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Old 02-02-2010, 05:45 AM
BlueGerbil BlueGerbil is offline
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Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Germany
Posts: 89
Quote:
January 20, 2010: 102nd short message (11:05 am CET)

Spent the night and today well. The weather is still stable. Today or tomorrow, we will winch and pull ourselves over the pass with our Russian helpers and then try to drive over the ice of the Providenia Bay to Providenia. If the ice shouldn?t bear our weight, we would have to driver over a second pass to get around the bay. In Providenia we will be able to properly diagnose the damages and make repairs. F2 could be repaired at short notice. F1 will be more difficult, it might take a couple days longer. We will try to get back on the road as fast as possible. Right now we expect to remain in Providenia for about two weeks.
If anybody wants to come and join the team is welcomed. Juergen Graf, Astrid Wallner and Jan Liska can give further information.
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January 20, 2010: 103rd short message (03:22 p.m. CET)

3 a.m. After a difficult final stage, we arrived in Providenia.
The brake pipe on F2 fell off, there has been a tire failure on F2, the trailer of F1 has a deformed axle, we broke into Nalid Ice. All team members are exhausted but doing well ? apart from dark shadows under the eyes, beards, black hands, body odor, wet shoes, cracked fingers, chipped fingernails and so on.

We will get in touch again.
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January 21, 2010: 104th short message (03:34 a.m. CET)

We are still on the street in Providenia. We are talking, negotiating, looking for a parking space for the trailers and a place to repair the vehicles. Many people have come outside. They welcomed us, considered how they could help us, signed the cars, gave us coffee, tea and a place in the office of a small garage. After a long time, we ate some fresh bread instead of frozen cross. A part of the team slept in a Russian tracked vehicle ? finally sprawled out again as I heard ? for a couple of hours.
I believe we will find solutions within the next hours, eventually days. Just now we have been offered a Russian sauna to heat up and clean up again.
We?ll see. Definitely very friendly here. A couple minutes ago I received the news that we at least found two places for the trailers.
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January 21, 2010: 105th short message (09:43 a.m. CET)

Trailers are safely stored inside / in front of a hall. On the part of the very friendly mayors, we found an accommodation that we can use for the entire duration of our stay. It is empty but warm, has a bathroom with shower and carpeted floors. They just brought us a small table. We sleep on the floor in or on our sleeping bags and are very happy about this place to live. The vehicles are still on the street. Tomorrow they will decide where we go for our repairs.
?Warm boxes? in which there are at least 0?C, are seldom. And if they exist, they are most of the time already taken. We will see. First of all we will make some food and enjoy a Russian beer. We deserve it.

Providenia is located right next to a bay. In front and behind the city mountains rise as if they were painted. If you stay at the bay, look towards the sea and the sun goes down blood-red like today, a painter couldn?t capture it any more beautiful. And temperatures around -10?C make you forget how hard life must be for the people living here. Forces of nature can be pretty tough. The hurricane that is expected to come, will show prove this to us quite plainly.
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January 22, 2010: 106th short message (11:50 a.m. CET)

This morning we were shown once again how welcomed we are here, how hospitable the people in Tschuotka are. We received a call from the mayor, that a ?warm box? has been found on the part of the first minister. We were asked to come to the technical school, where we received more information. Right away we left for the school. There, we were welcomed by the principal. He explained to us that they were willing to help and that they wanted to rearrange a box for us, so that our cars could stay there as long as we needed for our repairs. The box also has an undercut and a hoisting crane! In our situation this felt like Christmas. Grateful, we brought the vehicles from their place on the street of the outskirts to the box in the city. Afterwards a meeting with the highest ranking representatives of the regional government and city administration took place. In the main building we had some interesting conversations as well as coffee and tea. We discussed the further proceedings. During our conversation we were offered again all necessary support. In return we offered to be available for lectures, discussions, conversations, cultural exchange for the kindergarden, the school, the technical school and anyone who is interested for as long as we are here. Honestly, where can you find that in our culture? Go to the outskirts of any city in the world and ask for accommodation for your team, a parking space for big trailers and a work place to repair two vehicles. This is a geniality and friendship of the Russian population.

I think that Tschukotka offers a great variety of regional distinctions and could make a difference in the area of tourism. There are bizarre images of nature, silence, and amazing beauty of the tundra that every traveler can see. Seldom have I seen a clearer sky, more stars, wilder valleys, have I experiences the calmness better than here. I wish that more people would make the move and get to know this wonderful area of the world. I can only recommend this to everybody ? he/she will be thrilled!

While I am writing these lines, the storm starts to exert its forces. The wind becomes stronger, snow started falling and flurries are blowing through the streets.
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January 29, 2010: 107th short message (01:12 a.m. CET)

We?ve got our hands full and try desperately to find a solution for the transport of the damaged axle parts. Please excuse that I didn?t write that much.
Whoever wants to help us and has according contacts or wants to write, could talk to the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission.

Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission
PO Box 570
Barrow, AK 99723-0570
Phone 907-852-2392
Fax 907-852-2303

On behalf of this commission, there will be a flight from Nome, Alaska to Providenia, Russia on February 08, 2010. If our parts cannot be on this flight, they will arrive no earlier than the end of February and our chance to reach the Bering Strait in time will diminish.
Unfortunately the commission categorically refuses to take our two travel bags with the spare parts along on the almost empty flight. We don?t know the reasons. All other involved parties are willing to make it possible. But the final decision has the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission.
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February 30, 2010: 108th short message (03:09 a.m. CET)

By now, a lot of different parties are asking the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission to take our two travel bags along on their empty (!!!!) flight from Nome to Providenia ? of course we will pay for it. They categorically refuse. We don?t know why. We never did anything bad against the people or the commission. Nobody understands this stance. They suggested to us that we pay the entire flight and then we can send our two bags along.
This would have never happened in Russia, never, never. If anybody needs help, you help them. And we are by no means cadgers who ask for help for free. We only ask for an approval to put our two bags against payment on this empty flight. Unbelievable, really unbelievable.
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February 01, 2010: 109th short message (11:23 a.m. CET)

Great, our friend Dimitri sent his acquaintance ?Oleg? to our apartment today. He?s a man with best connections in satellite lines. :-)
Via TV he made us an internet connection at its best and now we can ? finally with a prospect of success ? try to send a couple of pictures. We are trying to do so for a couple of days now but the satellite system in F1 doesn?t work as long as it is in the shielded hall. On our agenda for today was also the official visit in the kindergarden and a heartily welcome.
Meanwhile works Jefgeny with our friend Valerie, the welder, on the reconstruction of the steering parts. They also weld a big part of the special constructions on F2.
Due to the better internet connection we got a bunch of photos from the expedition team - check all of (200+) out at:

Part 1: http://bit.ly/bpGskP
Part 2: http://bit.ly/9DlAkK

Some of them for you to enjoy:















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