NORTHWEST PASSAGE — ROBINSON 223 



shore, impeding or blocking passage. Although this northern route 

 was formerly used by whalers, many were lost during bad years, and 

 since 1936 only the H. B. C. schooner Fort Ross, in addition to the St. 

 Roch, has entered the western Arctic via this route. Small schooners 

 have more success along the Alaskan coast because they can travel close 

 to shore inside of the ice which grounds in the shallow coastal water. 

 The only large ship to attempt this route, the H. B. C. icebreaker 

 Baychimo, after a few successful trips was caught in the ice off Point 

 Barrow in September 1931, and abandoned. 



For 18 clays the St. Roch struggled in the pack ice, east of Point 

 Barrow. During much of this time the schooner had to be continually 

 tied up to large floes for protection, and movement was mainly con- 

 cerned with preventing the ship from being crushed. The weather was 

 constantly foggy, further curtailing chances to see leads. At one time 

 the St. Roch was able to anchor close to shore near Beechey Point, but 

 as the ice began to close in again Larsen had to put the schooner back 

 into the pack to avoid being shoved ashore. It was then moored to a 

 grounded floe for 2 days so as not to lose distance by being pushed 

 westward during a furious northeasterly gale. On August 2 the police 

 vessel resumed working eastward and reached Cross Island before be- 

 ing caught once more. Northwest winds jammed the ice against the 

 shore and pressed hard against the boat, so that on August 10 Larsen 

 had to start blasting the ice in order to work free. After each blast the 

 schooner charged into the opening and finally reached open water near 

 shore. Thereafter good progress was made eastward, although the 

 vessel scraped bottom several times. Barter Island was passed on the 

 morning of August 11, and very little ice was encountered between 

 there and Herschel Island. 



After loading coal and other supplies, the St. Roch left Herschel 

 Island on August 18 and crossed Mackenzie Bay to Port Brabant (Tuk- 

 toyaktuk or Tuk-tuk) . From this harbor the police schooner contin- 

 ued her normal routine patrol work of carrying supplies to the various 

 R. C. M. P. detachments in the western Arctic. Bad weather, fog, and 

 strong winds caused several delays in the eastward trip to Coppermine 

 and Cambridge Bay, and it was not until September 16 that the 

 schooner returned to Coppermine with her freighting duties finished. 



Captain Larsen had originally hoped to proceed through the North- 

 west Passage via Prince of Wales Strait between Victoria and Banks 

 Islands after completing the freighting work, but the delays caused 

 by ice and bad weather discouraged any such attempt so late in the 

 season. A decision was then made to winter either on Banks Island 

 or at Walker Bay on central west Victoria Island, and to be ready to 

 navigate the Passage early the next summer. The St. Roch, therefore, 

 left Coppermine on September 19 and went to Holman Island and 

 thence to DeSalis Bay, Banks Island. 



