By Paul Bryers, August 27, 2025

• Cruising through Bellot Strait.

The Bellot Strait, separating Somerset Island from the Boothia Peninsula, is notable for its narrow width of approximately 1 km (~ 0.6 miles) at its narrowest point, and potential patches of hazardous ice.

The Strait is also known for strong currents and whirlpools resulting from the narrow passage and tidal level differences on either side. This is considered one of the best Straits in the world.

We entered carefully, with a slight swagger, a little arrogance but assured in our hull.

Yikey! An alert was issued for a polar bear and our hardy guides set out on the zodiacs.

The image of the bear is out of focus; however, I believe it was indeed a bear.

The rest of the transit was uneventful……

…. but finished in a glorious and intense sunset.

Cruising South on Price Regent Inlet, Arctic Canada

By Paul Bryers, August 27, 2025

A moderate to rough sea was experienced overnight and early this morning, with wave heights reaching 3-4 meters (~10-13 feet). Outlook, fair.
Do I sound like the BBC Radio Fishing Forecast?

The stability of HX’s vessels in adverse sea conditions is consistently impressive.

In the early hours, it was fascinating to observe icebergs being tossed about and fragmented by the swell.

Current conditions are calmer, with the few remaining icebergs relatively stable. One iceberg appeared as just a thin line on the horizon, although it was probably severnal if not 10’s of meters high.

As we approached Fort Ross, there was an alert for a Musk Ox and another polar bear. While dots could be observed through bins, they were, I think, just rocks.

The land has now flattened out considerably and looks a bit like sand dunes. The water is turquoise, similar to the color of the waters off the West Coast of Scotland but even colder. Which reminds me, an Arctic Plunge is still ahead of us! Yikes!

Beechey Island, Arctic Canada

From Paul Bryers, August 26, 2025

After the Polar Bear was finally 5 km away from us, zodiac landings resumed with haste and valor.

Now that some of the snow had melted, the barren and rugged nature of this isolated and desolate corner of Earth became even more apparent.

Beechey Island is best known for containing three graves of Franklin expedition members, which were first discovered in 1850 by searchers for the lost Franklin Expedition. The searchers found a large stone cairn, along with the graves of three of Franklin’s crewmen – Petty Officer John Torrington, Royal Marine Private William Braine, and Able Seaman John Harrell – but no written record nor indication of where Franklin planned to sail the next season.

During a later expedition, a searcher named Thomas Morgan died aboard the vessel North Star on May 22, 1854, and was buried alongside the three original Franklin crew members.

One can only glimmer what it must have been like for Franklin and his colleagues to have wintered in this area, starved and, for at least these three, died. And all the rest of the expedition died to.

POLAR BEAR!!

Beechey Island, Arctic Canada

From Paul Bryers, August 26, 2025

We have had a remarkable morning, and it is only 10:00 am.

Around 07:00 am, we arrived at Beechey Island, renowned for containing three graves of the ill-fated Franklin expedition members, first discovered in 1850 by searchers for the lost Franklin expedition.

The island and surrounding areas offered breathtaking vistas with snow-covered mountains, cliffs, and turquoise and black waters.

The first two zodiacs successfully landed those of us who were going to hike to the top of Beechey Island.

I was taking sone distance photos of the graves……

….Suddenly, the alert went up “Polar Bear! Polar Bear!” from one of the guards high on the hill.

The speed with which the HX guides got us back on the zodiacs and evacuated the island was very impressive. Adrenaline was running high!

Back at the ship, we joined everyone else outside on the upper decks, following the progress of the bear. Initially, he was prowling on the shore, then went for a swim.

After coming back on shore, he walked adjacent to the ship for quite a while before heading inland.

The ship has just reported that the bear is now well inland and walking away from us, so we are resuming landing activities. However, we will be in very small groups and restricted to the area immediately beside the graves. No hike for us today!

What a fun morning!

Cruising Maxwell Bay and Ryder Inlet, Arctic Canada

From Paul Bryers, August 25, 2025

While cruising in Maxwell Bay this morning, a polar bear was spotted a few hundred yards up from the shore but a good distance from our ship. Fortunately, another guest had a super lens and shared his photo; I don’t know his name but thank you sir! Since then several other polar bears have been spotted.

As the bay is largely uncharted, we are cruising at a slow pace using sonar to avoid grounding.

The cliffs at Ryder Inlet were vertical, beautifully striated, and seemingly completely barren. In fact, NASA comes here to trial Mars landing and roving equipment.

Despite the snow, we were able to view a magnificent waterfall cascading down the entire height of the immense cliffs.

In the afternoon, we deployed the Zodiacs and attempted to reach 75°N – we seemed to get very close but grounded twice while investigating some barnacle geese and had to abort.

We enjoyed cruising through many intricate icebergs.