Returning to UK he got a job instructing at Plas Menai, the National Watersports Center" in North Wales.