Oct 2007
A little walk with remote flashguns...
October, 29 - 2007
Oct. 28, 2007
Aboard the Amudsen
Off the coast of Cape Perry Canada
Just goes to show how one can loose track of time and days for that matter.
Since my last report, I have been continuing to photograph the activity of the different people onboard. But because of limited daylight and bad weather, I have been finding that I’m using the Nikon CLS system much more than I had planned and to be honest I’m learning more about it everyday.
Weather I’m shooting outside in the dark or shooting indoors in a science lab that could be as small as a phone booth... I’m finding that the ability to move the flashguns around and position them at will, is a huge benefit.
A good example of this is this shot….
While photographing one of the ships ice experts, I wanted to create a macro shot, but I would have limited space I could work in. The use of a tripod was out and the need to create subtle lighting was mandatory if the shot was going to work.
Using flashguns was a good option but I needed to have the light sharp and powerful but yet fall off quickly to create the look I was looking for.
To set the shot up, I put a piece of tin-foil under the brown bottle that is in the frame and placed an SB-800 gun just out of the frame laying on its side pointing toward the bottle. This gun will light the blue rubber gloves and drop a little brown glow on the scene as light passes through the bottle. I also held a second gun right above the scene and used the foil to defuse it quickly as it came down and then bounced back up again. Because of the small space, the camera was handheld and I metered for mid-light while jamming myself into a corner to try and hold everything still.
I think this was the first shot of the series….
From there, I just zoomed in and created the finished shot.
Well I hope you enjoyed my little walk down the CLS system path and what it can do if you think a little out of the box.
In the end, I got the shot I was looking for and it was created with no fuss no mess…. just a couple flashguns and a little tinfoil.
I the next couple days I’ll try and do a little writing on remoter triggering my gear as it got hooked to an ice cage….
Also if time permits we might take a look at some kite flying at the top of the world…
Cheers for now….
Doug
Aboard the Amudsen
Off the coast of Cape Perry Canada
Just goes to show how one can loose track of time and days for that matter.
Since my last report, I have been continuing to photograph the activity of the different people onboard. But because of limited daylight and bad weather, I have been finding that I’m using the Nikon CLS system much more than I had planned and to be honest I’m learning more about it everyday.
Weather I’m shooting outside in the dark or shooting indoors in a science lab that could be as small as a phone booth... I’m finding that the ability to move the flashguns around and position them at will, is a huge benefit.
A good example of this is this shot….
While photographing one of the ships ice experts, I wanted to create a macro shot, but I would have limited space I could work in. The use of a tripod was out and the need to create subtle lighting was mandatory if the shot was going to work.
Using flashguns was a good option but I needed to have the light sharp and powerful but yet fall off quickly to create the look I was looking for.
To set the shot up, I put a piece of tin-foil under the brown bottle that is in the frame and placed an SB-800 gun just out of the frame laying on its side pointing toward the bottle. This gun will light the blue rubber gloves and drop a little brown glow on the scene as light passes through the bottle. I also held a second gun right above the scene and used the foil to defuse it quickly as it came down and then bounced back up again. Because of the small space, the camera was handheld and I metered for mid-light while jamming myself into a corner to try and hold everything still.
I think this was the first shot of the series….
From there, I just zoomed in and created the finished shot.
Well I hope you enjoyed my little walk down the CLS system path and what it can do if you think a little out of the box.
In the end, I got the shot I was looking for and it was created with no fuss no mess…. just a couple flashguns and a little tinfoil.
I the next couple days I’ll try and do a little writing on remoter triggering my gear as it got hooked to an ice cage….
Also if time permits we might take a look at some kite flying at the top of the world…
Cheers for now….
Doug
|
Count me in.... I'm impressed!
October, 25 - 2007
Oct. 25, 2007
Aboard the Amudsen
Latitude – 70 degrees 39.889 minutes
Longitude - 123 degrees 00.567 minutes west
Off the coast of Banks Island Canada
In a post the other day, I spoke of something called a ‘Mooring Station”. This is the line of instruments that these folks put into the water and leave for a year or longer. Well since I wrote that post, I’ve watched as we tried to recover a station and could not get the remote trigger to talk to the ship. This of course is a big issue as the instrumentation on the stations can cost hundred’s of thousands of dollars. So when you are trying to recover one and it don’t answer, one is not just looking at the loss from a financial standpoint, but the loss of data is also a big deal. So the other day when we could not get the station to trigger there were a lot of long faces trying to figure what would be the best thing to do?
In the end, it was decided to try something new and send the ROV (remotely operated vehicle) out to see if it could somehow see the mooring station.
Getting this thing into operation is not like jumping in a boat and going for a spin… First, it needs to be confirmed that the captain has the ability to keep the ship in one spot for a long enough period of time to allow the dive to take place. What this means in real terms, is the ship needs to stay within a 60 - 80 meter area for several hours.
Now I guess one could thing…. heck 70 meters is a long way. But you need to put this into prospective and remember that this ship is 100 meters long, so we are really talking about just over ½ the length of the ship. Further, I’m told we had a 1 – 2 knot current and a 15 – 18 knot wind. So keeping everything where it needed to be for the duration of the dive was no small feat.
The task of keeping the ship on position went to Captain Lise Marchand who will need to compensate for the wind and currents and keep us right where we need to be. This ‘dancing on the spot’ will need to go on for close to 4-5 hours as we deploy the ROV and I’m sure she did not take her eyes off the screen or her hands off the controls the whole time the dive was going on.
The next step is to get the ROV ready, over the moon pool and ready to launch ...
This again should not be considered an easy task. As the ROV is not as small as the movies make them out to be and it is tethered to 1600 meters of cable that allow the pilots to control it from the surface.
So first things first....
The team needs to get the ROV over the moon pool and fire it up to make sure all the systems are working.
At that point, with constant communication between the ROV Control Room and the Bridge. The clearance is given to lower the unit into the moon pool and stop its descent 40-meters (130 Ft.) below the ship.
Finally the pilots are given the go-ahead to begin their decent to 360 meters or almost 1200 Ft. (10 football fields) below the surface. This will take them to within 40 meters of the bottom. At this point, the ROV pilots will fly the unit out of its cage and begin the hunt for the lost mooring station.
While all this is going on I’m rushing between the bridge and the control room…. Trying my best to capture not just the happening in both places. But also to record the tension that one can feel in both locations.
At the end of the day, the teams were not able to locate the mooring station, but the effort taken by the teams sure proved to me that these folks take their job very seriously and our world will be a little better of because of folks like this
Cheers for now….
Doug
Aboard the Amudsen
Latitude – 70 degrees 39.889 minutes
Longitude - 123 degrees 00.567 minutes west
Off the coast of Banks Island Canada
In a post the other day, I spoke of something called a ‘Mooring Station”. This is the line of instruments that these folks put into the water and leave for a year or longer. Well since I wrote that post, I’ve watched as we tried to recover a station and could not get the remote trigger to talk to the ship. This of course is a big issue as the instrumentation on the stations can cost hundred’s of thousands of dollars. So when you are trying to recover one and it don’t answer, one is not just looking at the loss from a financial standpoint, but the loss of data is also a big deal. So the other day when we could not get the station to trigger there were a lot of long faces trying to figure what would be the best thing to do?
In the end, it was decided to try something new and send the ROV (remotely operated vehicle) out to see if it could somehow see the mooring station.
Getting this thing into operation is not like jumping in a boat and going for a spin… First, it needs to be confirmed that the captain has the ability to keep the ship in one spot for a long enough period of time to allow the dive to take place. What this means in real terms, is the ship needs to stay within a 60 - 80 meter area for several hours.
Now I guess one could thing…. heck 70 meters is a long way. But you need to put this into prospective and remember that this ship is 100 meters long, so we are really talking about just over ½ the length of the ship. Further, I’m told we had a 1 – 2 knot current and a 15 – 18 knot wind. So keeping everything where it needed to be for the duration of the dive was no small feat.
The task of keeping the ship on position went to Captain Lise Marchand who will need to compensate for the wind and currents and keep us right where we need to be. This ‘dancing on the spot’ will need to go on for close to 4-5 hours as we deploy the ROV and I’m sure she did not take her eyes off the screen or her hands off the controls the whole time the dive was going on.
The next step is to get the ROV ready, over the moon pool and ready to launch ...
This again should not be considered an easy task. As the ROV is not as small as the movies make them out to be and it is tethered to 1600 meters of cable that allow the pilots to control it from the surface.
So first things first....
The team needs to get the ROV over the moon pool and fire it up to make sure all the systems are working.
At that point, with constant communication between the ROV Control Room and the Bridge. The clearance is given to lower the unit into the moon pool and stop its descent 40-meters (130 Ft.) below the ship.
Finally the pilots are given the go-ahead to begin their decent to 360 meters or almost 1200 Ft. (10 football fields) below the surface. This will take them to within 40 meters of the bottom. At this point, the ROV pilots will fly the unit out of its cage and begin the hunt for the lost mooring station.
While all this is going on I’m rushing between the bridge and the control room…. Trying my best to capture not just the happening in both places. But also to record the tension that one can feel in both locations.
At the end of the day, the teams were not able to locate the mooring station, but the effort taken by the teams sure proved to me that these folks take their job very seriously and our world will be a little better of because of folks like this
Cheers for now….
Doug
Hard Environment...
October, 21 - 2007
Oct. 16, 2007
Aboard the Amudsen
Latitude – 71 degrees 45.38 minutes
Longitude - 126 degrees 30.409 minutes west
Off the coast of Banks Island
There is a real urgency to these tasks as winter is upon us and the weather is very unpredictable . Everyone is more than aware that an opportunity lost today, will not come again till next spring.
I’m amazed at the efficiency of not just the crew but also the science personnel. One can tell that there is many years of Arctic experience on board and the work goes on at an incredible rate. With the ship working 24/7 I find it hard sometimes to actually get enough time to take my boots off and put my camera down.
"This environment is putting a test on my equipment is nothing short of brutal".
One minute I’m shooting in a science lab with a temp of 70+ degrees. The next I'm outside Freezing, as I photograph someone collecting data from instruments located in some of the strangest places you could imagine.
In the end, I find it best to leave two cameras outside all day and leave them cold. Then use a third body indoors for what I'm starting to call the "Glory Shot's"... Heck after shooting in the snow, wind and cold.... a 'walk-in cooler' would feel warm.
Driving snow into a light
________________________________________________________
Wet and cold... not the best place to shoot. 4 meter waves (12 Ft.) is not just a test for the camera... but for me.
When I came in from this shoot, my hand was frozen shut with the camera in it. We needed to run water over my hand to allow me to let go.
Yesterday, I wanted to photograph the lowering of something the scientist call a ‘mooring station’. This is a selection of different instruments that are all hooked to the same cable and lowered to the ocean floor. The ‘string’ is anchored to the bottom with steel wheels used by trains.
From the bottom, the different instruments extend upward toward the surface in long line. This mooring has a release rigger that can be accessed remotely from the ship when the team comes back to collect it in a years time. Upon a release, the mooring will unhook from the anchors and float to the surface for collection.
So for the next year these instruments will collect data for the science team on everything from ocean currents, light probes, sediment traps, nutrient meters and even an upward looking sonar to read the thickness of the ice.
________________________________________________________
Since I’ve been on board I’ve learned to expect the unexpected…. and today was no exception.
As we traveled 34 miles off the coast of Banks Island I got a call from the bridge asking me to come up and to bring my camera.
Well to my surprise, there was a pair of Snowy Owls flying around the ship. I could not believe that these creatures would be so far out at sea.
Well, I’m off for now as I’ve got more images to create and the day is still young….
Cheers for now….
Doug
Aboard the Amudsen
Latitude – 71 degrees 45.38 minutes
Longitude - 126 degrees 30.409 minutes west
Off the coast of Banks Island
There is a real urgency to these tasks as winter is upon us and the weather is very unpredictable . Everyone is more than aware that an opportunity lost today, will not come again till next spring.
I’m amazed at the efficiency of not just the crew but also the science personnel. One can tell that there is many years of Arctic experience on board and the work goes on at an incredible rate. With the ship working 24/7 I find it hard sometimes to actually get enough time to take my boots off and put my camera down.
"This environment is putting a test on my equipment is nothing short of brutal".
One minute I’m shooting in a science lab with a temp of 70+ degrees. The next I'm outside Freezing, as I photograph someone collecting data from instruments located in some of the strangest places you could imagine.
In the end, I find it best to leave two cameras outside all day and leave them cold. Then use a third body indoors for what I'm starting to call the "Glory Shot's"... Heck after shooting in the snow, wind and cold.... a 'walk-in cooler' would feel warm.
Driving snow into a light
________________________________________________________
Wet and cold... not the best place to shoot. 4 meter waves (12 Ft.) is not just a test for the camera... but for me.
When I came in from this shoot, my hand was frozen shut with the camera in it. We needed to run water over my hand to allow me to let go.
Yesterday, I wanted to photograph the lowering of something the scientist call a ‘mooring station’. This is a selection of different instruments that are all hooked to the same cable and lowered to the ocean floor. The ‘string’ is anchored to the bottom with steel wheels used by trains.
From the bottom, the different instruments extend upward toward the surface in long line. This mooring has a release rigger that can be accessed remotely from the ship when the team comes back to collect it in a years time. Upon a release, the mooring will unhook from the anchors and float to the surface for collection.
So for the next year these instruments will collect data for the science team on everything from ocean currents, light probes, sediment traps, nutrient meters and even an upward looking sonar to read the thickness of the ice.
________________________________________________________
Since I’ve been on board I’ve learned to expect the unexpected…. and today was no exception.
As we traveled 34 miles off the coast of Banks Island I got a call from the bridge asking me to come up and to bring my camera.
Well to my surprise, there was a pair of Snowy Owls flying around the ship. I could not believe that these creatures would be so far out at sea.
Well, I’m off for now as I’ve got more images to create and the day is still young….
Cheers for now….
Doug
A Kite Day....
October, 21 - 2007
I'm sure my friend Brooks, would have told me that the wind was to high for proper flying and if the truth be known he would be correct. But in the Arctic one takes the day as it comes to you and do with it the best you can.
So with that thought, I walked south of the community of Sachs Harbour and let the kite go. This is the smaller of the (2) kites I have, as the wind was running at around 20 - 30 knots and in the Arctic there is no protection at all to slow it down as it streams in off the ocean and the pole.
Cheers for now....
Doug
Sachs Harbour
October, 17 - 2007
Oct. 16, 2007
Sachs Harbour NWT Canada
As the morning moved on and daylight came into our world, one could see that our earlier decision to stay in town was a good one. Looking out the window, one would have a had a hard time seeing much further than a hundred feet because of the blowing snow.
We did venture out to have tea with Lena Wolki, an elder in Sachs Harbour who is quite famous for her ability to make mukluks, hats, mitts and just about anything else that has leather and fur. Her real passion is spinning yarn from Muskox hair to make wool that she knits into everything you could think of.
Here she is putting the finishing touches on a pair of wolf mitts for the captain of our Ice Breaker the Amundsen.
As I prepare for tomorrow, I thought I would take another image that helps tell the story at the top of the world.
Tomorrow will be another day and with luck I will create an image or two...
Cheers for now....
Doug
Sachs Harbour NWT Canada
As the morning moved on and daylight came into our world, one could see that our earlier decision to stay in town was a good one. Looking out the window, one would have a had a hard time seeing much further than a hundred feet because of the blowing snow.
We did venture out to have tea with Lena Wolki, an elder in Sachs Harbour who is quite famous for her ability to make mukluks, hats, mitts and just about anything else that has leather and fur. Her real passion is spinning yarn from Muskox hair to make wool that she knits into everything you could think of.
Here she is putting the finishing touches on a pair of wolf mitts for the captain of our Ice Breaker the Amundsen.
As I prepare for tomorrow, I thought I would take another image that helps tell the story at the top of the world.
Tomorrow will be another day and with luck I will create an image or two...
Cheers for now....
Doug
Up - Up and Away....
October, 17 - 2007
Oct. 14, 2007
Winnipeg MB Canada
I’m concerned as I drag all my 4-bags from my pickup box and allow them to hit the concrete with the thud. The first thought that comes to mind is I’ve got way to much stuff and I need to somehow learn to pack lighter. This fear comes to a head when the ticket agent attempts to grab one of my larger bag’s to put it on the baggage belt…. You can see this little girl grab the handles with all her might and tug upward…. The bag does not move…. Being the good sport she is, she tugs again. But instead of placing the in the bag on the transport belt she swings around and puts in on the scale. Yup, the darn thing just weighs too much and now I’m standing there with what I’m sure is a blank look on my face as she begins to ask me what I’ve got in here and is there anything I can leave at home. I tell her it is camera gear and I cannot be without any of it…. She laughs and tells me I should consider getting one of those (little) cameras they make now…lol
In the end I get charged an additional $40.00 for the over weight and think I’m getting off lucky as she did not take the other bags and weight them also. Not to mention the pelican carry-on case that I had hidden behind my legs to keep out of site.
Upon my arrival in Edmonton it seemed like my next flight is going to be delayed as one of the pilots did not show up and the airline was scrambling to find a replacement.
The baggage issue remains to be an issue but nothing that $$ will not solve. Finally, a second pilot arrived and we boarded the flight for Inuvik.
As we traveled north one could see the last signs or warmer climates falling away as winter takes hold of the landscape below. By the time we cross the Arctic Circle (66th parallel) it was clear that any thought of warm conditions were being left behind in the south.
My arrival in Inuvik allowed me to catch my breath and overnight before we head north again….
Cheers for now....
Doug
Winnipeg MB Canada
I’m concerned as I drag all my 4-bags from my pickup box and allow them to hit the concrete with the thud. The first thought that comes to mind is I’ve got way to much stuff and I need to somehow learn to pack lighter. This fear comes to a head when the ticket agent attempts to grab one of my larger bag’s to put it on the baggage belt…. You can see this little girl grab the handles with all her might and tug upward…. The bag does not move…. Being the good sport she is, she tugs again. But instead of placing the in the bag on the transport belt she swings around and puts in on the scale. Yup, the darn thing just weighs too much and now I’m standing there with what I’m sure is a blank look on my face as she begins to ask me what I’ve got in here and is there anything I can leave at home. I tell her it is camera gear and I cannot be without any of it…. She laughs and tells me I should consider getting one of those (little) cameras they make now…lol
In the end I get charged an additional $40.00 for the over weight and think I’m getting off lucky as she did not take the other bags and weight them also. Not to mention the pelican carry-on case that I had hidden behind my legs to keep out of site.
Upon my arrival in Edmonton it seemed like my next flight is going to be delayed as one of the pilots did not show up and the airline was scrambling to find a replacement.
The baggage issue remains to be an issue but nothing that $$ will not solve. Finally, a second pilot arrived and we boarded the flight for Inuvik.
As we traveled north one could see the last signs or warmer climates falling away as winter takes hold of the landscape below. By the time we cross the Arctic Circle (66th parallel) it was clear that any thought of warm conditions were being left behind in the south.
My arrival in Inuvik allowed me to catch my breath and overnight before we head north again….
Cheers for now....
Doug
Up - Up and Away (part-2)
October, 17 - 2007
Oct. 15, 2007
Inuvik NWT Canada
Along the road to the airport I had an opportunity to stop and click a fast shot of the “Igloo Church” in Inuvik. This structure is fashioned after a traditional Igloo or native icehouse.
At the Inuvik airport, the excess baggage become an issue again but this time my additional charges went from $40.00 in Winnipeg to $265.00 in Inuvik. It is amazing how this works considering that my bags did not get any heavier. Yet the cost to move them has now hit the “Arctic Effect”….
For the flight to Sachs Harbour we fly in a 15-place/seat? airplane that takes me off the mainland of Canada to Banks Island and the land of ice and snow.
My preparation for this trip told me that Sachs was a small community in the Arctic. But it did not allow me to get my head around what was about to greet me as I stepped off the plane.
The airstrip has been created out of sand esker about 3-km from the community and is the hub of activity when a plane arrives from the south. Now one needs to firstly put the word “activity” into prospective….
Upon our arrival there was about 15 people standing on the tundra with 2 pick-up trucks and 6 or 7 all terrain vehicles or (ATV’s). The wind is blowing at about 20 knots and the temp is around (-12C). The combination of the temp and the wind makes for a real cooling effect on my southern hide.
I grabbed my stuff out of the plane and begin to search around for some type of ride to the community. This is an easy feat as everyone is friendly and more than willing to help as I struggle with pelican cases full of camera gear and duffle bags full of winter clothes etc.
Upon our arrival in the community I’m hit with the reality of how small the place really is. With a population of around 120 people living in about 20 or 30 houses perched on a small hill overlooking the Arctic Ocean.
With one road, one store, one community office it does not take one long to be noticed by the locals as a white guy from the south.
To live in this type of community one does not just need to be self-reliant, you have to be hardy! And to be honest, being ‘hardy’ by southern standards will not get you very far.
The people who live here do not just survive… THEY THRIVE in one of the harshest places on our planet.
As I walked the street meeting different people and dropping in for coffee in a couple places, I could not but wonder what it would take to have our southern society to be as warm and friendly as these folks are. But yet to be so conditioned to the climate and conditions that affect their lives everyday.
On my walk I dropped into the store to purchase a few supplies to at least allow me to eat supper and lunch the next day. A loaf of bread, couple red potatoes, box of Kraft dinner, 2-chicken breasts and a tube of Pringles chips came to $84.99…. Now I know why my over baggage was $265.00… at the cost of flying goods into this location one can see why the folks who live here shop in the south once a year and ship their TOTAL family requirement once a year on the sealift that arrives in August.
Yes, if you lived here you would go to a store in the south and buy everything from toilet paper to milk, bread and pop and ship it on a ship from Hay River N.W.T. You will need to estimate how much you will use in the next year as this community only gets one sea-lift a year. So if you decide you need a little paint to paint that fence, you have one chance to get it and if you miss the boat…. you wait till the next year.
This thought process now tells the story of a people who can not just live and have a life in this type of environment. It tells the story of a people who if you don’t have it, you make it; or build it!
So if you have a ski-doo that needs to be fixed. You cannot just take it to the garage and have the dealer fix it… no, you fix it yourself. If you need some parts… you don’t just go to the parts store to get it, you make the part yourself.
So when you see a sight like this… as an outsider I’m amazed that the Inuit take the ‘self-reliance’ even further.
‘IF YOU DON’T HAVE IT… JUST BUILD IT…’
Cheers for now....
Doug
Inuvik NWT Canada
Along the road to the airport I had an opportunity to stop and click a fast shot of the “Igloo Church” in Inuvik. This structure is fashioned after a traditional Igloo or native icehouse.
At the Inuvik airport, the excess baggage become an issue again but this time my additional charges went from $40.00 in Winnipeg to $265.00 in Inuvik. It is amazing how this works considering that my bags did not get any heavier. Yet the cost to move them has now hit the “Arctic Effect”….
For the flight to Sachs Harbour we fly in a 15-place/seat? airplane that takes me off the mainland of Canada to Banks Island and the land of ice and snow.
My preparation for this trip told me that Sachs was a small community in the Arctic. But it did not allow me to get my head around what was about to greet me as I stepped off the plane.
The airstrip has been created out of sand esker about 3-km from the community and is the hub of activity when a plane arrives from the south. Now one needs to firstly put the word “activity” into prospective….
Upon our arrival there was about 15 people standing on the tundra with 2 pick-up trucks and 6 or 7 all terrain vehicles or (ATV’s). The wind is blowing at about 20 knots and the temp is around (-12C). The combination of the temp and the wind makes for a real cooling effect on my southern hide.
I grabbed my stuff out of the plane and begin to search around for some type of ride to the community. This is an easy feat as everyone is friendly and more than willing to help as I struggle with pelican cases full of camera gear and duffle bags full of winter clothes etc.
Upon our arrival in the community I’m hit with the reality of how small the place really is. With a population of around 120 people living in about 20 or 30 houses perched on a small hill overlooking the Arctic Ocean.
With one road, one store, one community office it does not take one long to be noticed by the locals as a white guy from the south.
To live in this type of community one does not just need to be self-reliant, you have to be hardy! And to be honest, being ‘hardy’ by southern standards will not get you very far.
The people who live here do not just survive… THEY THRIVE in one of the harshest places on our planet.
As I walked the street meeting different people and dropping in for coffee in a couple places, I could not but wonder what it would take to have our southern society to be as warm and friendly as these folks are. But yet to be so conditioned to the climate and conditions that affect their lives everyday.
On my walk I dropped into the store to purchase a few supplies to at least allow me to eat supper and lunch the next day. A loaf of bread, couple red potatoes, box of Kraft dinner, 2-chicken breasts and a tube of Pringles chips came to $84.99…. Now I know why my over baggage was $265.00… at the cost of flying goods into this location one can see why the folks who live here shop in the south once a year and ship their TOTAL family requirement once a year on the sealift that arrives in August.
Yes, if you lived here you would go to a store in the south and buy everything from toilet paper to milk, bread and pop and ship it on a ship from Hay River N.W.T. You will need to estimate how much you will use in the next year as this community only gets one sea-lift a year. So if you decide you need a little paint to paint that fence, you have one chance to get it and if you miss the boat…. you wait till the next year.
This thought process now tells the story of a people who can not just live and have a life in this type of environment. It tells the story of a people who if you don’t have it, you make it; or build it!
So if you have a ski-doo that needs to be fixed. You cannot just take it to the garage and have the dealer fix it… no, you fix it yourself. If you need some parts… you don’t just go to the parts store to get it, you make the part yourself.
So when you see a sight like this… as an outsider I’m amazed that the Inuit take the ‘self-reliance’ even further.
‘IF YOU DON’T HAVE IT… JUST BUILD IT…’
Cheers for now....
Doug