By Paul Bryers, September 1, 2025

• Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, Arctic Canada.

I had anticipated our departure from Cambridge Bay last night, but this was not the case.

Apparently, we were awaiting the arrival of supplies by air, which landed around 10 am. These essential supplies, including fresh bananas, were subsequently transferred to our ship via zodiac.

Meanwhile, we embarked on zodiacs to visit the renowned Maud Memorial in Cambridge Bay. The Maud, formerly commanded by explorer Roald Amundsen, set sail from Kristiana, now Oslo, in July 1918, bound for the North Pole via the Northwest Passage. Amundsen successfully led the first expedition to navigate the Northwest Passage. However, the Maud never reached the North Pole under Amundsen’s command. Due to financial difficulties, he sold the vessel to the Hudson Bay Company in 1920, which utilized it as a floating warehouse until it sank in 1930.

The photograph depicts the wreck of the Maud as it appeared in the waters off Cambridge Bay in 2015.

In 2016, a team of four Norwegians launched the ‘Maud Returns Home’ initiative, rescuing the Maud from the shallow coastal waters of Cambridge Bay. The Maud successfully arrived in Farsund, Norway, in August 2018.

A stone cairn in Cambridge Bay commemorates the Maud.

As an aside, it reminds me of the cairn to commemorate the Battle of Culloden on Culloden Moor, Scotland, my birthplace.