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February 19, 2009: (1)
It was a tough section to Bilibino with many obstacles. But finally, we made it.
The team is in Bilibino, just like the vehicles and trailer.
Crazy things happened to us on our way behind Shishmaref. F1 had and has no engine power; we had to deal with frozen brakes in Tscherski; we received the news that we were not allowed to enter Tschukotka; Trailer2 lost a complete wheel including brake drum, etc.; wheels on both trailers were blocked by ice and the entire F1 along with its trailer skidded into a ditch.
One step after another:
The tension was huge when we continuously became slower and finally ? due to the performance problems of F1 and the resulting additional consumption ? had to refuel just 5 kilometers before the city. I was about to explode when I also received the news from J?rgen Graf that we have to stop in Tscherski and will not be allowed to enter Tschukotka - We did not receive the special permission. I was totally mad ? what happened? Hastily I called J?rgen and got the information that the authorities did not receive the necessary insurance forms and thus correctly denied our permit. Unfortunately, this had to happen just 40 kilometers before the territory border. We owe the same night's receipt of the permit to people, authorities and institutions that trusted us. Many thanks to all involved people and authorities at this point (when ? according to our GPS ? reaching the ?border to Tschukotka? the next evening, we celebrated and cherished the crossing).
With only 1000 1/min of F1 in gear reduction, we reached Tscherski where the police was already waiting for us. They were expecting us for a long time and were happy to welcome us in sound condition. After the obligatory control and after reporting our expedition to the ones in charge, we were led to a warm garage. There, the team checked and repaired for quite some time, before exhaustedly falling asleep on the seats in the garage. The plan was to sleep for about 2 hours only and get up at 4 a.m. to drive towards Bilibino. However, we were woken up by the first workers at around 10 a.m.
We were hoping that the performance problems of F1 were due to frozen water from the auxiliary tanks. Unfortunately this was not the case. Thus I decided to continue our slow driving without performance on our upcoming ? 380 kilometers long ? section towards Tschukotka. Just when we were about to leave Tscherski and attached the trailer, we noticed that my brakes at Trailer 1 were frozen. Therefore we had to unfreeze them with Russian burner lamps*. What a nice work at -50? C. At that time, we did not know that we would have to do it again on this section.
Just out of Tscherski, in the middle of the Kolymar, we found the truck in an accident. It broke into the ice only 10 days ago, even though it was driving on the main lane. Crazy. Fortunately there was another truck that took care of the two wet drivers, who were able to save themselves out of the driver?s cab in the last second. Otherwise they would have frozen to death within minutes.
*) Burner lamps are irreplacable for all acrtic truckers. They burn fuel - in our case also ethanol - in adjustable fire beam which are pointed at the frozen parts. This way it is possible to unfreeze e.g. the oil pan, the gearbox, the axles, the brakes.
February 19, 2009: (2)
Then, the course of the road led us north-east on the Kolymar River and one of its channels for many kilometers. The temperatures were below -50?C when during a pee stop at some point during the night we noticed that a wheel including rim, tire, brake drum and spacer was missing on Kaspar?s trailer (T2).
The route has become a narrow trail about 100 kilometers ago and is difficult to drive. Taking into consideration that the wheel could have been lost anywhere and because there would be no chance to find it at night, we decided to continue our drive on three wheels (that?s what we will do on our upcoming 380 kilometers long section from Bilibino to Pevek as well. In Pevek we expect to receive the necessary spare parts).
It would be better not to stop in this cold atmosphere and the additional occuring wind. The reason why we had to stay for about another 3 hours at this place was due to the fact that when Kaspar was ready to go I noticed two blocked wheels at T2. The breaks were frozen. In order to continue driving without the risk that this would happen again (this was probably also the reason for the loss of the other wheel), without further ado we disabled the brake function of T2 by disassembling the break leverage and removing the brake shoe from the blocked wheels in a tough repair action (key word: burner lamps) on the winter road (later on in Bilibino we removed
each and every part that somehow was a part of the break from T1 and T2).
During the following drive was dedicated to the mistake-diagnosis of F1. We used the diagnosis computer to check all parameters, perform tests and compare data of both vehicles in drive operation. I was just sitting in F2 and evaluated information with Kaspar, when the next obstacle on this rocky way to Bilibino was announced via radio: "Matthias, Sh**, I got stuck." In heavy snow flurry, F1 and its trailer went astray and skidded into a ditch. Thereby, the trailer tipped over and turned on its side. Now it was time to stop thinking and sort things out. We had to retrieve both vehicles as soon as possible. First we detached the trailer from the vehicle and put it back on its wheels by using our winches. Then we pulled it on the street with our Warn winches and idler pulleys. It was a little bit more difficult to retrieve F1 because it was stuck deep in snow and because of the strong inclined position that caused the engine to turn off. We had to recover it first. Then we also pulled this vehicle from the ditch with our Warn winches and idler pulley. It was a great performance of our winches, the team had to admit.
After another 20 kilometers we finally reached Bilibino. Once again we were surprised by the things waiting for us there.
February 19, 2009: (3)
We did not know what to expect in Bilibino. Will we have an accommodation, perhaps a small hotel, a garage? How will the authorities react when we arrive? What will we manage to complete?
We were slowly approaching the city. It is located in a wind still area surrounded by high mountains. Arriving from a snowy pass and after entering the main street we have directly been checked by the traffic police. The officers were very friendly and gave us some additional information. Konstantin already informed his contacts without giving me notice. As the success was not sure he did not tell anything and therefore he and we have all been very happy. Everything was perfectly organized.
We have been expected by friends of Konstantin and the mining company Kupogold. We were welcomed and accommodated in clean, perfectly equipped apartments with shower, toilette, washing machine, etc., which are normally used for company employees who make a stopover on their way to the goldmine which is about 200 km away. Moreover, we were integrated in the daily operation and got breakfast, lunch and dinner. They even did our laundry. It is really great. Many thanks to the management of Kupolgold at this point. Also the garage was organized by Konstantin's contacts. There was enough space for us to store the vehicles and trailers in the warmth - a seldom situation. The highlight was an arriving team of mechanics who worked with us.
Altogether we were eleven people starting with the next big modification mission of the Jeeps and trailers. As the trailers have carried important equipment over the rough track until Bilibino and we now only need less of it, the trailers have been rigorously alleviated and additionally protected against the cold. Additionally we removed the 1000 l tank, removed now unnecessary crates and panels. We already modified the Jeeps with adding the construction for the emergency swimming system (hydraulic adaptors at front and back) and pre-mounted the swimming tires on the trailer tires. That was hand work which means an immense issue of strength and that in total 8 times. Of course there was no balancing. Parallel Marco started to work on the next video clip at his especially equipped cutting place.
Originally planned was to leave for Pevek on Thursday. Unfortunately that was not possible. We received a warning from the Russian disaster control via the German Embassy not to start. They expect a hurricane/snow storm in that region which will be very intense with a speed of about 37 m/s. Accordingly the temperature will drop to -60?C. Luckily we received that message in Bilibino and not en-route. Therefore everything was fine again and our problems had a protection effect, as we would already have been on track and met the storm otherwise. The negative aspect it that all winter ways to Pevek will be gone after the hurricane.
New scheduled starting time will be Saturday.
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