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Old 01-13-2010, 10:19 AM
BlueGerbil BlueGerbil is offline
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Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Germany
Posts: 89
Quote:
January 08, 2010: 77th short message (11:52 a.m. CET)

It has been a crazy day. Into the bargain, we also got in a heavy blizzard. At no visibility, we fought our way from the shoreline through a delta near Neran.
Overall accomplishment for the day: 23km in 15 hours. What a number. We are now standing safely on a hill and wait for the end of the snow storm. Team and vehicles okay.

Current position: N 65 28?378? / W 175 58?037?
Quote:
January 08, 2010: 78th short message (10:26 p.m. CET)

9 a.m. Blizzard is over. 1,5 m snow drifts all around the cars. It?s amazing to see where we maneuvered last night without any visibility. The gods of nature to whom we sacrificed cigarettes and vodka in a traditional ceremony with our tschukot friends last night, were with us and protected us.

Last night also a nice act of friendship. Wow, a Tschukot, gave me his knife as a present. This is a very grand gesture. It?s a self-made knife made from the horn of reindeers. The blade is a self-forged saw blade; the shaft is made of reindeer leather and fur. In return, I gave him my knife as a thank you and felt honored.
Quote:
January 09, 2010: 79th short message (05:21 a.m. CET)

10 a.m. Our two tschukot friends have turned and drive back to Konergina. We just left the delta. We are trying to find our way to a Vestichot track towards Enmelem over a high plateau. Three lakes in front of us which have to be crossed. The ice of the first one is too thin. When I walked over it to test the ice, it already cracked. We have to find a way around the lake.

2 p.m. Pressure line broke again.

4 p.m. Fixed pressure line as good as possible. Will take off again in 30 min. In the meantime, Jefgeny scouted the way around the first lake.
Quote:
January 09, 2010: 80th short message (11:33 a.m. CET)

10:30 p.m. Found our way around the lake. Afterwards, difficult crossing of a river. Had to test the ice for a long time in order to find a good way to go. Both cars are tied together to secure them. Everything worked out well. We are about 40km away from Enmelem. Now we are diving across fields of heavy bumps. Due to the fact that we sway back and forth on the sea, we can only drive very slowly, which costs us a lot of nerves.

Current position: N 65 18?139? / W 175 48?489?
Everything okay.
Quote:
January 09, 2010: 81st short message (01:03 p.m. CET)

11:45 p.m. We are standing in front of a very broad delta with three main arms. Tried to cross. F1 broke into the ice. We were able to get back by our own power. Decided to stop for today and spend the night at N 65 16?891? / W 175 48?000?. We will try again tomorrow morning.

Everything alright.

Quote:
January 10, 2010: 82nd short message (01:05 a.m. CET)

12 p.m. Had a bad night. Nasty storm that made us fear that one of the trailers or a car would be blown over. That?s how strong the winds were. Decided to change places again and chose a safer one outside of the delta.
Then, this morning, there was beautiful weather with lots of sun. Regarding the weather, this is one of the most beautiful days of our journey. Then we found our way across the broad delta. Ice wasn?t frozen completely everywhere, but it lasted underneath the vehicles. Very good feeling. Right now we are still heading towards Enmelem. About 30km left.
Quote:
January 10, 2010: 83rd short message (03:06 a.m. CET)

2 p.m. We just finished our first refueling without having to be completely covered from head to toe, without headlights, without thick mittens and without frozen fingers. We have beautiful weather.
It would even be possible to climb on the trailers without having to secure ourselves. Usually that?s not possible because there?s always the danger of falling because of the strong winds.
Quote:
January 10, 2010: 84th short message (05:08 a.m. CET)

4 p.m. We just crossed the last broad delta before Enmelem!!!!!! We were expected. A delegate from Enmelem expected us at the side of the river that is oriented towards Enmelem. It was a hearty welcome. He said that everybody is happy to see us. We are the first ones who managed the crossing of the river ? which we failed to do last night but managed this morning ? this year!! Very awesome. A shot of vodka was obligatory.
Just one more pass and 10km, then we reach Enmelem. The team is very proud. So am I. A great team. Excellent team spirit and mutual respect and support. Great!
Quote:
January 10, 2010: 85th short message (05:37 a.m. CET)

We wouldn?t stand a chance without spikes. They helped us a lot so far ? amazing. Besides rivers and lakes, which can hardly be crossed by foot, the spikes once again proved their worth today. After the crossing of the last delta and before the pass, we just had to drive on an inclined and ice-covered track which has been carved into the hillside. Without spikes, no chance! This is how one jigsaw piece joins the others.

5 p.m. We arrived in Enmelem!!!
Quote:
January 12, 2010:

In the morning of the 11th, after being able to sleep outstretched in the school, we were surprised by about 60 children who wanted to see us. They even quickly organized a special concert and a dance show for us. Great. The principal, the teachers, the children, the administration, the border guard, the mechanics, the helpers, etc. Just a great village.
Once again I have to emphasize that, in my mind and regarding my experiences, there is no other country in the world which I have been to, where there exist as many thoughts of friendship, helpfulness and hospitality as in Russia. I will not get tired of praising and give others an understanding of this.

The rest of the day, the entire night until 4 a.m. and today, the 12th, we dedicated ourselves exclusively to the repair of the vehicles. Finally F1 works again with a special constructed ?Ural? (a Russian truck) servo line. The construction is about 4x bigger than the original and we need a higher engine revolution to steer, but this was the only chance we had, after this thing blew up several times for various reasons. Everything that we tried without welding equipment failed or just lasted for a short period of time. Now, after Alexey, the super welder, welded the Jeep for hours to the size of an Ural with painstaking attention to detail, hopefully it works. A feat, considering the 1 mm thick walls of the Jeep lines.

Tonight we will rest and start again tomorrow morning towards Providenia. Difficult river stages are awaiting us.






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